Valkyries seeded second heading into district tourney

After two wins last week, Bigfork volleyball will head to the district tournament in Troy on Saturday seeded second in the conference, behind Thompson Falls.

Bigfork beat Plains on Thursday and Troy on Saturday both in three sets.

Coach Melody Strauss said the Vals made fewer unforced errors and stayed in control while passing on Thursday, something they struggled with when they played Plains at home earlier in the season.

Troy is in a bit of a rebuilding year, and the Vals took advantage of that, and used the opportunity to try players in positions they don’t normally get to play. Senior Kayla Casalegno, who usually plays in the back, led the Valkyries in kills against Troy.

“It was great and it made it fun for us as well,” Strauss said.

The district tournament at Troy will determine who goes into the divisional tournament and where they are seeded.

Thompson Falls is seed first, Bigfork second, Eureka is third, Plains is fourth and Troy is seeded fifth.

While the lineup of matches isn’t set yet for Saturday, it’s likely Bigfork will face Thompson Falls, who they’ve lost to twice this season. 

“They’ve been pretty solid the whole time,” Strauss said. “However they did lose to Eureka in five on Saturday. Knowing that they’ve actually lost to a team we’ve beat twice, gives us a little extra confidence coming in.”

Bigfork 3, Troy 0

Bigfork def. Troy

25-11, 25-14, 25-18

Kills — Bigfork 24 (Kayla Casalegno 5), Troy 9 (Allie Brown 2, Sami Rohrich 2, Ashley Gromley 2); Blocks — Bigfork 2 (Miranda Campbell 2), Troy 1 (Rohrich 1); Assists — Bigfork 19 (Kalia Wicklund 15), Troy 6 (Brown 6); Digs — Bigfork 24 (Hannah Massey 5), Troy 3 (Kaitlyn Downey 2); Aces — Bigfork 18 (Marissa Hiza 6), Troy 8 (Downey 3, Tana Hill 3).

Bigfork 3, Plains 0

Statistics for Bigfork were not available.