Lady Pirates overcome slow start at Missoula tournament
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POLSON — It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for the Lady Pirates this week as the team overcame a rough start at the Missoula Invitational Tournament Friday to finish second in the consolation bracket.
In a field filled with larger Class AA teams, the Lady Pirates struggled to find their way in the early matches Friday before returning to form later in the day.
“I told them beforehand that our goal was not to win the tournament but to get some playing time for our younger players,” Lady Pirate head coach Jan Toth said. “I think they might have taken that statement a little too seriously.”
Serving once again proved to be the Achilles’ heel for the Lady Pirates at the tournament, as several mistakes on the service line led to crucial points for opposing squads.
“We missed 26 serves on the first day, several of which were game points. We can’t be having that. Not at this point of the season,” Toth said. “Doing that really hurts you. It takes all of the wind out of your sails.”
Polson was also battling limited playing time from key players as sickness kept Breanne Kelley on the bench more than usual Friday.
“Breanne was out all week with the flu and we didn’t want her to have to do too much. We were able to keep her out of the back row early Friday but she really wanted to play,” Toth said.
The sickness may have helped play into Toth’s game plan, though, as she used the tournament to get key experience for her younger players.
“I was able to get all of the girls in there at one point or another during the tournament, and that was my goal coming in,” she said.
Polson struggled in its opening match of the tournament Friday morning, falling to Glacier in two games, 20-13 and 20-11.
“Glacier just came at us hard in that first game and we didn’t have an answer. We only had three kills against them,” Toth said.
Polson bounced back from the loss, splitting it’s next two matches against Whitefish and Frenchtown.
Class AA opponents were the downfall of the Lady Pirates in their next three matches as Polson fell to Sentinel, Capital and CMR.
The Lady Pirates earned a split in their final match of the day Friday as they defeated Big Sky in game one, 20-10, before falling 16-20 in game two.
“It was tough going up against good Class AA teams. We really had to step up our quickness everywhere on the court,” Toth said. “By the end of Friday, we were firing on all cylinders again. Playing in a big-time tournament like this gets us ready for the postseason. It also gives us confidence that we can play with anyone is Class A or AA.”
The Lady Pirates made a much stronger showing on day two of the tournament Saturday, opening the day with a 25-17, 25-16 win over Anaconda. Polson followed that with a defeat of Big Sky in the second round of the consolation bracket, 25-15, 26-24.
The Lady Pirates win streak came to an end in the championship game of the consolation bracket, where they fell to Hellgate, 25-17, 25-8.
“Playing here showed us our bright spots and our weaknesses,” Toth said. “We learned about the things we need to work on, like having to be mentally tough at the service line.”
The Lady Pirates continued their domination of conference play earlier in the week as they swept visiting Libby Thursday, 25-14, 25-20, 25-19.
Sallie Sams led the way with 13 of Polson’s 36 kills in the win while also leading in blocks with five. Riley Kenney anchored the Polson defense with eight digs while Kayla Duford handed out 24 assists and Kendyall Rochin led in aces with four.
The Lady Pirates are in action again Thursday as they play at Corvallis and then Hamilton. Polson will also play Saturday. They host Dillon.
Summary
Polson def. Libby
25-14, 25-20, 25-19
Kills - Polson 36 (Sallie Sams 13), Libby 17 (Alex Kulbeck 8). Blocks - Polson 10 (Sams 5), Libby 3 (Becky Boulware 2). Digs - Polson 28 (Riley Kenney 8), Libby 20 (Kelsey Dowe 6). Assists - Polson 26 (Kayla Duford 24), Libby 14 (Lexy Hageness 13). Aces - Polson 12 (Kendyall Rochin 4), Libby 6 (Lauren Wepprecht 2).
Glacier def. Polson
20-13, 20-11
Whitefish split with Polson
14-20, 20-19
Frenchtown split with Polson
20-17, 19-20
Sentinel def. Polson
20-16, 20-6
Capital def. Polson
20-16, 20-16
CMR def. Polson
20-18, 20-17
Polson split with Big Sky
20-10, 16-20
Polson def. Anaconda
25-17, 25-16
Polson def. Big Sky
25-15, 26-24
Hellgate def. Polson
25-17, 25-8
