Sports in Brief: Volleyball 1-7; XC runs in Missoula

Libby Cross Country…

Travelled to one of the largest meets in the western United States in Missoula, the Missoula Mountain West Classic. 

Libby brought six athletes to the meet, which boasted more than 1,250 runners. Nearly all of them finished smack dab in the middle of the action. 

Junior Cody Barrick led the boys with a time of 19:33. Sophomore Billy Topaz followed at 21:24.

Head coach Rod Tempel said this was the most difficult course his kids had run this year, but they still made a respectable showing.

Freshman Krysten Mossburg once again led the girls with a 22:51. Courtney Bowe, another freshman, is showing marked improvement with a 29:52 finish.

The cross-country team will next travel to the Eureka Invite on Saturday.

Libby Volleyball…

Struggled again to put the pieces together and close out games with a big lead as it dropped its sixth consecutive match, falling to Columbia Falls 0-3; 24-26, 18-25, 24-26.

The Lady Loggers were actually down 19-9 at one point in the first match, rallied back, and fell short.

“It was a great comeback,” said head coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston. “But for the umpteenth time we couldn’t finish. We can’t find a way to win.”

Libby’s largest problem is unforced errors, first serving errors and side-outs that just helps the other team.

Lauren Wepprecht and Dalyn Germany had three aces each. Dalyn had a 89 percent serve percentage. Wepprecht had 10 kills, Devon Gallagher had nine and Taylor Quinn had six. Hannah England had 23 assists and Mahalah Wedel had 14 digs. No blocks were registered.

   Libby is 1-4 in conference and 1-7 overall. The team next faces Frenchtown on the road at 1 p.m. Friday.