Maidens get win at Columbia Falls, fall short at Mission
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ST. IGNATIUS — The momentum from a big win over Columbia Falls Tuesday was not enough to carry the Maidens to victory in St. Ignatius Saturday as Ronan fell to the Lady Bulldogs in three games, 25-16, 25-18, 25-18.
Just days after picking up their third conference win of the season over Columbia Falls, the Maidens seems to come out flat and emotionless playing a Saturday game at Mission.
“I told the girls on the bus ride down there that Mission is playing well and they would want to prove something by getting a win over a Class A team that has been doing well,” Maiden head coach Naomi Mock said. “I told them that if they didn’t do what they needed to do, it was going to come out bad. Unfortunately, I don’t know if they took that to heart or not.”
Ronan had nine kills from Tailyr Irvine and 12 digs from Marissa McCrea but it was not nearly enough to overcome the Mission attack.
“I don’t know if it was internal stuff that I don’t know about. I don’t know if it was the venue with the game being too close to home. I really don’t know. I have no idea what happened,” Mock said. “I didn’t think they outright overpowered us at any point, we just seemed to be very blah. There was no intensity. There was no fun. It was like there was no emotion there at all.”
For Mock and the Maidens, the loss was a big disappointment after coming off a three-game sweep of Columbia Falls earlier in the week.
“To come from playing Columbia Falls so well earlier in the week and then go down to Mission and not give a good showing, it leaves me scratching my head,” Mock said. “It’s just one of those things I guess. Teams have good days and bad days. It was still very disappointing.”
The Maidens looked like a different team Tuesday as they picked up their third conference win of the season at Columbia Falls, 27-25, 25-12, 25-18.
This time, it was the Ronan team that could not be stopped. The Maidens needed extra points to get the win in the opening game of the match but then rode that momentum to decisive wins in games two and three.
“The first game was close, but we were able to pull it out. I think that just gave us the fight and the fire to go get wins in the next two games,” Mock said. “We were just wanting to finish them off and get it done.”
Alice Van Gunten led the Maidens with nine of their 32 kills in the win while McCrea added 20 digs, Lynch had 11 assists and McCrea and Tuesday Salmon each had five of Ronan’s 12 aces.
“It is almost like we were two different teams,” Mock said. “We were not the same team against Mission that we were against Columbia Falls.”
While the Saturday loss may not have been what Mock was hoping for, she said that good things might still come of it.
“I told them after the match Saturday that we will have to use this loss as a learning experience,” she said. “I told them that we will have to learn where everyone needs to be in order to put it all together.”
Summary
Mission def. Ronan 25-16, 25-18, 25-18
Kills - Ronan 22 (Tailyr Irvine 9), Mission 25 (Adessa Durglo 5, Sierra Scott 5). Blocks - Ronan 2 (Bethany Coleman 1), Mission 3 (Durglo, Loren Erickson, Jennifer Larsson). Digs - Ronan 43 (Marissa McCrea 12), Mission 36 (Mackenzie Trudeau 13). Assists - Ronan 15 (Taylor Lynch 9), Mission 18 (Loren Erickson 10). Aces - Ronan 6 (McCrea 3), Mission 14 (Erickson 6).
Ronan def. Columbia Falls 27-25, 25-12, 25-18
Kills - Ronan 32 (Alice Van Gunten 9). Blocks - Ronan 1. Digs - Ronan 45 (McCrea 20). Assists - Ronan 22 (Lynch 11), Aces - Ronan 12 (McCrea 5, Tuesday Salmon 5).
