Vals spikers sweep last week

By JORDAN DAWSON / Bigfork Eagle

The Bigfork varsity volleyball team won all three of their matches last week, beating Stevensville, Hamilton and Ronan to improve their record to 5-2 in conference and 7-2 overall.

The Vals won the first game Saturday against Ronan 25-14, lost the second 16-25, won the third 25-5 and sealed the match with a 25-19 win in the fourth game.

Roxy Thurman had 13 kills against Ronan. Rachael Luckow had three aces and three kills. Melissa VanDerveer had three aces. Emily Hardman had six kills.

Bigfork traveled south on Thursday to take on Stevensville in the morning and then stopped in Hamilton to play a night match. The Vals won both matches in three games. They beat Stevensville 25-19, 25-19 and 26-24.

Hardman had nine kills, one block and three block assists. Thurman had 19 kills, four blocks, two block assists and two aces. Claire Wilken had 11 set assists and two aces. Luckow had 10 set assists and three aces.

"We had a great weekend," said head Bigfork volleyball coach Yvonne Peck. "We were missing senior starter Jill Hamilton, but the other girls just stepped up and worked harder. Emily Hardman made the move for us to the middle and Melissa VanDerveer came into the front row."

Bigfork beat Hamilton 25-20, 26-24 and 25-15. Thurman had 10 kills, two blocks and one block assist. Luckow had five aces and four kills. Knoll had six kills and two aces. Hardman had five kills, two blocks and one block assist.

"I was very please with the balance we had with all the changes." Peck said, "the girls won more of the long rallies. The team is working very hard at keeping the ball alive even when we are not quite in sync."