Lady Pirates survive tough test from determined Whitefish squad
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POLSON — The Lady Pirates found themselves in a tough battle at home Saturday evening as they held off a determined Whitefish team to pick up a four-game win, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22.
In a back-and-forth match that saw both sides overcome large deficits, it was the Lady Pirates who made the right plays at the right times to pick up the victory.
“It was pretty intense,” Polson head coach Jan Toth said. “Whitefish always plays us hard. We had to rise above their energy level. Each of my girls, collectively, at different times came through with big things. Whitefish is a team that is never going to just roll over. You can get them down but, with their energy level, they just keep going and going.”
The never-say-die spirit of the Bulldogs showed itself in the opening game of the match as Polson jumped out to an 18-11 lead only to see Whitefish come storming back.
Serving errors cost the Lady Pirates as Whitefish used Polson mistakes to climb their way back into the contest. Polson led 23-21 when a serving error gave the ball back to Whitefish. Polson was unable to score again as Whitefish scored the next three points to escape with a 25-23 win in game one.
“Serving plagued us,” Toth said. “When you are constantly missing serves, it is self discipline. We have been serving in the 96 (percent)range and now, for the last few games, we are at 88 or 89. When you are scoring 12 percent of the points for those really good teams, you are going to have to work that much harder everywhere else.”
Polson bounced back with a 25-20 win in the second game, but the teams found themselves in another tight battle in game three.
Polson jumped out to an early lead in the third game of the match but Whitefish fought back to take an 11-7 lead and force a Polson timeout.
The Lady Pirates responded to the timeout with four straight points and were able to come back to tie the game at 13. The teams continued to fight to an 18-18 tie before kills by Kenzie Clay and Breanne Kelley put Polson up by two.
Whitefish answered with two straight points to tie the game at 20 before a kill by Kelley gave Polson back the lead. A serving error by Shalaina Duford tied the game at 21 but a kill by Sallie Sams and a net call put Polson up 23-21. Polson continued to lead, 24-23, when a Whitefish attack sailed into the net and fell to the floor to give Polson the victory and a 2-1 lead.
Polson found itself in trouble again in the opening moments of game four as Whitefish jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead. Polson continued to trail by five at 17-12 when a close call on a hard hit seemed to shift momentum back to the Lady Pirates. Polson scored six of the game’s next seven points to tie the score at 18 before falling behind 20-18.
A serving error by Whitefish and a kill by Sams tied the score at 20 before another kill by Sams gave Polson its first lead of the game.
Polson scored five of the game’s final seven points to pull out the win to take the match three games to one.
“There was never a time that I was worried,” Toth said after the game. “I knew that my girls would settle down in their saddle and take it to them when they needed to. I put some kids that usually don’t serve in there serving it and it really worked out well. Ashley Johnson came out and she served and caught us up when we were down by eight points. Then she came around again when we were down and served three points.
Breanne Kelley led the Lady Pirate attack with 15 kills while Kayla Duford led in assists with 30 and added a team-high five aces.
“Kayla did a great job finding our hitters, the hitters that were on,” Toth said. “She did some really nice things around the net. She had some kills herself when we needed them. She shows a lot of leadership.”
Riley Kenney continues to fight off a shoulder injury but was still able to lead the Lady Pirates in blocks in the win with four.
“She’s still nursing that bad shoulder injury, but you could never tell,” Toth said. “That girl is all over the place. She reads the court like no other.”
With strong efforts by many of her players, Toth says it was their willingness to attack balls close to the net that made the difference.
“What really made a huge difference was that my girls, rather than come out and tip when it got close, pounded the ball,” she said. “That is what I have asked out of them and asked out of them. Pound the ball when it gets close.”
The Lady Pirates will be in action again Thursday as they host Libby before traveling to Missoula for a tournament this weekend.
Summary
Polson def. Whitefish
23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22
Kills - Polson 45 (Breanne Kelley 15), Whitefish 26 (Heather Bailey 12). Blocks - Polson 9 (Riley Kenney 4), Whitefish 8 (Olivia Nagler 2, Brooke Silliker 2, Baylee Tveidt 2). Digs - Polson 84 (Kelley 17), Whitefish 50 (Madison Tveidt 14). Assists - Polson 31 (Kayla Duford 30), Whitefish 12 (Nagler 7). Aces - Polson 9 (Duford 5), Whitefish 10 (Silliker 5).
