Lady Dogs split matches against Ronan, Libby
Becca Catina bumps the ball against Libby.
Whitefish volleyball split a pair of matches this week, taking down Ronan on Tuesday before falling to undefeated Libby Thursday.
The Lady Dogs managed one of the four sets against the Lady Loggers, falling 3-1 in sets of 25-14, 25-10, 17-25 and 25-19.
Lauren Schulz, Cailyn Ross and Annisa Brown spread out the kills for Whitefish with five apiece. Becca Catina led the team with eight assists and Serena Hemmingson led in digs (13) and aces (4).
Libby more than doubled the Lady Dogs’ kill count, with 51 to Whitefish’s 23.
However, despite the outcome, head coach Addy Connelly said she saw some positive things in that match.
“We probably played our best against Libby,” Connelly said. “The girls started doing some things really well that we’ve been working on in practice and they really started to come together as a team.”
Whitefish was set to host rival Columbia Falls Tuesday after presstime, a rescheduling of the homecoming match canceled two weeks ago after cyber-threats against area schools arose.
They’ll take on Browning on Thursday before heading to the Bitterroot to battle Corvallis and Hamilton in a doubleheader on Saturday.
Heading into the second half of the season, Connelly said a full week like this one will be a good test to gauge where her team is at.
“We’ve got a lot of volleyball ahead of us. I think after this week we’ll kind of have a better idea of where things are going but so far it’s looking good,” she said.
“I think it just comes down to us playing our game, not changing what we’re doing because of what the other team is doing. We just need to make sure we’re being consistent.”
Libby def. Whitefish 25-14, 25-10, 17-25, 25-19
Kills — Whitefish 23 (Lauren Schulz 5, Cailyn Ross 5, Annisa Brown 5), Libby 51 (Mehki Sykes 16, Jayden Winslow 11); Blocks — Whitefish 6 (Ross 2, Brown 2, Marlee Bender 2), Libby 13 (Emily Mossburg 7, Sykes 5); Assists — Whitefish 15 (Becca Catina 8), Libby 47 (Alli Collins 45); Digs — Whitefish 46 (Serena Hemmingson 13), Libby 63 (Winslow 15, Emma Gruber 12); Aces — Whitefish 6 (Hemmingson 4), Libby 9 (Winslow 3).