Lady spikers will miss state tournament

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

The nine-year state tournament appearance streak has come to an end for the Whitefish volleyball squad.

The defending state champion runner-ups were knocked out of the Northwestern A divisional tournament in Polson over the weekend with a 1-2 record. Whitefish managed to knock off Columbia Falls in the opening game, but fell to Libby and then Ronan in loser-out action. Libby went on to beat Polson in the championship match, defending their divisional crown from last year.

"We had a great season, and the girls learned a lot of valuable lessons," said head coach Jackie Fuller, whose teams won state titles in 2004, 2005 and 2006 before finishing second last year. "I was a little disappointed in the way the season ended, but I thought the girls played really well."

The last time Fuller didn't make the trip to Bozeman for the weekend of the state Class A tournament was in 1998.

In the opening game, the Lady Bulldogs avenged their two regular season losses to the Wildkats by jumping out to a two game lead. The Columbia Falls girls bounced back to take the next two games, but Whitefish won the tie-breaking fifth game 15-12 to stay alive in the tournament.

McCara Cullen led White-fish with 35 kills, and Molly Filipek had 15 digs. Jade Hanson led the team with 25 assists.

The Whitefish girls fell to a talented Libby team and were shocked by Ronan, who went winless in the conference in the regular season.

"Give Columbia Falls credit, they fought hard and came after us," Fuller said. "They took us to the very end of the fifth game. Northwestern A was very competitive this year, but there were very clear leaders in Polson and Libby."

Fuller said she was especially proud of they way her three seniors conducted themselves throughout the season.

"Jade Hanson, Shannon Kalbfleisch and McCara Cullen — those three seniors did a wonderful job. They hung in there, and I'm really proud of them," Fuller said. "Those three ladies are going to be doing wonderful things later in life. What they learned in volleyball will carry over in life."

WF 3, Columbia Falls 2

Bulldogs def. Wildkats 25-21, 25-22, 7-25, 18-25, 15-12.

Kills — Whitefish 35 (McCara Cullen 16, Olivia Nagler 7), Columbia Falls 41 (Shiloh Knudsen 13); Blocks — Whitefish 4 (Heather Bailey 3), Columbia Falls 11 (Knudsen 3); Assists — Whitefish 28 (Jade Hansen 25), Columbia Falls 33 (Casidee Skiles 33); Digs — Whitefish 67 (Molly Filipek 15, Cullen 13), Columbia Falls 74 (Alyssa Ladenburg 28); Aces — Whitefish 10 (Filipek 3, Madison Tveidt 3), Columbia Falls 11 (Ladenburg 3, Skiles 3).

Libby 3, Whitefish 0

Loggers def. Whitefish 25-17, 25-22, 25-17.

Kills Libby 31 (Jackie Mee 11, Devon Hoyer 7), Whitefish 23 (McCara Cullen 6, Shannon Kalbfleisch 6); Blocks Libby 8 (Mee 6, Alex Kulbeck 2), Whitefish 1 (Heather Bailey); Assists Libby 29 (Evi Cernick 11, Jordan Refsland 10), Whitefish 20 (Jade Hansen 15, Olivia Nagler 5); Digs Libby 38 (Hoyer 10, Mee 9), Whitefish 48 (Molly Filipek 16, Madison Tveidt 7); Aces Libby 16 (Cernick 4, Refsland 4), Whitefish 6 (Adele FauntLeRoy 3, Molly Filipek 2).

Ronan 3, Whitefish 1

Maidens eliminate Whitefish 15-25, 27-25, 25-16, 25-19.

Kills Whitefish 32 (McCara Cullen 17, Shannon Kalbfleisch 11), Ronan 31 (Carli Starkel 14, Kaylee Larson 8); Blocks Whitefish 1 (Abby Strellnauer), Ronan 5 (Starkel 2, Larson 2); Assists Whitefish 31 (Jade Hansen 22, Olivia Nagler 4), Ronan 19 (Kelsey Swalling 18); Digs Whitefish 88 (Molly Filipek 20, Nagler 15), Ronan 63 (Starkel 14, Larson 11); Aces Whitefish 11 (Filipek 3, Madison Tveidt 3), Ronan 15 (April Soukup 8, Brittani Clairmont 3, Kay Lee Larson 3).