Vals drop close match to Browning

The Valkyries found themselves on the losing end of a tough battle at home Saturday as they hosted Browning in the penultimate match of volleyball regular season.

Bigfork struggled in the opening set of the match, falling to the Lady Indians 25-16, but the Vals rallied to take the second set 25-17 to even the match.

The next two sets were nail biters, but it was Browning that was able to come away with a narrow victory in both, downing Bigfork 25-23 and 26-24 to take the match 3-1.

Ava Davey led the Bigfork attack in the loss with 14 kills, while Natalie Vick added eight and Piper Lee finished with seven.

Bigfork’s service attack was in full force Davey, Cassy Schlicht and Gracie Saari combined for nine of the team’s 12 aces in the contest Vick, Davey, Lee, Taylor Howlett and Sophia Ledingham all had blocks.

Tessa Troyer was a workhorse for the Vals on defense with 24 digs while Howlett set up the offense with 33 of the Vals’ 35 assists.

The Vals had little trouble with the Lady Loggers in Libby Thursday as they won in four sets, 25-17, 25-12, 26-28, 25-18.

Davey’s 16 kills led the Bigfork offense while Saari and Ledingham each added six.

Troyer had 16 digs and added four aces while Davey and Saari also each had 16 digs in the win.

Vick, Davey, Howlett, Saari, Lee and Ledingham all patrolled the net on defense for blocks and Howlett finished with 32 assists.

The Vals played a critical match at Polson after press time Tuesday. A win would secure the Vals a spot in the Western A divisional tournament while a loss would mean the squad would need to win play-in games on Thursday and Saturday to make the field.