Lady Loggers drop final two, look to rebound in divisionals
<p>Hailley Moe (40) tips the ball over Polson blockers in Friday's loss.</p>
The Lady Loggers dropped their final two regular season matches in straight sets to Polson and Frenchtown over the weekend.
Head Coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston bemoaned her team’s struggles against the Pirates, “We just couldn’t get our offense going and we let one Polson hitter just own us.”
The Loggers had no answer for Chloie Huerta, who had 16 kills and four blocks. The Loggers, who had only three aces, were outserved by their opponent one of the few times during this season. While Libby hung around through the mid-point of each set, Polson was able to close them out 25-17, 25-19, 25-20.
Kills — Libby 23 (Hannah England, Hailley Moe, Devon Gallagher, Dayln Germany 5), Polson 39 (Chloie Huerta 16, Jessica Hoel 10); Blocks — Libby 5 (Gallagher, Cierra Stewart 2), Polson 7 (Huerta 4); Assists — Libby 20 (England 17), Polson 33 (Jaiden Toth 29); Digs — Libby 40 (Mahalah Wedel 13), Polson 55 (Taylor Davis, Libby Clay 13); Aces — Libby 3 (Kelsey Klin, England, Germany 1), Polson 9 (Toth 3).
The Loggers followed up their lackluster performance against Polson with a more- spirited effort against Frenchtown, but the Lady Broncs finished off their unbeaten conference record by beating the Loggers 25-18, 26-24, 25-17.
“We competed better in this match. Frenchtown is loaded with hitters – it is tough to stop them once they start pounding,” said Ostrem-Johnston.
The Loggers ended their regular season 2-6 in conference and 7-10 overall.
Libby will begin divisional tournament competition Friday in Polson. The double-elimination tournament will carry into Saturday. The top two teams from the five-team field will advance into the state tournament.
Kills – Libby 21 (Germany 7), Frenchtown 33 (Morgan Ray 13). Blocks – Libby 1 (Gallagher, Moe), Frenchtown 7 (Ray 3, Lacey Hochhalter 3). Digs – Libby 50 (Wedel 17), Frenchtown 32 (Ray 7, Vanessa Stavish 6). Assists – Libby 19 (England 15), Frenchtown 30 (Josie Anderson 17). Aces – Libby 11 (England 3), Frenchtown 5 (Anderson 2, Haley Cyr 2).