Turnaround season ends with state volleyball trip for Polson

By DAVID LESNICK/The Daily Inter Lake

It's been a remarkable turnaround in a very short period of time.

Last year, Polson's volleyball team went 1-17.

This year, the Pirates posted a 12-6 mark. And to cap it off, they are competing in the state tournament, which begins today in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman.

Polson opens up against Lewistown, the defending Class A state champions, at noon.

"I saw something in the girls (last year) that I can't put words to," Polson coach Jan Toth said. "(I told them) if they would come back the following year and be with me, we would make something of ourselves."

Truer words were never spoken.

Competing with Polson at state today is Northwestern A regular season and divisional champion Libby, 12-3.

Libby is making its third state appearance in the last five years. Polson, on the other hand, is making its first state trip since the mid-1990s.

Libby's state opener is 2 p.m. today versus Belgrade, the No. 2 finisher from Central A.

Rounding out the state tournament field for Class A are Miles City and Dillon, which play at 10 a.m., and Anaconda and Billings Central, which meet in the opening session's final match at 4 p.m.

Five teams are back from last year's state field - Libby, Anaconda, Dillon, Miles City and Lewistown.

Whitefish, the 2007 state runner-up, Havre and Laurel all failed to return. Polson, Belgrade and Billings Central have taken their spots.

"I'm nervous," Toth said.

"They (her players) are going to be awestruck I'm sure of it."

Toth said she has done her best to get her girls prepared for the atmosphere at the All-Class State Volleyball Tournament, which also includes AA, B and C.

"It's a very different world there," she said.

"It's loud, the floor is different, the layout is different. The mental part is sometimes the hardest thing to get through to them."

And that's what worries Toth. Plus, her team does not have a senior on the roster.

Lewistown, on the other hand, has seven seniors.

"I can't remember the last time they were not at the state tournament, except when I was at Livingston and we beat them out," Toth said.

"We've spent a lot of time working with a big block, hitting around blocks (in practice this week). Working on fundamentals. That has gotten us this far. We're not going to do anything tricky.

"If you look at our roster, you see we have freshmen, my tallest girl is 5-9, but what teams don't know is we can jump. We can jump out of the gym."

Libby last year went 2-2 in state play. The Loggers won their opener with Laurel, lost to Lewistown, beat Miles City and then fell to Whitefish.

"I think we're in a good part of the bracket," Libby coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said.

"I like where we are at. I think if we go over there and play our game, play to our potential, we can do real well."

Libby's last state championship was in 1997.

"From what I've heard, they (Belgrade Panthers) are extremely good passers," Ostrem-Johnston said.

"So it's important to serve aggressively.

"They are not real big, their tallest player is 5-8, 5-9," she continued.

"They run a real quick offense. We have to get a block up early."

Teams winning opening-round matches play again today at either 6 or 8 p.m. Opening-round losers play Friday at either 10 a.m. or noon.

The Class A semifinal is Friday at 6 p.m. The championship match is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Libby's Starting Lineup

Jackie Mee, jr., middle hitter; Alex Kulbeck, so., middle hitter (Alysha Martin, so., defender/outside hitter comes in for Kulbeck in the back row); Devon Hoyer, sr., outside hitter; Genesea Meha, sr., outside hitter; Jordan Refsland, sr., setter (Nichole Newman, sr., replaces Refsland in the front row); Evi Cernick, jr., setter (Katie Emery, jr., replaces Cernick in the front row).

Polson's Starting Lineup

Kayla Duford, so., setter; Breanne Kelley, so., outside hitter; Nicole Davey, jr., outside hitter

Christa Red Crow, jr. rightside hitter; Staci Benson, jr., libero; Loni Havlovick, jr., middle hitter, or Riley Kenney, fr., middle hittter; Sallie Sams, so., middle hitter