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Valkyries snag two wins on the road

by Jordan Dawson Bigfork Eagle
| September 28, 2011 12:50 AM

 

The Valkyries volleyball team picked up

a pair of wins on the road last week defeating both Mission (St.

Ignatius) and Troy.

Saturday’s District 7B victory over

Troy wasn’t a simple one. The Vals lost the first game 25-22 before

going on to win the second game 28-26, as well as the next two

games — 25-16 and 25-15, respectively.

“After losing last year in Troy, I was

very impressed by the way the team came back after losing the first

set and continued to pressure Troy,” said Bigfork head volleyball

coach Tracy Wicklund. “The girls showed heart and maturity, and

really started to flow during the last two sets.”

Senior Taylor Peck led the team in digs

with 14 of the Vals’ 62 digs and also led in assists with 15 of

their 20. Sophomore Tessa Robertson made 11 of the team’s 20 kills

and all six of Bigfork’s blocks.

“I was especially impressed by the play

of Tessa (Robertson) and Taylor (Peck) in this match,” Wicklund

said. “Tessa was a force at the net, which caused Troy to attempt a

lot of tips and really kept them from getting into their offense.

Taylor was able to lead the team in digs this game due to her

ability to cover the tips. Tip coverage has been a real weakness of

ours until this match and I am very happy to see Taylor step in

there and handle the tips so well.”

Junior Shelby Scoggins led Bigfork in

aces with five of the team’s 13.

“The younger players on the team are

starting to really step up and we are seeing significant

contributions from everyone,” Wicklund said. “Shelby Scoggins was

very tricky with her serves resulting in five aces. Having wins

over Eureka and Troy so early in the season is big, but we really

need to continue to dig deep as the schedule doesn’t get any easier

and our district is just so evenly matched.”

 

Vs. Mission

With Mission now competing in District

6B, Thursday’s victory was a non-conference win for Bigfork, but it

was meaningful nonetheless.

“I feel that the St. Ignatius match was

our best of the season so far as a team,” Wicklund said. “The girls

are starting to gel and they are starting to see the results of

their hard work. They maintained a high intensity for the entire

match and I was very pleased to see that.”

Bigfork won the first set 25-23, but

lost the second set 26-24. The Vals got the match win by defeating

Mission 25-18 in the third game and 25-21 in the fourth.

Seniors Melissa VanDerveer and Kianna

Wicklund led the team with their defensive skills. Each of the two

girls accounted for 12 of the team’s 57 digs. Wicklund also led in

aces with five of the team’s nine and VanDerveer was the kills

leader with 16 of the Vals’ 32.

“Melissa and Kianna had excellent

nights as Mel really got into a rhythm with her hitting resulting

in a team-high 16 kills and her hustle accounted for a team-high

tie with Kianna in digs with 12,” Wicklund said. “Kianna was on

with her serves and had a team-high five of our nine aces.”

Robertson again led in blocks with five

of Bigfork’s seven and Peck accounted for 22 of the team’s 24

assists.

“We have so much that we can improve on

and that bodes well for us in the future,” Wicklund said. “‘Better

every day’ is our motto and the Vals are really starting to come

into their own. St. Ignatius is always a very tough, exciting team

and it was great to get a win over them even though they are no

longer in our district.”

 

Next Up

The Valkyries hosted Ronan on Tuesday

for their Homecoming game. The results of that non-conference game

will be in next week’s Eagle.

On Saturday Bigfork will return to

district play when they travel to Plains to take on the

Trotters.