Blue Hawks finish 3rd at divisional tournament

In a season that began with a brief struggle as they found their rhythm, the Thompson Falls volleyball team rallied for success. 

And although they fell short of a trip to the state finals in Bozeman next week, they finished their season with a third place showing at the Western Division tournament this past weekend in Anaconda. 

Thompson Falls finished the tournament with a 2-2 record, giving them a 15-7 record for the season, including two wins over 7B regular season champion Eureka, which they beat for the 7B crown two weekends ago, giving them the top seed from 7B in the process. 

T Falls opened the Western Division tourney with a 3-0 win over fourth-seeded Deer Lodge Thursday afternoon in the first round. 

The Lady Hawks broke away from a 15-15 tie on their way to a hard-fought 25-20 opening set victory and a 1-0 match lead against the Lady Wardens. 

After some mid-set ties in the second set, T Falls methodically established a six-point lead en route to a 25-17 win and a 2-0 match advantage. 

The third set was pretty much all T Falls as they built a 22-9 lead and locked up the match sweep with a 25-10 win. 

Senior Olivia Fitchett paced the Hawks with 24 assists against Deer Lodge, while teammate Addy Deal had a team-best four blocks and eight kill shots.  Sarah Koskela tied Deal for the team lead in service aces with two each. 

The win over Deer Lodge moved T Falls to a Thursday evening match versus Missoula Loyola, who came into the match with an 8-3 record. 

T Falls led the entire way in the opening set, on their way to a 25-18 win and a 1-0 match edge.  They kept up their domination at the nets in the second set, which they led after breaking a 4-4 tie in the early going.  The Lady Hawks took the second set 25-17 for a 2-0 match lead. 

After yielding a 2-1 lead in the initial stages of the third set, T Falls erupted for a lead that grew to 22-10.  They then held off a minor Loyola lead, they held on for a 25-13 set three victory that secured the 3-0 sweep. 

The win over Loyola moved T Falls to a Friday night match versus 6B top seed Florence-Carlton.  Fitchett was once again outstanding in the assist category in the win over Loyola, chalking up 38 of the team’s 41 assists. Koskela led the Hawks with 11 assists and Deal was the leader in kills (13) and blocks (3).  Annalise Fairbank was top in aces with six. 

In their Friday evening match against Florence, the two top seeds engaged in an epic battle featured 10 ties and multiple lead changes.  T Falls trailed Florence 9-8 at one point, before the Lady Falcons built an 18-13 lead at the midway point of the first set.  The score was tied at 25 when Florence put together two straight points on their way to an energetic 27-25 win and a 1-0 match lead. 

Both teams kept up the battle in the second set, which saw Florence build and hold a four-to-six point lead midway through the set.  The set featured several long, acrobatic volleys between the two teams, which was eventually won by the Falcons, 25-20 on a laser kill shot.  That gave Florence a 2-0 match edge. 

It was more of the same in the third set it was more of the same, with numerous ties and lead changes throughout the first part of the set.  Florence slowly pulled away from a 14-14 tie, built a 23-19 lead and held on for a 25-21 win that gave them a 3-0 sweep and advancing the Lady Falcons to the championship match Saturday. 

Fitchett was the leader in assists for the Lady Hawks with 13, while Deal was tops in kills with 13.  Fitchett also had a team-high two service aces in the loss. 

That loss dropped T Falls into a third-place match versus Anaconda, which beat Eureka earlier in the day, eliminating the Lady Lions from the tourney.   

With both teams battling for the right to meet Florence in the title match and with a trip to state on the line for the winner, T Falls jumped out to a 1-0 match lead with a 25-20 first set win. 

Anaconda then regrouped and led all the way in the second set, on their way to a 25-15 victory that squared the match a 1-1. 

The Lady Copperheads then rallied in the late going of the third set and pulled ahead after a 15-15 tie.  They slowly built a 24-19 lead before winning the third set 25-19, giving them a 2-1 match lead. 

T Falls also regrouped and grabbed an early lead in the fourth set, which they held throughout on their way to a 25-19 win, knotting the match at two sets each. 

Then came the fifth set tiebreaker, which goes to the team that reaches 15 points first and is ahead by two or more points. 

T Falls took an early, 3-1 lead and held it until Anaconda rallied to tie the set at eight. The fifth set was tied again at nine, ten and 11 before Anacona scored two straight points to take a 13-11.  T Falls cut the lead to 13-12, but Anaconda scored two of the next three points to take a 15-13 fifth set win and close out the 3-2 match win. 

Anaconda wound up losing to Florence, 3-0, as the Lady Falcons earned the top seed from the West at this coming week’s state tournament at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on the campus of Montana State University beginning this Thursday. 

Thompson Falls closed out their season with a 15-7 overall record.