Lady Vikings end season with 5-set loss to P-Burg at divisionals
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BUTTE — After a quick exit from this year’s Western C Divisional Volleyball Tournament, the Charlo Lady Vikings learned what they’ll need to compete at next year’s tournament – a killer instinct.
The Lady Vikings opened the tournament Thursday at the Maroon Activities Center in Butte against Twin Bridges, the fourth seed from the dominant District 8-C. After taking the first game 25-22, the Lady Vikings had a double digit lead in the second game, but the Lady Falcons kept chipping away and eventually came away with a 25-20 win and went on to win the next two games, 25-23, 25-16.
“We had all the momentum going for us, but they kept inching back and inching back, and I think we lost a little of our confidence and we became a little timid and didn’t play our game. We started tipping the ball and pushing the ball and made it easy for them,” Charlo coach Sheryl Kain said.
While the Lady Vikings were tipping and pushing the ball, the Lady Falcons kept hitting the ball, which Kain said is a characteristic of all four District 8-C teams at the tournament, who only dropped two games to the 9-C and 10-C teams.
“They keep going hard. No matter how it’s going, they keep attacking and attacking. It doesn’t matter if they’re hitting it into the net, or hitting it out of bounds they keep attacking and that’s what we didn’t do,” Kain said. “We need to get that killer instinct like they all have over there.”
Deondra Brown led the Lady Vikings in kills, putting down eight. She also had five blocks. Jazmine Hernandez-Kelley and Rachel Hoyt finished with seven kills apiece. Dawn Blevins had a team-high eight blocks and 14 assists. She also collected 12 digs. Kinley Pope led the team with 18 digs and senior Jessica Foust finished with 12.
The Lady Vikings finished their season with an up-and-down five-set loss to the Philipsburg Lady Prospectors Friday. In the 23-25, 25-15, 16-25, 25-13, 15-13 loss, the Lady Vikings would look great one game and then like a different team the next game. The Lady Vikings were plagued with inconsistency early in the season, but looked like they had solved the problem, entering the tournament on a 25-game win streak.
“I don’t know what happened. I’m still trying to figure it out and that’s what is frustrating,” Kain said. “In the two games we loss it seemed like we weren’t quite ready to go and then we’d go on the other side of the court and look like a whole new team,” Kain said.
The Lady Vikings were ready for the fifth game, but just made too many mistake and ended the season with a 15-13 loss.
“It was crunch time and we just made some vital errors you can’t make in a short game,” Kain said.
Hoyt led the team with 11 kills and also blocked five balls at the net. Pope added 10 kills and led the team with 27 digs. Blevins finished with a team-high 20 assists, seven blocks and two aces.
The core of the 16-3 District 10-C champions will be back to make another run at a divisional crown next year.
Summary
Twin Bridges def. Charlo
22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-16.
Kills - Twin Bridges 40 (Mikayla Tilstra 10), Charlo 38 (Deondra Brown 8). Blocks - Twin Bridges 7 (Alyssa Tilstra 4), Charlo 18 (Dawn Blevins 7). Digs - Twin Bridges 40 (Taylor Sewell 23), Charlo 63 (Kinley Pope 18). Assists - Twin Bridges 37 (Stephanie DiGiovanna 9), Charlo 20 (Blevins 14). Aces - Twin Bridges 15 (Sara Dustin 7), Charlo 5 (Rachel Hoyt 2).
Philipsburg def. Charlo
23-25, 25-15, 16-25, 25-13, 15-13.
Kills - Charlo 31 (Rachel Hoyt 11, Kinley Pope 10), Philipsburg 29 (Jessie Metesh 8, Devyn Poser 7). Blocks - Charlo 3 (Hoyt, Royelle Esterby, Deondra Brown), Philipsburg 4 (Poser 4). Digs - Charlo 81, (Pope 27). Philipsburg 37 (Shanna Johnson 8, Poser 7, Pence 7). Assists - Charlo 25 (Dawn Blevins 20), Philipsburg 31 (Carly Johnson 30). Aces - Charlo 6 (Dawn Blevins 2), Philipsburg 13 (Metesh 5, Anna Pence 3).
