VOLLEYBALL: Florence hands Libby first loss

The Florence Falcons swept Libby on Saturday in Bigfork, handing the Lady Loggers team its first loss of the season.

Florence took the match in three games, 25-21, 25-22, 25-13.

Libby got its redemption later Saturday after defeating Loyola, 25-8, 25-16, 25-17.

“I was pleased with the way [the team] quickly rebounded from the loss to Florence,” Libby head volleyball Coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said.

The Lady Loggers had four winning matches against Deer Lodge on Thursday with 25-14, 21-25, 25-20 and 25-8.

The team put down a total of 17 aces, with Alli Collins leading the team with nine aces and Haylee Cannon scoring three. The team also had a whopping 37 kills, Mehki Sykes led with team with 11, following behind were Cannon with eight and Jayden Winslow and Brooklyn Rainer with five each.

Collins also led the team in number of assists, with 21, along with Khalyn Hageness’s 11, the team had a total of 35 assists.

Sykes, along with Emily Mossburg led the team with eight blocks each.

The Lady Loggers scored a total of 24 digs with Winslow’s eight, Emma Gruber’s six and Hageness’s 5.

On Saturday, the Lady Loggers fell to Florence in three matches of 21-25, 22-25 and 13-25.

“We allowed Florence to control the match,” Ostrem-Johnston said. “We never really got our offense going. We did not play with confidence and passion.”

During the game against Florence, the team scored a total of eight aces, 24 kills, 24 assists, seven blocks and 20 digs. Cannon led the team with four aces with Winslow’s two. Sykes scored eight kills, Winslow scored five and Cannon scored four. The team’s leader in assists went to Collins who had 14, and Hageness who had 10. The main blockers were Winslow with three and Rainer with two. Emma Gruber’s seven digs were the highest for the team, with Hageness not far behind with five.

The Lady Loggers took back the control of the court on Saturday with their game against Loyola, with 25-15, 25-16, 25-17.

“They played with much more energy and confidence,” Ostrem-Johnston said. “We controlled this match.”

Against Loyola, the team put down a total of 17 aces, with Cannon leading with seven and Sykes with four. The Lady Loggers scored a total of 37 kills as a team, with Sykes having a heyday at the net, scoring 14, Rainer with eight, Winslow six, and Cannon and Mossburg with three each. Collins led the team with 25 assists, along with Hageness’s six. Mossburg blocked the ball three times, with Rainer, Winslow and Sykes close behind with one each.

Linsey Walker had seven digs, Gruber had six, and Cannon had five, with a grand total of 34 digs for the team.

The Lady Loggers have a busy week ahead of them, playing at home against Bigfork on Thursday at 4 p.m., Ronan in Ronan on Friday at 4 p.m., and Anaconda in Anaconda Quad at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Troy splits weekend in Eureka

Troy went 1-1 at the Eureka Quad last weekend, losing to Anaconda in four games and holding on through five games to overcome the Ronan Maidens.

“It was a good weekend for us,” Troy head volleyball Coach Mandy Love said. “We had some girls playing the best games they’ve played. As a team we’ve improved quite a bit.”

In the first game against Ronan, the team won four out of the five matches, 25-17, 20-25, 25-13, 25-15 and 15-10. During that game, the 16 aces were led by Alyssa Lewis with five aces, with Kaitlyn Downey scoring four and Kylie Carr scoring three. Lewis put down eight kills for the team, followed by Sami Rohrich’s six and Sarah Pierce’s five, with a team-total of 25 kills. Lewis also led in the number of blocks with four in total, and Allie Brown contributed 17 assists. Downey also stood out with 31 of the 40 digs.

In the game against Anaconda, the Trojans lost three out of the four games, 23-25, 11-25, 26-24, 19-25.

The team scored 15 aces, with Downey leading the team in aces with four, Lewis and Carr were not far behind with two each. With 21 kills in total, Rohrich slammed 10, Olivia Roach put down six and Lewis had five. Brown contributed the total number of 17 assists again and Downey led the team with 22 digs with Short following with nine, in total the team had 39.

The Trojans will take on Florence Falcons at the Florence Quad on Saturday at 11 a.m.