Falcons fight past Lady Hawks

The Falcons won round one but there is still a lot of volleyball to play.

In a much-anticipated meeting of Western B powers, the Florence Falcons topped the Lady Hawks 25-21, 25-23, 25-22 in a non-conference match in Thompson Falls Thursday.

The second-place team in the State B tournament last fall, the Falcons have another talented, veteran team. The third-place team in the Western B last fall, the Lady Hawks are also wildly talented, they just have some seasoning to do.

"We are a solid team but we are working a few kids into the rotation," Lady Hawk coach Sandra Kazmierczak said. "We are coming along. This year, we didn't get to play in the summer like we normally do and I think that we will have to get that experience as we go.

"But the girls are positive and we are working hard," she added. "We are looking forward to seeing what we can do."

The Lady Hawks will have three non-conference matches at home in the next week to help them find some more net magic. After hosting Anaconda Thursday, the Hawks will entertain Deer Lodge Saturday before winding up with their third match in six days against Plains Tuesday.

In other action last week, the Lady Hawks defeated Loyola 23-25, 25-14, 25-15, 25-15 in Missoula Tuesday.

Scarlette Schwindt floored 14 kills and hit five digs to lead the Lady Hawks past the Heart Breakers, Jody Detlaff added 10 kills, an amazing nine blocks and four aces, Riley Wilson hit four kills, 12 set assists and nine digs, and Elli Pardee was good for 14 assists and four aces.

Against Florence, Schwindt powered down nine kills, hit eight digs and three aces, Detlaff hit four Ks and blocked three shots, Wilson hit up 12 set assists and Pardee five, Wilson also blocked three shots and Ariana Wood hit seven digs.

Kasidy Yeoman hit 12 kills and blocked three shots for Florence, Jaidyn Larsen added 11 kills, Kolbi Wood 15 digs and Jayden Hendrickson directed the Falcon attack with 18 well-placed set assists.