Lady Loggers are district champs

The Western News

The Lady Loggers came back from 0-2 at the Northwest A volleyball district tournament on Saturday to defeat Columbia Falls 22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-12 in the championship match.

“Columbia Falls pushed us to the limit,” Coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said via email. “We played uptight and they played like they had nothing to lose. I am very proud of the girls for fighting back from (being) down 0-2. Hopefully that experience will prepare us for divisionals.”

Ostrem-Johnston noted the team “really struggled to get any kind of rhythm going” and “had to just keep grinding away.”

Brooklyn Rainer had 18 of Libby’s 53 kills. Jayden Winslow and Mehki Sykes contributed 13 and 10, respectively.

Alli Collins led the Loggers in assists with 46 and aces with three. Sykes and Emma Gruber had two aces apiece.

The day before their hard-fought victory over Columbia Falls, the Lady Loggers surpassed Polson 3-0.

Collins, with 29 of 30 assists in that game, did a “nice job of running the offense,” Ostrem-Johnston wrote.

Sykes and Emily Mossburg each had eight kills, while Winslow and Brooklyn Rainer each had seven.

Libby advances to divisional tournament play in Butte, which begins Thursday.

Championship

Libby def. Columbia Falls, 22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-12

Libby: Kills 53 (Rainer 18). Blocks 9 (Mossburg 6). Digs 89 (Winslow 28). Assists 49 (Collins 46). Aces 7 (Collins 3).

Columbia Falls: Kills 46 (Cowan 16). Blocks 14 (Kehr 5). Digs 113 (Street 35). Assists 38 (Schweikert 37). Aces 8 (Schweikert 3).

Friday’s Results

Libby def. Polson, 25-11, 25-21, 25-12

Libby: Kills 34 (Emily Mossburg 8, Mehki Sykes 8). Blocks 8 (Mossburg 5, Sykes 3). Digs 53 (Emma Gruber 18, Jayden Winslow 13). Assists 30 (Alli Collins 29). Aces 6 (Winslow 7, Brooklyn Rainer 2).

Polson: Kills 18 (Olivia Perez 6, Kaelyn Smith 5). Blocks N/A. Digs 52 (Kyler Lundeen 17, Smith 12). Assists 16 (Laurel Bitterman 15). Aces 5 (Smith 2, Perez 2).