Lady Dogs best Loggers

It took all five sets, but the Lady Dogs defended their home court against the Libby Loggers last week.

Whitefish came out on top in sets of 25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 25-27, 15-9 in Thursday’s Northwest A conference matchup.

Mikenna Ells served six aces and recorded 19 assists for the Lady Dogs, who had 38 assists altogether. Luci Ridgeway and Kaiah Moore contributed 22 and 12 kills respectively, while both Jadi Walburn and Payton Reisinger added three blocks.

Head coach Addy Connelly said the win was big for her team’s confidence.

“They did pretty good considering where we came out of the Tip Off Tournament,” she said. “We were a little discouraged after that. For some of the girls it was the first time they’d ever beaten Libby, so they were pretty excited.”

In particular, Connelly said she’s seeing a lot of versatility with her players, which was evident in the Libby game.

“They were a lot more steady than at the Tip of Tournament in regards to working together as a team. There were some highs and some lows obviously, but they were a little more consistent and kept their composure,” she said. “I have a good group of girls that are really versatile. They can play middle, they can play right, they can pass. Nobody is really set in stone so we’re able to be fluid with that.”

This week the team will host Stillwater on Thursday at Whitefish High School, with varsity play starting around 7 p.m.

Aces — Libby 9 (Ember Rodes 4), Whitefish 15 (Mikenna Ells 6); Kills — Libby 29 (Shayla Gallagher 9), Whitefish 56 (Luci Ridgeway 22, Kaiah Moore 12); Assists — Libby 29 (Kylie Quinn 20), Whitefish 38 (Ells 19, Jenny Patton 17); Blocks— Libby 12 (Gallagher 3), Whitefish 9 (Jadi Walburn 3, Payton Reisinger 3); Digs — Libby 40 (Ashlyn Monigold 20), Whitefish 35 (Moore 9).