Lady Loggers drop conference match to Maidens

Trying to slip into the top three teams in the Northwestern A, the Libby volleyball team suffered a setback on Saturday night with a 25-20, 21-25, 25-13, 25-18 loss to Ronan.

The two schools traded blows over the first two games but the Maidens took control over the final two to snag the conference win.

“I think the only team we’re ahead of is Columbia Falls so it’s not a good place to be,” LHS coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said about the conference standings. “We need to be up there in second and third.”

Teams are battling for favorable seeds in the divisional tournament. The fourth and fifth teams would play in the first round of the tournament with the winner to take on the No. 1 seed. Meanwhile, the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds would have an easier road to try to qualify for state.

Conference matches remain against Polson, Columbia Falls and Whitefish.

The Lady Loggers couldn’t find any sort of rhythm against the Maidens. Playing before a homecoming weekend crowd in retro uniforms, Libby’s best volleyball occurred during the second game.

The Loggers got out to a 5-0 lead with a sideout and four straight points with Becky Boulware serving. Libby later lost the lead, 11-10, but rallied to take a 15-12 lead again with Boulware on the service line. Ronan persevered and fought back to tie the game, 20-20, and again at 21-21.

Libby closed it out with four straight points. After Ronan served into the net, Libby’s Lexi Hageness served the final three points – one of those an ace.

The Maidens took control the rest of the way.

“Serving was one of our only bright spots,” Ostrem-Johnston said. “The team serving percentage was 88 percent.”

Boulware and Lauren Wepprecht each had four ace serves. Wepprecht served 100 percent while both Boulware and Hageness were at 90 percent.

The Lady Loggers struggled at the net with a low attack percentage. Libby had 27 kills on the evening with Kim Tangen getting a match-high 12 and Alex Kulbeck finishing with nine.

“We had 28 errors so we didn’t gain anything with our kills,” Ostrem-Johnston said. “So, we had a negative attack percentage. We gave up more than one whole game on hitting errors alone.”

Kulbeck had a pair of blocks, Hageness converted on 21 set assists and Tangen had 10 digs. Alyssa Walker chipped in eight digs and had a 2.15 serve receive ratio. Wepprecht had a team-high 2.78 serve receive ratio.

“I just think they lost their focus and made way too many unforced errors,” Ostrem-Johnston said about the match. “I think it was a lack of energy, communication and movement on the floor.”

Sophomore outside hitter Harley Nelson suffered a broken arm midway through the fourth game.

Libby (1-4, 2-5) heads to Polson on Thursday and the Missoula Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

Ronan 3, Libby 1

Saturday at Ralph Tate Gymnasium

Scoring by Games:

Ronan    25    21    25    25

Libby      20    25    13    18

Kills–Ronan 34 (Vangunten 9), Libby 27 (Tangen 12). Blocks–Ronan 7 (Irvine 2), Libby 2 (Kulbeck 2). Digs–Ronan 54 (McCrea 16), Libby 44 (Tangen 10). Assists–Ronan 22 (Lynch 13), Libby 24 (Hageness 21). Aces–Ronan 7 (Salmon 3), Libby 15 (Boulware 4, Wepprecht 4).