Lady Loggers look for second-half boost

If history is an indicator, the Libby volleyball team is primed to improve their already strong play. The Lady Loggers compete Friday and Saturday in the Missoula Invitational, an event at which the team has enjoyed success in recent years. No one is exactly sure why the team’s annual trip to the tournament typically brings out the team’s best, but players and coaches have a few ideas.

“All the pressure is on the AA teams,” Libby Coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said. “For us as an A school, we just go out there with nothing to lose. Maybe that’s why this tournament has been a real turning point for us in recent years.”

Hannah England, a four-year starting setter, said the Missoula tournament is the team’s favorite.

“We get to play a lot of good, quality teams and compete,” England said. “We always seem to get things going there.”

Libby opens the tournament with seven Friday matches, including five contests with AA schools. While Libby enters as an underdog, the team’s two championships are the only ever won by an A school in tournament history.

The Lady Loggers started the season with a 5-2 record. With seven seniors and seven juniors, Ostrem-Johnston said she expected a strong season. England is the team’s vocal leader, but with so many experienced players, there is not much need for instruction.

“We started playing together in fifth grade,” senior middle hitter Hailley Moe said. “We all know what our roles are.”

Ostrem-Johnston said the group’s familiarity makes it feel like she is coaching a team of sisters. In 36 practices this season, Ostrem-Johnston can count on a single hand how many times she has ended the day frustrated. Even when the team does bother her a bit, she enjoys the fact that the players have enough experience to handle hard-hit practice shots.

“I tell the girls that they need to take advantage of their years of experience,” Ostrem-Johnston said. “When we are down I tell them they have been here before and need to stay confident regardless of the score.”

During a Sept. 30 home match against Eureka, the Lady Loggers showed their grit. The team mounted a nine-point comeback during which Ostrem-Johnston did not call a timeout. Similar to great basketball coaches who allow teams to play through stretches of poor play, Ostrem-Johnston said the counterintuitive coaching technique works with a veteran team. It also helps when players hear a coach’s words of instruction before they are spoken.

While she comes across as a no-nonsense coach, Ostrem-Johnston’s players said she is not nearly as intimidating as they thought on the first day of practice years ago.

“It took like a week for it wear off,” senior libero Mahalah Wedel said. “She lets us have a lot of fun.”

Tom Gallagher, senior outside hitter Devon Gallagher’s father, began assistant coaching two years ago. An Iraq War veteran, Tom Gallagher had no previous volleyball coaching experience, but the players describe him as a calming influence.

“Coach O-J will get more upset when things are going bad,” Moe said. “Tom keeps things lighter and helps keep it all in perspective.”

Devon Gallagher appreciates the motivational impact her father has on the girls. She describes him as the loudest person on the team. Speaking about her father while he hits practice serves, Gallagher said he might also be the deafest person on the team. With impeccable timing, Tom Gallagher butts in, asking his daughter to repeat that.

“This team has a lot of heart,” Tom Gallagher said. “They’re a rewarding group and some good athletes.”

Despite the frequent demand for lateral agility, volleyball is largely a game of communication and trust. England estimates that volleyball is 90 percent mental and emotional — there is only so much muscle memory required to execute a proper bump, set or spike.

“In volleyball, someone has to win every point,” England said. “Mistakes happen and we just have to get back up for the next ball. We trust each other.”

Wedel said the team aims to finish the year without regret. Fellow senior and homecoming queen Dayln Germany said the team should shoot for state.

With plans to transfer to Class B next year, this will be the last time Libby hosts the Class A divisional tournament Nov. 6-8. The team must finish in the top two to advance to state. Currently third in conference, the Lady Loggers said they feed off the energy of their home crowd. Should the best fall sports team in Lincoln County enter the tournament on their typical late-season run, there is a good chance the Lady Loggers could extend their season with a postseason run.