Volleyball battles hard, but drops three matches

The Lady Bulldogs dropped three more matches last week against Libby, Stillwater Christian and Columbia Falls.

Whitefish has been close in several matches, but has not been able to pull out a win since the opening kick-off tournament in Ronan.

Against Libby on Tuesday, Sept. 14 the Bulldogs lost in three sets, 25-23, 25-22, 25-23. Whitefish head coach Addy Connelly says that her team was really close to being able to win each of those sets, but couldn’t get the points when they needed them the most.

“Another close night for the bulldogs,” she said. “We struggled to close out our games that evening.”

She mentioned that Jadi Walburn played well to lead the team. Walburn had 11 digs, seven kills and two aces. Connelly also added that senior Taylor Means did well at the net against Libby racking up eight kills and three blocks. Whitefish freshman Kaydence Blackwell also stepped up in her first varsity match, recording nine assists for the team.

The Lady Bulldogs hosted Stillwater Christian in Whitefish on Thursday, and lost 23-25, 18-25, 26-24, 20-25. Full statistics were not available for this match.

Whitefish then played Columbia Falls on Saturday and got off to a slow start. Whitefish put up a good fight in the third game, but fell short to push the match past three sets. The Wildkats won over the Bulldogs 25-15, 25-14, 25-21.

Columbia Falls controlled the games and was led by the power of Jazzy Marino who had 10 kills, 11 assists and five aces.

Whitefish’s leader at the net was sophomore Brooke Zetooney with eight kills. Walburn did well again with three blocks and eight digs, and Ainsley Scott led her team with nine assists.

“This past week we battled with girls out and players playing with new teammates and in different roles,” Connelly said. “They worked hard together to overcome these obstacles and continued to get better as the week wore on. Brooke Zeetooney played very well in the front row against CFalls putting away eight hard kills for us.”

Connelly hopes the young team continues to improve this week and starts eliminating the errors.

“We are going into a big week against Polson and Ronan,” Connelly added. “We will need to keep our wits about us — pass and serve the ball aggressively in order to keep both of these two teams on their toes.”

Whitefish was set to play Ronan after press time on Tuesday and will take on Polson Thursday at Whitefish High School.

Libby def. Whitefish 25-23, 25-22, 25-23

Kills — Libby 24, Whitefish 23 (Taylor Means 8, Jadi Walburn 7). Assists — Libby 20, Whitefish 19 (Kaydence Blackwell 9, Ainsley Scott 7). Blocks — Whitefish 2. Digs — Libby 51, Whitefish 30 (Jadi Walburn 11, Emma Trieweiler 9). Aces — Libby 8, Whitefish 11 (Brooke Zetooney 5).

Stillwater Christian def. Whitefish 23-25,18-25,26-24,20-25

Col. Falls def. Whitefish 25-15, 25-14, 25-21

Kills — CFalls 31, Whitefish 13 (Brooke Zetooney 8). Assists — CFalls 24, Whitefish 10 (Ainsley Scott 9). Blocks — CFalls 3, Whitefish 9 (Walburn 3). Digs — CFalls 27, Whitefish 33 (Jadi Walburn 8, Emma Trieweiler 8). Aces — CFalls 12, Whitefish 1.