Spikers headed to divisional tourney

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish girls have to figure out a way to keep their feet on the gas pedal. They started off hot against their cross-valley rivals, but faded in all three games.

McCara Cullen had eight kills for Whitefish on Friday night, but it wasn't enough to get her team past the Wildkats in the Northwestern A regular season volleyball finale in Columbia Falls. The Lady Bulldogs lost in three games, 23-25, 17-25, 19-25.

With the victory, the Wildkats ended a three-year losing streak to the Lady Bulldogs. The loss dropped the Lady 'Dogs to 4-6 in conference and 5-7 overall.

Whitefish let big leads slip away in the first two games. They took a 21-17 lead in the first game, but Columbia Falls rallied back with some big kills.

In the second game, the Whitefish girls got off to an 11-2 lead but let that one slip away as well.

Heather Bailey had four of Whitefish's 10 blocks, and Molly Filipek led the Lady 'Dogs with two of the team's seven aces.

Jade Hanson led the team with 20 assists.

"I thought Columbia Falls did a great job," Whitefish head coach Jackie Fuller said. "We started off strong but didn't maintain that. We've got a lot of youths playing, and that showed up, I think."

Fuller said that now that the regular season is over, she thinks her girls can re-focus on starting off hot in the post-season.

"Every coach is stressing the same thing: It's a brand new season," she said. "We've got three days to prepare, and our kids are excited. These young ladies have worked hard, and they know what they need to do.

"We're going to continue on getting a flow going with our offense. We've changed our offense a lot, and the kids need to get settled in. They need to practice, and I do believe they're ready to go."

The Lady Bulldogs (No. 4 seed) will get another shot at Columbia Falls (No. 5 seed) as they open Northwestern A divisional play against the Wildkats at 5 p.m. on Thursday in Polson. The divisional tournament lasts through Sunday.

Kills: Whitefish 23 (McCara Cullen 8) Columbia Falls 31 (Alyssa Ladenburg 10, Kayla DeWit 8), Assists: Whitefish 20 (Jade Hansen 14),Columbia Falls 29 (Cassidee Skiles 27), Blocks: Whitefish 10 (Heather Bailey 4), Columbia Falls 7 (Brooke Cady 3), Digs: Whitefish 73 (Cullen 13), Columbia Falls 79, (Cedar Smith 21), Aces: Whitefish 7 (Molly Filipek 2), Columbia Falls: 8 (Ladenburg 3).

Freshman spikers finish season 11-5

The Whitefish Lady Bulldogs freshman volleyball team finished a successful season on Nov. 7 against the Wildkats.

The team traveled to Columbia Falls with a six-match winning streak, but they couldn't overcomea very aggressive Wildkat team.

The Lady Bulldogs lost its final match 10-25, 25-21, 13-15, 6-15.

Shelby Backer and Torey Wetsch each had three service aces on the night. Abby Strellnauer led the team offensively with five kills, and Breanna Barnes made 11 defensive digs to lead the team.