Libby stays unbeaten with win over Eureka

Libby cruised in the first set and eked out close wins in the second and third to sweep rival Eureka 25-11, 25-23, 28-26 to kick off the school’s homecoming week on Tuesday night.

“That’s always a big win for the kids to win their homecoming matches,” Libby coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said. “Eureka’s a good, solid team. They use everything they have. They play smart. They play scrappy. I expect to see them do big things at the Class B state tournament.”

Brooklyn Rainer led the Loggers with 14 kills and just two errors and was 16-for-16 in the service game.

“She was the shining star out there,” Ostrem-Johnston said.

Libby, which trailed 17-9 at one point in the third set, rallied back to complete the sweep.

Jayden Winslow added eight kills and three aces for the Loggers, who improved to 13-0 overall and 9-0 in their conference.

Erynn Their tallied 12 kills for the visiting Lions (8-3, 4-0).

Eureka hosts Thompson Falls at 4 p.m. Saturday, while Libby closes out its home schedule at the same time on Saturday with a conference game against Ronan.

“We talk about minimizing errors, because that’s been a constant battle for us, making teams earn their points against us,” Ostrem-Johnston said. “It was a good match tonight. It was good for us to be challenged.”

Libby def. Eureka 25-11, 25-23, 28-26

Kills — Eureka 36 (Erynn Thier 12), Libby 32 (Brooklyn Rainer 14, Jayden Winslow 8). Blocks — Eureka 2 (Maggie Graves 2). Libby 8 (Mehki Sykes 6). Assists — Eureka 36 (Liz Pacella 35), Libby 29 (Alli Collins 26). Digs — Eureka 43 (Rylee Morgan 15), Libby 43 (Emma Gruber 11, Lindsey Walker 10). Aces — Eureka 5 (Avory Escobar 3), Libby 8 (Winslow 3).