Loggers slam door shut on rest of conference

At times, the Libby High School volleyball team seems unstoppable.

Jackie Mee sends a screaming spike inside the back line for a point after receiving a perfect set from Jordan Refsland. Evianna Cernick accurately serves for six straight points. Alex Kulbeck stuffs the opposition with a well-timed block.

Yes, the Lady Loggers have exhibited the ability to work together like a well-oiled machine, putting a smile on the face of head coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston while creating frowns from those on the opposing bench. But sometimes, Libby makes things interesting with its slow starts.

That was again the case during Saturday’s regular-season finale against Ronan on Senior Night. The Maidens shot out to a 6-1 lead in the opening game and the visitors to Ralph Tate Gym began to believe they could knock off the conference champs.

Then, Libby decided to turn on the juice. The Loggers won six of the next seven points, battled the rest of the way and pulled out an opening game win of 26-24 before cruising over the last two, 25-12, 25-22 for the sweep.

 “You have to come out ready for every match,” Ostrem-Johnston said. “We’ve been trying different things in practice to work on this problem of slow starts. But that’s the way they play, so I don’t know.”

Sports teams often fight distractions on Senior Night with emotions of the final home appearance in front of mom and dad. But once the home team settled down, Ronan never had a chance.

Libby’s slow start in the first game included a couple of illegal hits and a couple of spikes that sailed long. Even when Mee came up with a nice block, the Maidens ended up winning the point. After the coach called a quick timeout and Libby settled down, the Ronan lead slowly began to disappear.

After trailing by five points early, Libby caught the visitors at 7-7 and then took its first lead at 12-11. Back-to-back kills by Genesea Meha helped give LHS some breathing room at 16-12 but the pesky Maidens countered and eventually took a 22-20 lead. Ronan later served on game point but Libby stayed alive when the Maidens were called for an illegal hit.

Libby went up 25-24 on a Ronan spike into the net. Following a Maiden timeout, the Lady Loggers took the first game when Ronan couldn’t handle Devon Hoyer’s serve with a reception that went sideways into the crowd.

Libby’s momentum from game one’s victory carried over into the second. This time, the Loggers got out to a 5-1 lead on kills by Kulbeck and Meha and an ace from Refsland. A couple of misplaced balls by the visitors also contributed to the early advantage.

After the Maidens got back to within 5-3, Libby reeled off three straight points with two of those coming on back-to-back Mee kills. The 6-foot-1 junior moments later went on a roll serving with four straight aces – including one ball that hit the net and fell over for a point. By the time Ronan got a sideout, the Lady Loggers had built a 14-4 lead.

Ronan battled and tried to get back into the game with a little scoring streak of its own to cut the deficit to 14-9. But Cernick’s turn at the service line was not good news for the Maidens. The junior setter served for five straight points during a stretch that included two aces and a Kulbeck kill. Game two ended on an ace serve by Alysha Martin.

In the third game, Ronan played competitively but never led by more than one point. Martin opened the game with an ace serve and Cernick ended it with an ace serve. In between, several players contributed including a good serving run by senior Nichole Newman.

With the game tied, 13-13, the Lady Loggers pulled away with Newman on the serve. The Maidens hurt themselves with miscues but the streak also included a Meha kill that helped the home squad to an 18-13 lead.

Ronan countered late to get to within 23-22 but once again, Libby had enough to close out the match and get into the locker room for Senior Night postgame goodies. First, Kulbeck came up with a kill for a 24-22 LHS lead and then Cernick had her ace to make the inevitable a reality.

The final statistics for the match served as an example of Libby’s dominance. The Loggers had 19 aces in the match – an exceptional number for playing just three games. Mee had seven of those aces and Cernick had four along with 91-percent serving success. Meha and Martin each served 90 percent and Newman was 6-for-6 for 100 percent.

Mee, Kulbeck, Hoyer and Meha all had close numbers hitting. Mee led the way with nine kills, Kulbeck added eight, and Hoyer and Meha each had seven. Kulbeck had the top hit percentage at .368. Cernick and Refsland each contributed 12 set assists. Mee and Katie Emery each had two blocks.

On the all-important serve-reception portion of the game, Libby had a respectable 2.07 ratio. Mee was perfect in that department a 3.00 serve-receive ratio to go along with 15 digs. Meha was also up there with 14 digs. Hoyer and Martin each had seven digs and serve-receive ratios of 2.14.

The Lady Loggers finish with records of 9-1 in the conference, 9-3 overall. They will be the top seed in this week’s divisional tournament at Polson. As such, the Loggers will receive a first-round bye along with runner-up Bigfork and won’t take the floor until Saturday against the winner of a first-round match between Columbia Falls and Whitefish.

Technically, Libby will take the floor on Thursday. Schools that receive byes are allowed to practice on the divisional tournament’s court. So, Ostrem-Johnston will take her team over to Polson for a 45-minute workout at 3 p.m., and then watch the Whitefish-Columbia Falls match at 5.

Key Points

Game 1 – With Libby trailing 23-21, the Lady Loggers needed a point bad to stay in the game. Jordan Refsland responded with an ace and then Alex Kulbeck followed with a kill to tie the game. Libby went on to take the game, 26-24.

Game 2 – Leading 8-4, Jackie Mee helped her team pull away with an ace block on point 9 followed by four straight ace serves by No. 34. The Maidens were never able to recover from such a deep hole and Libby cruised to clinch game 2.

Game 3 – Nichole Newman’s kill and then four straight service points helped Libby gain momentum in a game that had been tight. Newman’s effors turned a 13-13 tie into a five-point lead and although the Maidens got back to within 23-22 late, it was too much of a deficit to overcome. Kulbeck’s kill on point 24 and Evi Cernick’s ensuing ace sent Ronan home.