Whitefish volleyball nearly pulls off epic comeback

The Whitefish volleyball team mounted a spirited comeback attempt Thursday against Libby that nearly blew the roof off the newly remodeled gym.

After dropping the opening two sets, the Lady Bulldogs (1-3, 2-5) stormed back in front of their homecoming crowd to even the match. The Lady Loggers (1-3, 3-3) barely squeaked out a 17-15 victory in the final frame to take the conference win.

“Once we relaxed and remembered that we enjoy this game, we played so much better,” Whitefish coach Sarah Scott said of the comeback. “We’ve been struggling with coming out strong early in the match. We have to come in with that mentality in game one.”

Libby took an early lead in the final frame, going up 5-11, before Maura Kalbfleisch scored a kill to give Whitefish a jolt. Allie Schulz followed with a nice spike and Rachael Seymour had a stuff block to help tie the set at 11-11.

Whitefish’s defense kept it close as Marlow Schulz and Seymour combined for a stuff at 13-14, but Libby made just enough plays down the stretch to get the win.

Whitefish’s rally began in the third set when Bekah Weaver and Myndi Holbrook combined for a stuff block to give the Dogs’ their first lead. A nice kill by Kendra Anderson kept Whitefish in front 20-17 after Libby made a run. Weaver then set up a kill for Allie Schulz to seal the set.

The fourth set began in Libby’s favor until Seymour slammed down a huge cross-court kill to tie it at 20-20. Her kill brought the student section to their feet.

“Rachael stepped up and brought great energy to the court,” Scott said.

Weaver put in an ace at 24-21 and the Dogs evened up the match at 2-2.

Scott commended the home crowd for their support in the nearly two hour match.

“I was impressed with their energy,” Scott said.

Allie Schulz led the Dogs with 10 kills. Marlow Schulz tallied six stuff blocks, and Weaver put up 24 assists and three aces.

Libby 3, Whitefish 2

25-21, 25-12, 19-25, 20-25, 17-15

Kills — Libby 42 (Staci Regh 12), Whitefish 28 (Allie Schulz 10); Blocks — Libby 3 (Devon Gallagher 3), Whitefish 15 (Marlow Schulz 6); Assists — Libby 39 (Hannah England 37), Whitefish 29 (Bekah Weaver 24); Digs — Libby 78 (Mahalah Wedel 27), Whitefish 35 (Maura Kalbfleisch 13); Aces — Libby 26 (England 15), Whitefish 4 (Weaver 3).