Alberton volleyball improves in games against Valley Christian and Seeley

ALBERTON – Despite two losses last week, the Alberton volleyball team brought in some great stats and demonstrated how far they have come since the start of this year’s season.

In their Tuesday game against Valley Christian, the first set was close with both sides fighting hard. Both teams pushed and brought the game down to the wire. The set came to a close with a score of 21-25 to the Lady Eagles.

Alberton fell behind, in the second set, as Valley Christian gained a lead. The Lady Panthers fought to come back and catch up. The opposition’s defense was too much, though, and the home team lost the set with a final score of 14-25.

The final set saw Alberton struggle against the opposition’s defense again. Valley Christian pulled ahead to a strong lead. The game ended with a score of 15-25 to Valley Christian.

Fisher recalled the girls played well as a team. She felt there were improvements in the girls taking risks and keeping the ball from hitting the floor. She also felt their serves had improved and they were able to use them for some easy points.

Montanna Baughman played a good offense for Alberton, bringing three kills; she also did well on defense, making two blocks. Becca Pluth also brought in good stats, making four assists and four aces.

“She really stepped up and played so well in the front,” said Fisher of Baughman. “She was really aggressive in going for blocks as well as hitting over the net.”

The Lady Panthers also had a game on Friday, against the Lady Blackhawks of Seeley Lake. The game was lost in three sets, but more good stats were raised by the girls.

Baughman made five kills and two blocks; she was also able to block Seeley’s best hitter during the game. Pluth and Debeyn Dutt also had good games, with Pluth making 10 assists as well as Dutt hitting eight digs.

This week, the girls will be busy. On Tuesday, they played against the Superior Lady Bobcats; they also have games against Granite and Drummond. Alberton has played all three teams before, but Fisher noted how much they had improved over the first half of the season.

“We’re a completely different team than the first time we played some of these other teams,” she said. “We’ve really improved so much, I’m really excited to play them again. Hopefully we can put everything together and get a couple more wins.”

During practices the girls have been working to improve having a more aggressive game and not being afraid of going after every ball. Fisher recalled one of their biggest improvement goals this season has been their consistency. With how young the team is, building habits and skill has been a constant focus.

“I know consistency will come with time,” she said. “That’s one thing we struggle with … but I know it will come with time and playing together.”