Troy pulls off sweep over Plains

The Lady Trojans got it done in three.

Now last season, Troy High School’s volleyball squad had a little bit of trouble pulling off those sweeps. But in a Saturday meeting at home against Plains, the Trojans sent the visitors home early with a victory of 25-22, 25-17 and 26-24.

“Last year, we struggled with beating a team in three and this year, we did just that,” THS coach Sandra Jansma said. “We did have our ups and downs but it’s still the beginning of the season and we’re looking to do a lot of fun stuff together.”

Although the Trojans dominated, it was no easy task to get the win in game 3. The Trotters actually served for game point with a 24-23 lead only to see Troy rise to the occasion.

“Those kinds of clutch situations are always fun and interesting,” Jansma said. “On that one, I guess we wanted it more and we brought it.”

Troy kept the game alive on a kill spike by junior Kristin Parks. Then, junior Ashley Paasch stepped up to the service line and gave the Trojans a 25-24 lead with an ace serve. On the next point, Paasch served again and officials whistled Plains for an illegal hit to end the match.

“They were struggling over there and we definitely took advantage of it,” Jansma said. “We have some girls at the net who are very aggressive. Kristin Parks, she’s doing awesome and Alicia Anderson was really putting the ball away.”

Junior setter Alyssa Olds continues to improve with each match.

“She’s just come a long ways and is really doing a good job for us,” Jansma said.

Parks had five kills and Anderson added four in the conference victory. Olds ended up with all 10 of the team’s set assists.

Plains had its moments during each of the three games, putting together occasional scoring streaks. In the opening game, the Trotters led 12-8 after scoring eight straight points with Kylee Knudson serving. Troy countered with nine straight points of its own when Anderson went on a hot streak at the line.

The Trojans later held a 24-19 advantage before Plains put together a late run to pull within two points. Troy finally closed out the game when Chelsea Roosma saw her service attempt go wide right.

In the second game, Plains shot out to a 3-0 lead and later held a 10-8 advantage. Troy started to take control with Molly Harpole serving. Parks made a big play for a 12-10 lead with an ace block at the net. On the following point, the Trojans won a long rally on a kill by Paasch.

Although the Trotters stayed close for a while, Troy continued to apply pressure and methodically pulled away. Leading 17-15, the Trojans got some breathing room after scoring on an unforced Plains error and then getting two points with Paasch serving. Anderson nailed a kill spike just inside the line for a 19-15 lead and then Ashley Suber put the ball away moments later for the five-point lead.

Troy scored the final four points of game 2 – one when Harpole won a battle at the net against Plains senior Emma Ehert and later another on an ace serve by Jessica Lyons.

It appeared Troy would cruise in the third game with an early 6-1 lead materializing. The Trotters didn’t roll over, however, and finally caught Troy at 22-22. Plains took a 23-22 lead on an arching ace serve by Alexis Kunzer. But the Trotters made a grave mistake when Kunzer stepped over the service line to give THS a game-tying point. Troy got called with an illegal hit to again fall behind by one point but then finished strong to pull out the sweep.

In the blocks department, Parks finished with four while as a team the Trojans had seven. Lyons had a team-high four digs. And Paasch hit four ace serves.

Troy (1-0 in region, 2-0 overall) will host Eureka on Thursday. The Lady Trojans head to Mission on Saturday where they will play the host school as well as Darby.

Libby spikers place 4th at Ronan tourney

If Class A teams learned anything during the Ronan Tip-Off Tournament on Friday and Saturday, it’s the realization that this year’s Northwest and Southwest divisions appear pretty balanced.

The Lady Loggers had an up-and-down tournament by splitting with four teams and suffering a sweep during pool play. But Libby finished on a high note by downing eventual champion Anaconda and then taking the fourth-place match in consolation play with a victory over Hamilton.

“It was disappointing not to qualify for the championship bracket but on the other hand, it was encouraging to beat Anaconda both games,” Libby High School coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said. “I think it’s (conference race) up in the air in the Northwest and Southwest.”

The Loggers opened pool play on Friday with a 25-19, 25-14 loss at the hands of Dillon. Libby then split its next three matches on day one against Frenchtown (13-25, 25-20), Hamilton (25-11, 22-25) and Corvallis (25-16, 18-25).

On the second day, pool play wrapped up with a split against Stevensville (25-9, 15-25) and the sweep over Anaconda. Just missing a shot at the championship bracket by three points, the Loggers had to settle for a consolation match but responded by defeating Hamilton.

“In these tournaments, we’re trying different rotations, we’re trying different people in different spots,” Ostrem-Johnston said. “We may have been able to get a couple more wins in there but we wanted to try some things out and I think it was good because we’re getting some answers and players are getting more consistent.

“The nice thing is, they maintained a positive attitude through the whole thing,” she added. “They were very encouraging with one another Š and that was a major accomplishment. They’re coming together as a team and realizing those responsibilities.”

Jackie Mee had another good tournament at the net with 66 kills and an impressive .408 attack percentage. Crysta Quinn finished with 35 kills and Genesea Meha added 17.

In the serving department, Jordan Refsland had a big tournament with 15 aces. She served aggressively with a 90-percent success rate. Meha had six aces and a 90-percent serve percentage. Mee served at 95 percent and Alysha Martin at 94 percent.

Refsland led in set assists with 53 with Evianna Cernick right behind with 48. Mee finished with five blocks. Meha had a team-high 30 digs while Quinn and Mee each recorded 29.

Anaconda took the tournament title with a 21-13, 19-21, 18-16 thriller over fellow Southwest foe Dillon.

Libby heads to Bigfork on Thursday and then on to Polson on Saturday.