Volleyball eases into season at tournament

Bigfork volleyball started its season Saturday with the Class B starter tournament at Mission.

The tournament was a chance for teams to get warmed up before getting into regular season match ups. The Valkyries played two-set matches against five teams. They split two matches, won one and lost one.

Marissa Hiza led the offense followed by Lana Berg and Abbie Fraley. Kalia Wicklund led in assists followed by Fraley, and Wicklund. Fraley and Berg were Bigfork’s top three servers.

The tournament gave head coach Melody Strauss an opportunity see how the girls worked together, where they excelled and where they need to focus their energies before facing Stillwater Christian at home Thursday.

“It was fun to see them play, because it was a totally new system we have on the court,” she said. “Their perseverance not to give up when they’re sitting in something new, that was really exciting to see.”

The Valkyries lost their first set of the tournament to Thompson Falls, but came back to win the second. “That in itself was probably the highlight of the day,” Strauss said. “That we weren’t going to be put own by a team. That was a good kick start to the whole season to know that we weren’t just going to roll over and give them the match.”

It’s fairly typical for a team to need a small adjustment period at the beginning of the season to adjust to the new set up on the court. Playing next to different people affects how you communicate with a teammate, Strauss said.

“Communication is definitely key,” Strauss said. “If you lose that communication aspect you lose momentum very quickly.”

But the Vals are learning fast.

“Everyone is really stepping up and filling their role an their position,” she said. “I’m excited to see when that all kind of works together as one unit.”

As they prepare to host Stillwater at home at 4:15 Thursday, Strauss is focusing on communication and transitioning quickly from offense to defense. 

“Stillwater usually brings a good level of competition and I think we’ll be able to match that,” she said. “As we spend more time on the court and self confidence grows, our game will improve drastically.”