Drummond survives road test at Valley Christian
MISSOULA –The Drummond Lady Trojans remained unbeaten in District 13C play after Tuesday night, but not without a stiff test from their hosts the Lady Eagles of Valley Christian.
It’s the price a team pays when they sweep through the first half of their schedule and now people are targeting them for revenge.
“I think what we had to mentally was to remember that other teams have been getting better throughout the season,” said DHS Head Coach Sam Larson. “We can’t go in expecting to win, we have to go in fighting to win. It’s really a mindset thing.
“We’re at the mid-season lull where we’ve played everybody in our district, and now we have to turn around and play them again.”
The Lady Trojans opened the match by sweeping through the first set to a 25-17 victory. And while they won the second to lead 2-0, Valley was waking up and starting to feel like it could challenge the visitors. After a 25-23 loss in the second, the Lady Eagles rallied to win sets three and four and force a fifth and deciding set.
And that’s when Drummond turned back into the team from the first half of the season. They dominated play from the get go to win 15-5, claim the match 3-2, and advance to 6-0 in D13C play.
It was a total team effort by the Lady Trojans, highlighted by Lexi Nelson and Anna Kate Sawfer each dishing out 13 assists on the night. Kill Leader Delaney Wagner (13) was also tops in digs with 16, followed closely by Bailey Parke and Nelson with 15 each, and Brooke Hicks with 14. Hicks was tops at the service line with four aces with Parke, Nelson, Sawfer and Parsons adding two apiece.
Drummond will get the rest of the week to prepare for the Manhattan Christian Tournament Saturday, then hitting the road to play at Seeley Swan Tuesday, October 3. Their next home match will be against Granite October 5th.
SCORING
Drummond – 25/25/23/18/15 – 3
Valley Christian – 17/23/25/25/5 – 2
STATISTICS
Kills – Parke 2, Wagner 13, Nelson 7, RCline 2, CCline 3, Parsons 9
Blocks – Parke 1, Nelson 1, RCline 1, CCline 1, Parsons 4
Assists – Parke 2, Nelson 13, CCline 3, ASawfer 13, HSawfer 2
Digs – Hicks 14, Parke 15, Wagner 16, Nelson 15, RCline 4, CCline 3, ASawfer 4, Parsons 10, HSawfer 6
Aces – Hicks 4, Parke 2, Nelson 2, ASawfer 2, Parsons 2
Junior Varsity
Drummond def. Valley Christian
25-23, 20-25, 17-15, 15-10, 15-8
Like their varsity counterparts, the Drummond JV had to weather a storm from Valley Christian to earn a victory.
“Jv had a hard fight tonight,” said DHS JV Head Coach Sabrina Shows. “They powered through and fought until the end and I'm proud of them for that. I threw a new rotation at them and they handled it well given the circumstances.
“We still have a few things to clean up before we head into our next conference game, but I'm very happy with the progress that has been made and can't wait to see them continue to grow.”
Naomi Perry had a team best nine kills and the Lady Trojans’ only block in the win. Hazel Sawfer struck 14 service aces and Kameron Wetsch dished 23 assists.
