Valkyries hit the court

Although it has yet to play a match against any teams from District 7B, the Valkyries volleyball team is picking up solid experience while preparing for such a game.

Last week the girls lost to Stillwater Christian in a tight back-and-forth match at home Tuesday and beat Powell County in Deer Lodge on Friday night.

On the road, the Vals started out strong taking down Deer Lodge in the first two games, 25-14 and 25-21. Bigfork dropped the third game 25-21, but picked up the final game with ease 25-8.

"As a team, the Deer Lodge game was our best to date," said Tracy Wicklund, head coach of the Valkyries. "We have yet to get all of our offensive tools working the way I'd like them to be, but our setters are making adjustments to make our offense more and more powerful. It's a work in progress, and I am thrilled with how we are coming along."

Last year, Deer Lodge handed the Vals their first loss in the Western B Divisional Tournament and went on to advance to the Class B State Tournament. So for Wicklund and her Bigfork team, the win felt like an extra big achievement.

"It was good to see where we are, which is where we thought we would be," Wicklund said. "We are an excellent serving and defensive team right now. The offense is coming along and I am excited about what I'm seeing. Improving every game is one of our goals, and so far, we have been able to do that."

Senior Mallery Knoll had a big night with 18 kills and 15 digs. Junior Kianna Wicklund picked up 15 digs as well. Senior Hannah Barrett had 17 set assists and three aces and fellow senior Ariel Stallknecht had 11 assists.

"Mallery Knoll played her best game of the season and has emerged as a great team leader," Wicklund said. "We were once again strong defensively, as Deer Lodge was unable to utilize their strong serves to get to us like they did in their previous match (a 3-0 win against Superior)."

Three nights earlier, in Bigfork's first home game of the year, the Vals struggled to contend with Stillwater Christian.

"Stillwater is a very big, experienced, powerful team that we played very tough the entire night," Wicklund said. "We had made a few adjustments to neutralize their big hitter, but they had a couple of other girls who stepped up for them."

The teams finished within three points of each other in every game but one, which had a five point difference, in the four-game match. The Vals lost the first game 25-23 and picked up the second game 25-20 before losing the final two 25-22 and 29-27.

"The match could not have been much closer, and there are several areas that we can improve upon," Wicklund said. "With that being said, I am growing more and more confident that we will be a very good team by tournament time. It was one of the most fun, exciting matches I've coached. We have a lot to build on."

Knoll was again strong on the floor with 14 kills, 29 digs and six aces. Wicklund was the digs leader with 33, having dove all over the court for the ball every game.

"Kianna Wicklund and Mallery Knoll were digging machines," Wicklund said.

Stallknecht led in set assists with 20 and Barrett contributed with 16. Amber McDaniel and Melissa VanDerveer had five and four blocks, respectively.

"The Vals had an impressive night defensively with 10 solo blocks, 10 block assists and an impressive 114 digs, which shows that we were flying all over the place to keep the ball in play," Wicklund said.

Tonight, Sept. 9, the Valkyries host Thompson Falls in their first conference match of the season. Tomorrow they will travel to Columbia Falls to play in the Northwest/Southwest Tip-off Tournament, which is a two-day event that includes teams from area Class A and Class B schools.

Read about last week's JV and C Squad matchups in the Sept. 9 print edition of the Bigfork Eagle.