Divisional loss brings Libby volleyball season to an end

Confidence and momentum can be fragile things in volleyball, but both the Columbia Falls Wildkats and the Frenchtown Broncs will head to the state tournament with plenty of both after finishing first and second, respectively, in the Northwest A Divisional Tournament last weekend at Libby High School.

Frenchtown downed Libby twice in the tournament to earn the right to square off against Columbia Falls in the championship, losing 23-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-13.

The Lady Loggers came out a bit flat Friday against a Frenchtown squad that was back to full strength and playing their best volleyball of the year. After losing the first set 25-18, the Lady Loggers battled toe-to-toe with the Broncs but lost an epic second set 31-29. After an up and down third set, Libby drew within 22-23 before Frenchtown finally shut the Lady Loggers down.

Libby Coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston bemoaned the second set loss.

“If we would have been able to take that second set, I think the outcome may have been in our favor,” Ostrem-Johnston said.

The defeat put the Lady Loggers in the losers bracket, but they rebounded confidently, ousting both Whitefish and Polson in straight sets. In the first set against the Bulldogs, Libby found itself down 15-20, but after a gut-check time out, the Lady Loggers used two aces each from Hannah England and Hailey Craig to outscore them 10-3 down the stretch. Libby was in a similar pickle in the second set before Mahalah Wedel served 10 straight points including five aces to break the Bulldogs’ back. The Lady Loggers went on to take the third set 25-15.

Libby proved inhospitable hosts to the Pirates on Saturday by knocking them out of the tournament. The Lady Loggers opened up comfortable leads in the first two sets, winning 25-20, 25-18, and then hung on to win 25-23 in the third. It was the ninth set in a row the Loggers had taken from Polson in their three matches this season.  

That set up the rematch with Frenchtown for a berth in the championship round. The Lady Loggers came out on fire and took the first set 25-9 behind strong net play from Devon Gallagher and Hailey Craig, each of whom had four kills. Early in the second set, the Broncs ran off nine straight points, and all the Lady Logger momentum seemed to melt away. Behind the powerful frontline duo of Morgan Ray and Faith Bauer, Frenchtown took the second and third sets 25-12, 25-16. The Loggers rallied in the fourth to keep hope alive, taking a 23-22 lead, but the Broncs responded with a Bauer kill and ace to seal the win.

“It was heartbreaking not qualifying for state, I know the girls all tried their best and all of them stepped up at different times during the tourney,” Ostrem-Johnston said. “I would like to thank all the people who helped put on a class act divisional tournament and thanks to all the businesses that donated to the tournament and to our fundraiser this year.”

The Lady Loggers had some outstanding individual performances during the weekend, especially on offense. Hailley Moe and Gallagher led the team in kills with 39 each, and Craig had her best matches of the year with 29 kills. England had 128 assists over the four matches, and she led the team with 11 aces followed closely by Wedel and Staci Regh with eight. Wedel averaged 25 digs per match while Moe and England chipped in 44 and 42 total. Cierra Stewart and Moe each had 5.5 blocks.

The Lady Loggers finished their final Class A season with a sour taste in their mouths from divisionals, but overall had their most successful season since 2009, the year before Frenchtown entered the conference. That Libby team finished 6-2 in the conference before going on to the state tournament. The 2014 team finished second in the conference with a 5-3 record and an overall record of 12-5. They also compiled a 4-2 record in tournament match play, taking first in the Bonners Ferry tournament and third in the Northwest/Southwest Starter Tournament.

“This was not the way we wanted things to end, but we had a great season,” Ostrem-Johnston said. “We shared a lot of fun times and laughs together, made some great memories. I am going to miss these seniors terribly. They are a special group of girls who I have thoroughly enjoyed coaching.”

The Lady Loggers boasted two conference statistical leaders during the regular season. Wedel led the conference with 6.3 digs per set and a serve receive ratio of 2.28. Hannah England led in service aces with 64 while serving at a 96 percent clip. She also finished second with an average of 8.5 assists per set. The Lady Loggers led the league in aces, with Wedel, Regh, Dayln Germany and Craig all finishing in the top 10. Regh finished fourth in hitting percentage, and Moe finished fourth with 183 kills.  

Defensively the Lady Loggers stood out as well. Stewart and Moe placed fifth and 10th, respectively, in blocks per set. Germany was also eighth in serve-receive ratio.

The Lady Loggers will make their debut in Class B next season with another solid group of seniors. Stewart will have the most experience to go along with varsity contributors Ashley Walker, Bailey Rosling and India Croucher.