Valkyries snag two wins on the road
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.