M-ettes Beat Shelby in Five Sets

The Malta M-ettes Volleyball Team saw plenty of action this past week, picking up a win against Shelby on Friday, September 23, and winning sets against everyone they played in the Choteau Mid-Season Invitational on Saturday, September 24.

The M-ettes will host North Country on Thursday, September 29. They will then face the Roundup Panthers in Malta on Saturday, October 1.

The last time that Malta and North Country clashed, the Mavericks won in five sets, but now Malta knows what to expect.

"We already know that they are the taller team, but coming out of this weekend we have more experience with how to battle against those types of teams," Malta Head Coach Mary Grace Kalal said. "To prepare for them, we are going to focus on our block and keep up with the 'don't play scared at the net' mentality. We sometimes hit the ball out or into the net and automatically think that we need to resort to tipping, when really we just need to refocus on our hitting fundamentals and how to be a smart hitter."

The M-ettes haven't faced the Roundup Panthers yet, but Coach Kalal has been studying.

"They have a couple girls who are strong hitters and they have a left-handed right side which is a lethal weapon in my book," Coach Kalal said. "This past weekend in Choteau we had the opportunity to play against a team that had two left-handed hitters and so we learned how to adjust to that their setter likes to dump and their backrow seems to pick up a fair amount of hits."

Coach Kalal said that if the M-ettes keep hitting hard and plays scrappy defense, the match against the Panthers will be a good matchup.

The Scores against Shelby were: C squad: won 3-1. JV: 25-15, 25-10, 10-15, 6-15. Varsity: 25-20, 26-24, 19-25, 19-25, 15-11.

"Our win in Shelby was most definitely a team win!" Coach Kalal said. "Each and every one of the girls stepped up and played their role with vigor. Our serve receive was the best that it has been all season which is huge for us."

She also said that the team's hitting percentages were high and that every attacking player had more kills than errors.

The scores for Malta during the Choteau Mid–Season Invitational: Game 1 v. Choteau: 10-21, 21-17. Game 2 v. Great Falls Central: 21-11, 19-21. Game 3 v. Belt: 21-20, 21-14. Game 4 v. Jefferson: 21-18, 16-19; Time ran out. Power Play vs. Choteau: 26-24, 12-25, 4-7.

"Choteau was a great experience for the girls and myself!" Coach Kalal said. "We got to see teams play at a higher level than what we get to see within our regular season play. The girls did great and adjusted to the new teams well!"

Coach Kalal said that the team was missing Brylee French and Dally Neibur, so other girls stepped up into those positions.

Malta was ranked second due to their performance in pool play. Malta faced Choteau, who ranked first after pool play.

"We took the first set from Choteau 26-24, the second set was 12-25, and the third set was 4-7," Coach Kalal said. "Overall, I am happy with the girls and how they played this weekend. We had fun and didn't play scared with any of the teams."