Lady Dogs led by strong team in Missoula County Invite

The Lady Bulldogs won the consolation championship of the Missoula County Volleyball Invite Friday in a tournament filled with strong Class AA teams.

Whitefish defeated Polson and Libby to advance to the championship, where they won 15-25, 25-22, 15-8 over Great Falls High. Junior Cailyn Ross led the Lady Dogs with 36 kills and 13 blocks in the tournament. Serena Hemmingson had 95 digs and six aces, and Libby Nagler finished with a team-best 95 assists.

“I felt that it went really well,” head coach Jackie Fuller said. “I’m just really proud of them for working so hard during the bracket play — then turning around and setting a goal to win that consolation bracket. And that’s exactly what we did.”

Fuller pointed to Mirielle Kruger, Nagler and Kate Doorn for their strong play during the tournament, but said she was more impressed with how everyone functioned as parts of a whole.

“From the people who are out on the floor to the people on the bench, we need their constant support to be successful, and that’s what happened. I am just impressed with how well the girls are sticking together and playing together as one unit and taking care of each other,” she said.

Whitefish (7-4) travels to Stevensville on Friday before hosting their final regular season match against Frenchtown on Saturday. That match begins at 4 p.m. and will honor the team’s seniors.

Fuller stressed the importance of finishing the season on a high note, especially for her senior leaders.

“We’ve got two big matches ahead of us. Stevensville has gotten so much better, they have a nice outside hitter so we need to make sure we’re playing nice defense with the block. Then we have senior night against Frenchtown. They are all very, very important to us and hold a big spot in our program, so we’ll be celebrating them,” she said.

“We’re looking forward to packing the gym. We hope everyone will come out and support us and fill the stands, it will be great to watch.”

MCPS Invitational

Results

Championship bracket

At Sentinel Gym

Columbia Falls def. Kalispell Flathead

Kalispell Glacier def. Helena Capital

Missoula Sentinel def. Missoula Hellgate

Helena def. Corvallis

Capital def. Flathead, loser out

Corvallis def. Hellgate, loser out

Columbia Falls def. Glacier, semifinal

Sentinel def. Helena, semifinal

Capital def. Helena, loser out

Glacier def. Corvallis, loser out

Glacier def. Capital, third place

Sentinel def. Columbia Falls, 2-0, championship

Consolation bracket

At Hellgate gym

Great Falls CMR def. Missoula Big Sky

Great Falls def. Butte

Whitefish def. Polson

Libby def. Frenchtown

Big Sky def. Butte, loser out

Polson def. Frenchtown, loser out

Great Falls def. CMR, semifinal

Whitefish def. Libby, semifinal

Libby def. Big Sky, loser out

Polson def. CMR, loser out

Polson def. Libby, third place

Whitefish def. Great Falls, championship