Still undefeated, Lady Loggers beat Ronan in 3
Libby junior Kenzie Proffitt goes up for a kill, scoring the first Lady Logger point of their three-set win over Ronan Saturday. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Libby senior Jayden Winslow goes up for a dig during the Lady Loggers’ third set of a three-set win against Ronan Saturday. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Libby senior Emma Gruber serves during the Lady Loggers’ three-set win against Ronan Saturday. Gruber was one of four Libby players with 100 percent serving. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Continuing their undefeated season, the Libby High School volleyball team beat the Ronan Maidens on Saturday in three sets.
Despite the win, Libby started out behind in the first and third sets, with the third staying a close battle until a series of Ronan errors put Libby into a 13-9 lead.
Libby Head Coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston acknowledged that the Lady Loggers had slow starts in those sets.
“I have a hard time dealing with that,” she said. “I want my team to be ready to play when they step out on the floor.”
Ostrem-Johnston attributed the lower-energy performance out of Libby on Saturday to illness that had been passing through the team.
“There was not a lot of energy out there like they normally play with, but it was good to get the win in, in three,” she said. “Ronan was a scrappy team. They did some good things. They served tough at us.”
Ostrem-Johnston and while the players may have not been moving as fast or hitting as hard as they have in other games this season, they still had a good technical game.
“When we broke it down, all the hitters in the front row had some really solid hits. (Senior) Linsey Walker played some great defense and had some runs again at the back from the serving line. The subs that came off the bench went in and did their job,” Ostrem-Johnston said.
Libby had two runs, for six and nine points, with Walker serving. She was also one of four Lady Loggers with 100 percent on their serving during the match, joined by fellow senior Emma Gruber and juniors Kylee Quinn and Ashlynn Monigold.
“Linsey Walker did a nice job reading the hitters,” Ostrem-Johnston noted.
Yet, the Lady Loggers are still striving for the goal of being a “well-oiled machine,” she said. Part of that still includes cutting down on unforced errors.
“And they play a lot better when they have that good, positive, strong energy out there on the court,” Ostrem-Johnston said.
Ostrem-Johnston also pointed out the .424 team attack percentage, which senior Mehki Sykes lead with a .500 and 18 kills. With seven kills, junio Kenzie Proffitt matched sykes with a .500 attack percentage.
Gruber and fellow senior Jayden Winslow led the team with digs, and excelled in serve receive, with Gruber racking up 14 digs and a 2.71 serve receive and Winslow putting up nine digs and making 2.80 on serve receive.
Overall, the team had a 2.24/3.0 serve receive, which Ostrem-Johnston called “very solid.”
The Lady Loggers play tonight at the Ralph Tate Memorial Gym, when they face Eureka in the Battle of the Kootenai. The battle starts at 4:15 p.m. with the froshmore teams, followed by junior varsity at 5:45 p.m. and varsity at 7:15 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 22
Libby (6-0 Conf, 8-0) 3, Ronan 0
Sets: 25-15, 25-9, 25-17
L: 6 ace, 45 kill, 40 assist, 4 block, 37 dig; Alli Collins 2 ace, 1 kill, 38 assist, 2 dig; Sheyla Gallagher 2 kill, 1 assist; Jayden Winslow 9 kill, 9 dig; Kenzie Proffitt 7 kill, 1 block, 1 dig; Mehki Sykes 2 ace, 18 kill, 3 block, 2 dig; Ashlynn Monigold 2 dig; Linsey Walker 2 ace, 5 dig; Jessika Jones 8 kill, 2 dig; Emma Gruber 1 assist, 14 dig