Vals spikers lock up second place in Northwest A

By JORDAN DAWSON / Bigfork Eagle

The Vals beat Polson last Thursday to secure second place in the conference going in to the Northwest Class A Divisional Tournament, and then beat Hamilton on senior night Saturday.

"I was very happy with the way we played our final two matches," said Bigfork head volleyball coach Yvonne Peck. "The girls played very well together. I am pleased how we are playing at the end of regular season. The varsity team remained undefeated at home this year."

In what was the last night on the home court for Bigfork's four seniors, the Vals beat Hamilton in three games, 25-14, 25-23 and 25-19.

"Our match against Hamilton had lots of additional emotion attached to it being senior night, which can cause a lack of concentration. My girls did very well with it and never fell behind in the first game and only fell behind briefly in the second game. We fell behind in the third early, but were the first team to reach 10 and we never looked back."

The seniors made their last game memorable. Roxy Thurman had 10 kills and one block, Rachael Luckow had 10 assists and Jill Hamilton had 10 digs. Also contributing were, Emily Hardman, with eight kills and two aces, Mallery Knoll with 13 digs and Claire Wilken with eight assists and four aces.

Thursday's win against Polson not only earned the Vals second place in the conference, but also gave them a bye for the first round of divisionals, which starts today, Nov. 13, in Polson. The Vals beat the Lady Pirates in three games, 25-22, 25-19, 25-16.

"The match was extremely important to the girls as it determined where they ended up in the conference standings and avenged an early season loss to Polson," Peck said.

Knoll had 18 digs, seven kills and three aces. Thurman had 15 digs and 10 kills. Luckow had 14 assists and Wilken had 13.

The Vals will take on the winner of the first round game between Polson and Ronan tomorrow, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m. at the divisional tournament.