Valkyries win two, lose two at divisionals

The past few years the Valkyries volleyball team has struggled to string together wins during the postseason, but that was not the case this year and Bigfork finished fourth at the Western B divisional tournament in Eureka last weekend.

However, one of the Vals’ best games was actually one they lost. Thompson Falls defeated Bigfork in a loser-out game Friday night, which allowed the Bluehawks to continue on and eventually earn a spot at the Class B State Volleyball Tournament.

“It was an awesome match,” said Bigfork head volleyball coach Tracy Wicklund. “They played a great game. None of them gave up. They all just kept pushing. They had a lot of heart. They did not want to be done with their season.”

The Valkyries won the first set 25-20 against Thompson Falls, a team Bigfork was unable to beat during the regular season. However, the Vals did not fare as well in the two sets that followed. The Bluehawks won both of those — 25-14 and 25-20, respectively.

“They just kind of let the energy down and I don’t know why,” Wicklund said. “I think that they were so excited that they won that first one and they were sort of reliving that moment instead of getting into the next game.”

Bigfork finally snapped out of it in the third game and fought back to a 25-19 victory. The final game went all the way down to the wire, and Thompson Falls was ultimately the 15-12 victor.

“Thompson Falls is a good team,” Wicklund said. “This whole year they have challenged us every time. We’re right there. We’ve given them good games, but they are just the better team right now. They deserve to go to state.”

Although the Vals were knocked out of the tournament with the loss, they have solace in knowing they left it all on the court.

“I was really proud that we came out swinging against Thompson Falls because all of the other games that we’ve played against them we didn’t really do that,” said Bigfork’s talented senior hitter Melissa VanDerveer. “So that was exciting to see even the younger girls come out pumped up for that game.”

VanDerveer led her team with 18 of the Vals’ 39 kills, four of their seven blocks and 21 of their 87 digs. Her stellar stat-line for her final game was made even better by the fact that the Vals earned fourth place in the tournament.

“I’m pretty excited because we didn’t expect that,” VanDerveer said. “We were ranked last in our district. I feel like we could have finished further, but we went out playing hard so it was worth it.”

Part of the secret to the Vals’ success at divisionals was a plan dictated by Wicklund to have setter Taylor Peck dish the ball to VanDerveer as much as possible. The duo, who are best friends on and off the court, used this method to pick up some extra points last weekend.

“I was told to really push Mel with my sets,” Peck said. “So when she was on, it definitely changed everything, and when she wasn’t it worked well with other people too. Also, we had two different line ups we were using so if we lost one game we would try to switch it up and try the other one. I think it helped to have two different looks.”

Peck accounted for 26 of Bigfork’s 30 sets in Friday night’s game. The senior also said she felt good about how the team’s season and her and her classmates’ careers ended.

“All the seniors were really happy with how we did,” Peck said. “I’m really proud of how all the girls did. I think it was a good tournament for us.”

Fellow senior Kianna Wicklund led the team in aces with four of Bigfork’s 12 and also accounted for 20 digs. Sophomore Tessa Robertson had a strong game as well with 14 kills.

“It was disappointing to lose that last one to Thompson Falls, but we put it all out there so you can’t really be too mad,” Peck said.

Round One

Bigfork, which was the No. 3 seed from District 7B, played Missoula Loyola for its first match at divisionals.

The Vals defeated the No. 2 seeded team out of District 6B in five sets. Loyola won the first two‚ 25-19 and 25-23, respectively. Then Bigfork came alive and swept the next three — 26-24, 25-12 and 15-13.

“The girls knew they could win the game because they beat them during the regular season, but they wanted to be sure that they did it again,” Wicklund said.

VanDerveer led her team in aces with eight an in kills with 14.

“We’re just so competitive with Loyola that we’re always going to come out strong against them,” VanDerveer said.

Robertson had a strong night at the net with five blocks, and Wicklund was responsible for 21 of the team’s 76 digs. Peck put up 21 of the Vals’ 21 sets.

“Mel was hitting awesome, Kianna was digging really well during the whole match, Taylor was doing a great job of setting and giving Mel lots to hit,” Wicklund said. “We really worked on that a lot. We wanted to make sure that Mel got lots to swing at because when she’s hitting we win games. She’s our power hitter. Then Tessa was a big force for us up front. She figured out how to deal with Loyola’s girl up front that really likes to tip the ball. It really slowed them down.”

Vs. Mission

The first-round win pitted the Vals against former 7B foes the Mission (St. Ignatius) Lady Bulldogs, who compete in District 6B now.

Bigfork lost the first set 25-21, but had a big 25-15 victory in the second. The Vals then lost the next two sets 25-20 and 25-5.

“Their serving killed us,” Wicklund said. “It wasn’t serve receive errors. They were just getting the ball up and putting it down hard. We just couldn’t get the serve back. They were just dominating us with their serve. They were scrappy and they didn’t let things hit the ground. They were hustling after every ball. It took us a little bit to figure out how to handle their tips. Then in that last game we just kind of shutdown.”

Wicklund’s players agreed that they just sort of let down in the match.

“We kind of gave everything we had against Loyola and we’re not really used to having to play a game right after another game,” VanDerveer said. “So it was a little bit hard to get everyone motivated and ready to play. I think that some of us thought we’d beat them before so we wouldn’t have any trouble beating them again. So we weren’t really ready and Mission is one of those teams that just keeps going and going.”

VanDerveer again led the Vals in kills with eight and in digs with 13. Bigfork’s service leaders were Wicklund and junior Shelby Scoggins with three apiece. Robertson led at the net with five blocks and Peck led in set assists with 15.

Vs. Troy

Following their loss to Mission the Vals moved into the loser-out bracket where they faced Troy.

Bigfork won the first set 25-21, lost the second 25-9 and then bounced back to win the next two 25-16 and 25-13

“They just really wanted it,” Wicklund said. “They knew that if they didn’t win it they wouldn’t be continuing on to the next game.”

VanDerveer tallied 16 digs and 13 kills this match. Senior Amber McDaniel led the team in aces with four and Robertson was responsible for five of the team’s six blocks. Peck had 19 of the team’s 25 set assists and Wicklund was credited with 12 digs.

“Mel was playing really well and hitting really well,” Wicklund said. “Tessa was making some big blocks for us up at the net too. Our defense was doing really well. We played a really good serve receive game.”

The victory over Troy sent the Vals to take on Thompson Falls, and ultimately led Bigfork to its fourth-place finish.

“In the beginning pool we were predicted to be tied with Plains in fourth place in our district so we had a lot to prove,” Wicklund said. “People doubted us for quite awhile, but we kept on getting wins and we kept getting big wins. We had a couple spots where we didn’t do as well as we wanted to, but they had a great season. The girls worked really hard and I’m really proud of them. It will be hard to lose our four seniors, but we have some good players coming in too. We are just going to have to keep doing what we do best and play some more good volleyball again next year.”