Volleyball season previews
Thompson Falls
A solid mix of talent and experience are they keys to success for the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks as they prepare for the start of the 2022 Montana High School volleyball season.
The Lady Hawks, who begin season play this week at the Choteau Invitational tournament (Thursday, Sept 25 through Saturday the 27th) welcome back a strong group of returnees from last year who helped the team post an impressive 20-5 season record.
Head coach Sandra Kazmierczak lost two talented players from that team, Scarlette Schwindt and Ellison Pardee, but the returning group has the makings and experience to be a contender.
Top returnees from the 2021 team include outside hitter Avery Burgess; outside hitter Natalie Roberts and two right side players, Cheyla Irvine and Ellie Baxter.
“We have experienced players who understand the game and have a strong bond,” Kazmierczak said.
The group of returnees include several players who also were part of last year’s basketball team, while Baxter was also a state golf qualifier from this Spring.
And while the team returns a solid core of experience and understanding, Kazmierczak will be looking to fill the voids left by a total of seven seniors from the 2021 squad.
“Filling new positions from the loss of seven seniors will be something we need to improve on,” she said.
The Lady Hawks play in the always tough Western 7B conference and expect the competition to strong among several teams capable of winning matches.
“Bigfork and Eureka will be the top teams we face in what is always a tough league,” Kazmierczak added.
Hot Springs
Here's the Hot Spring girls story and a couple pix...All I have left is the St. Regis girls volleyball story, still no reply from the Plains girls volleyball team, if it comes in today I'll write it up and send it your way but Plains has always been the least cooperative team with whom I've dealt!
There is some genuine excitement swirling around the Hot Springs Lady Savage Heat this year as the team prepares for the opening of the Montana Class C high school volleyball season.
In what looks to be a four team fight for Western 14C supremacy, Hot Springs may be the wild card.
On the heels of losing middle hitter Lily Winn, there is an undercurrent of excitement as the season opener takes place this week, Saturday in the Drummond Tournament.
“I think our overall strengths are going to be our versatility and scrapiness,” said head coach Taylor Salmi. “The girls are quick and going to be really strong defensively. We are extremely excited about the work and energy the girls are putting into practice and think this is going to make them a tough team on the court”.
The versatility is already paying dividends in filling the void left by the departure of Winn to graduation.
“The graduation of our middle hitter (Winn) left a pretty big hole, but the girls are really stepping up and showing their versatility to fill those shoes,” Salmi noted.
And the group of returning players is what Salmi says gives the team a good core, “most notably setter Brooke Jackson, senior Josie Uski and junior middle hitter Lauryn Aldrich.
Salmi said they are also very excited to have Lily DeTienne back, noting “she will bring a lot of energy and dynamic play to the team”. Another player the Savage Heat are looking forward to seeing in action is Kara Christensen, young sister of Katelyn. Kara is an incoming freshman who Salmi said the whole team is excited to watch and see what she can do”.
Salmi said being more aggressive at the net has been a priority as the first game draws near.
“We have been hitting our net play hard and hoping to really increase our number of attacks and aggressiveness at the net”.
And as usual, Salmi and others in the conference point to Charlo, Superior and Noxon as among the top teams. The Savage Heat hope to add their names to the list of top squads.
“Charlo will likely be the top team coming into the conference this year,” Salmi said. “They are always pretty tough and competitive. Our girls have the ability to really give teams a run for their money this year”.
St. Regis
The graduation bug can often pack a cruel bite.
But St. Regis volleyball coach Kianna Barnett is hoping the cure for that bite is already on campus as the Lady Tigers prepare for the start of the 2022 Montana girls volleyball season.
The “bite” taken out of the St. Regis lineup came in the form of a graduation ceremony that took five seniors off the line-up card, including mainstays like Taylor Hurd, Baylee Pruitt (gone to Providence U in Great Falls to play basketball), Rylie Burnham, Karmen Alexander and Veronica Shaw.
Despite that large lineup hole, Barnett is confident the Lady Tigers have the roster answers and is confident her team will be in the mix for conference honors.
“This year we have two returning starters, senior Macy Hill and sophomore Averie Burnham”, Barnett said. “In addition we have juniors Brooke Filek and Amelya Jensen and sophomore Shylah Dalka joining us again on varsity. We also have a new player, senior Bailey Hutchinson, joining the team”.
Barnett is confident there is talent among the returnees and newcomers that will ease the sting of losing five top players from last year.
“We have a lot of young talent coming up this year,” she said. “We have some talented hitters and a solid defense. I am very excited to see all the players work together and see how they will grow as a team throughout the season”.
The loss of Pruitt took a solid setter off the team, but replacements are eager and waiting for the chance to fill the void.
“We lost our setter in Baylee,” Barnett said. “That being said, we will be focusing on setting in the pre-season practices. And we also intend to work as a team for better communication on the court”.
After placing third in the District tournament last year, Barnett and company are ready to get on the court again. And as usual, Charlo and Superior are among the teams to beat, she said.
“We will be playing our district’s one and two from last season,” she said. “Charlo and Superior are always tough, but we look forward to the challenge.”