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Spikers take second in Bitterroot tourney

| September 13, 2007 11:00 PM

By DAVID ERICKSON

Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish Lady Bulldog spikers again looked like a championship-caliber team at the Bitterroot Invitational Volleyball tournament this weekend. There may be only one obstacle in their path for another state title — Libby, their Northwestern Class A foe.

Whitefish lost a close championship set against the Lady Loggers, going 1-2. The scores were 20-22, 21-16 and 18-16. Libby went undefeated at the tournament, but Whitefish was close behind with a 10-2 overall mark in pool play.

Whitefish beat Stevensville 21-15, 21-7 and Anaconda 22-20, 21-15 to reach the final.

"All in all, we did a super job," said 15th-year head coach Jackie Fuller. "We got a lot of playing time in, which is what we needed. Our conditioning was great."

Fuller said the championship match was close the whole way, with the lead changing hands several times.

"It was a good-fought battle by both teams. It was even-Steven the whole way through," she said.

Fuller said defense is the one point her squad needs to work on if they are to compete against the best teams.

"They were able to serve us right out of the game," she said. "We also gave up a four or five point lead."

Fuller said her squad will continue to work on improvement, and they are ready to kick in to full gear in conference play.

The Lady Bulldogs take on Ronan in Whitefish on Saturday.

Pool Standings

Silver pool: Libby 12-0, Whitefish 10-2, Bigfork 7-5, Columbia Falls 6-6, Polson 4-8, Ronan 3-9.

Red pool: Anaconda 9-3, Dillon 9-3, Stevensville 4-8, Frenchtown 3-9, Hamilton 3-9, Corvallis 2-10.

Saturday's playoff scores:

Consolation bracket — Columbia Falls def. Hamilton, 21-12, 21-19; Frenchtown def. Polson, 21-6, 14-21, 18-10; Corvallis def. Ronan, 17-21, 21-18, 18-1.

Championship bracket — Whitefish def. Stevensville, 21-15, 21-7; Dillon def Bigfork, 21-18, 21-18; Whitefish def. Anaconda, 22-20, 21-15, Libby def. Dillon, 21-18, 21-17.

Championship match — Libby def. Whitefish, 20-22, 21-16, 18-16.