Spikers face Ronan at divisional

By JOE SOVA / Hungry Horse News

Columbia Falls closed out the regular volleyball season, facing the top two teams in the Northwest A Conference last week.

On Senior Night last Thursday (Oct. 25), the Wildkats were swept by rival Whitefish, 25-16, 25-12, 25-18. Libby, the top team in the league, posted a 25-12, 25-18, 25-15 victory over the Kats on Saturday (Oct. 27) in Libby.

CFHS finished 3-7 in the Northwest A Conference and has the No. 4 seed going into the Northwest A Divisional Volleyball Tournament Thursday through Saturday (Nov. 1-3) in Ronan. The Kats face fifth-seeded Ronan at 2 p.m. Thursday at Ronan Middle School in one of the two first-round matches. Also in the first round, No. 3 Bigfork faces No. 6 Polson. No. 1 Libby and second-seeded Whitefish have first-round byes.

With perhaps the emotions of Senior Night affecting them, the Kats fell behind Whitefish 8-2 in the opening game. After a time out by head coach Addy Hines, the Kats went on a run to take a 12-10 lead.

"Our serving came out tougher," Hines said of her team's play after the time out. "They decided they needed to play."

But the Bulldogs regrouped, scoring 15 of the next 19 points for the win.

The Kats struggled through most of the second game, falling behind 10-2 and 19-9. Two late kills by McCara Cullen led Whitefish to the win.

CFHS had passing problems in the third game, but was able to keep the Dogs from running away with it. A tip by Ashley Ferda gave Whitefish a 23-14 lead, but the Kats made a run — getting to within 24-18 before Brielle Menegazzi sealed the win with a kill.

"It was kind of a roller coaster," Hines said of her team's inconsistent play. "We've got to believe in ourselves. We have to believe that we can do it."

Hines agreed that the Kats had too many unforced errors.

"Our passes were off. Our setting was off," the coach said. "Whitefish is a tough team for us mentally."

Whitefish had 13 service aces in the match.

Alyssa Ladenburg paced the Kats with seven kills, and Cedar Smith had four. Sarah Marcille had 16 set assists and seven digs. Staci Pence led in digs with nine. Smith had a pair of blocks. Sam Ladenburg and Michelle Murphy each had two aces.

Ferda led Whitefish with 13 kills and 13 digs. Brielle Menegazzi added 13 digs, 10 kills and three service aces. Hailey Farmin had 22 set assists.

It was the final home match for five CFHS seniors — Marcille, Pence, Sam Ladenburg, Murphy and Auttem Osborne. Manager Sarah Cazier is also a senior.

Against Libby, the Kats showed a lot of hustle, according to Hines.

Alyssa Ladenburg had six kills and 13 digs. Sam Ladenburg served three aces, and Shiloh Knudsen had two blocks.