Malta falls to Wolf Point in four sets

With the snow storm forcing the Harlem Wildcats to postgame a game against the Malta M-ettes that was scheduled for Thursday, October 5, the M-ettes had one game last weekend against the Wolf Point Wolves on Saturday, October 7.

The M-ettes would lose the game in four sets; the scores were 25-20, 17-25, 25-27 and 23-25.

"We started off with a lot of momentum," Malta Co-Coach Kalli Reintjes told the PCN. "I think in the second set we were getting a little frustrated so that momentum was hit or miss. That's hard when you hit those lows and fight hard to climb back up."

Malta was led by Ella Schye, who had 13 of the M-ettes' 45 kills. Kyleigh Schipman led in digs with 21. Malta had a total of 105 digs. Schipman also led in assists with 22 of the team's 39. Sam Mitchell and Macy Knudsen had two aces each. Janessa Malmend and Schye both had two blocks.

Malta's defense was aggressive in the first set but Wolf Point's front line consisting of senior Aubrey Zilkoski (5-6), and juniors Mary Bighorn (5-10) and Abby Juve (5-10) proved to be formidable that night.

"They have a very tall team, especially the front row, so they can get the blocks on us and they were definitely swinging hard tonight," Coach Reintjes said. "They definitely gave our back row a challenge and our front row as far as putting up our blocks."

She went on to say that the team would work one front row blocking this week.

Malta's defensive effort did not go unnoticed by Coach Reintjes.

"We have been working on hustling all week and I think it definitely showed, especially in that first set," Coach Reintjes said. "We had some crazy saves, all over the place."

In the third frame, Malta was ahead for most of the set, by up to seven points.

"There were times that we were ahead by a few points and we kind of lost our momentum and they took it over," Coach Reintjes said. "That's the hard part about volleyball."

The M-ettes were nearly able to close the set out before Zilkoski scored the final three points.

Before Zilkoski ended the third period Malta fought back from behind.

"These girls know how to fight," Coach Reintjes said. "In past tournaments that we have played in, they have always come back. They've come back being behind eight points, five points. So they are used to fighting for it, which is a huge asset for our team."

Malta will head to Glasgow on Thursday, October 12, to face the Scotties who they lost to in Malta a month ago.

The game is set to start around 5:30 p.m. After their clash with Glasgow, the M-ettes will host Poplar on Saturday, October 14, at around 3:30 p.m.