Lady Loggers volleyball dominates NW Conference
The Lady Loggers Volleyball team consistently ranked high in the top 10 Class "A" Northwest conference this season in both individual and team statistics.
Competing against Bigfork, Columbia Falls, Ronan, Whitefish and Polson, Libby ranked first this season in both the team receiving ratio (2.18) and hitting percentages, averaging 10.39 kills per game or .299.
"I'm pleased with the consistency of their passing and serve/receive ratio," Libby coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said. "That contributes to why our hitting percentage is up," adding "one goes hand in hand with the other. You have to pass to pounce."
Libby was second behind Whitefish in team assists per game, averaging 8.27 per game, and third behind Whitefish (1) and Columbia Falls (2) in team serving percentages, coming in at 3.97 aces per game or 87.58 percent.
In the individuals category, senior Shelby Barton swept the top 10 assists per game, making 240 in 33 games, or 7.27 per game.
Although Barton was fifth in serving percentages, making 18 aces out of 100 attempts and only 5 errors, her 95 serving percentage was within 1 percent of three of the four who placed above her.
Sophomore Jackie Mee ranked second in hitting percentages, making 99 kills out of 165 attempts and 29 errors in 33 games, a .424 percentage. Barton fell in behind her at .410, to snatch 3rd, with seniors Laice Dedrick ranking 6th (.298) and Brook Hageness ranking 8th (.264).
Senior Megan Wedel clinched first in receiving ratios with a 2.385, and Dedrick claimed second with 2.257.
Hageness ranked fourth for receiving ratios in the NW conference with 2.189 and 10 in digs per game, averaging 2.12 per game.
Libby was ranked sixth in blocks per game in the conference with an average of .73 per game.
They were fifth in digs with an 8.85 average per game.
"We kind of take them with a grain of salt," Ostrem-Johnston said, noting that the compiled statistics are based on what the individual teams turn in.
So what one team might report as a block, another team wouldn't count it as such.