Undefeated start for Vals

The Valkyries volleyball team continued its sweep of District 7B teams last week as the Bigfork girls beat Troy in three games Thursday, Sept. 16, and Plains in four games Saturday.

"I am very happy that we are 3-0 in conference play and 4-1 overall," said Tracy Wicklund, Bigfork's head volleyball coach. "After losing the opening match against Stillwater, we have been able to win four straight in the Class B division. It has been a tough year as we have yet to field a complete team. Injury and other commitments have left us scrambling every game and the girls have stepped up and performed well under the adversity. We still have our two toughest matchups in St. Ignatius and Eureka coming up, so we can't get too comfortable."

Those on missing due to injuries include the absence of junior Taylor Peck, who played in her first varsity game of the season in the Vals' home match against Troy.

"It was great to have Taylor back," Wicklund said. "She is working hard and is a valuable asset to the team. However, because she has been injured, it will take a few games before she's the force we expect her to be, but she's close. The setter position is critical and Ariel (Stallknecht) and Hannah (Barrett) have stepped up and have done a great job (in Taylor's absence)."

With Peck back in action, the Vals still are incomplete. Last week junior libero Kianna Wicklund sustained a concussion and, according to her coach, has been medically benched for two weeks.

"Again, adversity strikes, but other players have stepped up to fill in for her while she's away," Wicklund said. "We need her back there for our serve receive and her ability to keep the tough balls in play."

Even though it hasn't been easy for the Vals to fill in these gaps week-to-week, the fact that they have still found success in spite of them gives their coach confidence for the rest of the season.

"I continue to be very optimistic as we head down the stretch," Wicklund said. "We've been able to win a few games while we are not at full strength. This has allowed additional playing time for other players who have been great. All of this craziness will help us during the tournament as we will have a deep bench that has had considerable playing time so there won't be any of the normal nerves if we need to go to the bench."

In the meantime, the Valkyries are doing well with what they have.

"We have a team of excellent servers. We have also shown that we are scrappy and have the ability to keep balls alive that would be winners for a lot of teams," Wicklund said. "We have also shown good power at times as our hitters continue to improve."

In their home match against Troy, the Vals won the first two games 25-22 and the third 25-23.

"Troy played a tough match and showed us a few areas where we really need to work," Wicklund said. "Our tip coverage was poor, but the girls stepped up at the end of each set and finally got through a match in three sets."

Senior Mallery Knoll had 14 digs and nine kills. Junior Melissa VanDerveer had seven kills, four aces and two blocks. Stallknecht was responsible for 20 of Bigfork's 58 digs. Barrett helped out with 12 of the team's 22 set assists and led in aces with five. Peck was an assist leader as well with six.

"Ariel stepped in for our injured libero, Kianna, and did a great job," Wicklund said "It's a high stress position and she really came through."

In Plains, Bigfork dropped the first game 25-23 before going on to win the next three 25-17, 25-14 and 25-16.

"We played flat the first set. We jumped to an early lead and lost our intensity," Wicklund said. "After losing the first set, we woke and played much better."

Knoll and VanDerveer each accounted for 10 of the Vals' 30 kills. VanDerveer also led in blocks with five and aces with three. Knoll was the digs leader with 19 and Stallknecht added 16 to help Bigfork get a total of 63 digs that match. Barrett had 19 of the team's 26 set assists.

"Our team had an excellent serving night and Plains was unable to complete the necessary passes to get into their offense," Wicklund said. "Our serving percentage was not as good as we usually do, but the serves that got over the net were hard to handle. It was a classic case where I wish they showed more of a killer instinct, but it's always good to get a conference win. I was proud of the way the girls were able to find another gear after losing the first set. Melissa and Mallery were very strong at the net. Plains had a good blocking team and we were able to make the necessary adjustments."

Although they are thus far undefeated in their district, the Bigfork team isn't without its flaws. As they work on getting everyone back in the lineup, they will also be working out some kinks on the court.

"We need to get everyone back and playing together as a well-oiled machine," Wicklund said. "It concerns me that we lack the killer instinct and play to the level of our competition. We need to practice and play with 100-percent intensity."

The Vals hosted Missoula Loyola on Tuesday. Read about the game online at www.bigforkeagle.com.

Today, Sept. 23, Bigfork travels to Eureka to take on Lincoln County High School. Last year the Eureka and Bigfork teams continually found themselves up against each other. Both had their only conference loses to one another and the two battled it out in a challenge game for first place at the District 7B Tournament. Then, a week later it was Eureka's team that bumped Bigfork out of the Western B Divisional Tournament.

Junior Varsity

The junior varsity Valkyries lost both of their matches last week with a four-game defeat against Troy at home and a three-game loss to Plains on the road.

"With these two loses we are still going to keep our chins up and work hard," said Treena Mitts, Bigfork High School's junior varsity volleyball coach. "With being such a young team, the fact that we are playing competitively is a good sign."

Against Troy, the Vals lost the first two games 25-18 and 25-19, respectively. Bigfork won the third set 16-14, but dropped the fourth 15-11.

Bigfork lost out of the match in Plains in three uneven games — 25-14, 28-26, 15-5.

"We had a slow start and then picked our pace up for the second game. Then we got the best of ourselves in the third game," Mitts said.

C Squad

The young Vals also took a loss in their only match last week, which was against Troy.

Bigfork's C Squad lost the first game 25-13, won the second 25-17 and lost the next two 16-14, 15-10.

"The girls came out flat and never really recovered," said Trisha Smith, Bigfork C Squad coach. "Troy is a competent serving team, something these young girls had not gone up against yet. One server was able to serve numerous aces and that cannot happen in rally scoring. We struggled to pass the ball and it cost us the match. We were able to learn a lot from this match, though. We will definitely work on strengthening our serve receive and increasing our communication to one another."