The Stevensville Yellowjackets had to bounce back from a rough first game against Polson but they rallied in front of a packed house to top the Lady Pirates in five games in volleyball. Polson dominated and made the most of several Stevensville mental errors in the first game according to Stevensville coach Kyla Paulsen.
“I told them we’ve got to pass above you and get it to our hitters. They finally started doing that. I told them we could play better than that.”
And they did. In the second game, Stevensville put up nine points before Polson scored. Although Polson closed the gap down to a point a couple of times, Stevensville won, 26-24 off a Jessie Newman kill. Stevesnville continued to put pressure on Polson with Newman, Aliyah Anderson, and Maddalena Margini making kills and putting up blocks. Cassi Kopsa kept control of the back row and was serving hard to hit balls.
“They finally started to come into their own and it was awesome,” said Paulsen.
Stevensville won the third game, 25-22. But it was a different story on the next game. After leading for much of the game, Polson took the lead when Stevensville was called for carrying and went on to win, 22-25.
The fifth game of a match always goes fast since they play to only 15 points. The key is to get the momentum going in your direction as quickly as possible. But neither team was going to give up and it was point for point for the first 10 points. Then, Anderson hit a kill and fired the ‘Jackets up. Stevensville went on to win, 15-10, and win the match.
“Aliyah brings the energy and the fire,” said Paulsen. “And Maddalena is really coming on too.”
Stevensville def. Polson 6-25, 26-24, 25-22, 22-25, 15-10
Polson: Kills: 48 (Maggie Todd 48). Assists: 39 (Lena Pawloski 17). Aces: 16 (Kobbey Smith 6). Digs: 44 (Berkley Ellis 11). Blocks: 9.5 (Hallie Moss 4).
Stevensville: Kills: 45 (Aliyah Anderson 16). Assists: 41 (Maddie Weber 38). Aces: 11 (Weber 5). Digs: 61 (Cassi Kopsa 20). Blocks: 9 (Anderson 5).
Stevensville played and lost to Dillon on Saturday.
Dillon def. Stevensville 27-25, 25-22, 25-22
Dillon: Kills: 39 (Josey Jones 12, Ainsley Shipman 10). Assists: 33 (Madi Ruegsegger 33). Aces: 14 (Ruegsegger 5, Shipman 4). Digs: 46 (Charli Hazelbaker 10, Ruegsegger 8, Tylia DeJohn 8). Blocks: 3 (Shipman 1.5).
Stevensville: Kills: 33 (Aliyah Anderson 11, Jessie Newman 8). Assists: 28 (Maddie Weber 26). Aces: 5 (Daphne Engel 2, Bella Wandler 2). Digs: 57 (Cassi Kopsa 19, Weber 10). Blocks: 2 (Maddalena Margina 1, Weber 1).
Darby def. Victor25-8, 25-19, 25-13
Darby: Kills:31 Kimber Schlapman 8 Amber Anderson 7. Assists: 22 Annie Rennaker 9 Kimber Schlapman 8. Aces: 24 Annie Rennaker 7 Haliegh Golden 5. Digs: 14 Madison Conner 5 Haliegh Golden 5f. Blocks: 4 Kimber Schlapman1, Amber Anderson1, Libby Schlapman1,
Victor: Kills:3 Haylea Wemple 3. Assists: 3 Madi Barta 3. Aces: 3 Virginia Brown 2. Digs: 26 Madi Barta 6. Blocks: 1 Madi Bahr 1.