C-Falls spikers wind up fourth at Class A state tournament

BOZEMAN — Columbia Falls edged Belgrade and lost to Billings Central to finish fourth at the Class A state volleyball tournament Friday at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

Coach Josie Brown said Columbia Falls hadn’t won a state tournament match in 10 years prior to this season and the Wildkats were happy to take a step forward after going 0-2 at last year’s tournament.

“We’ve never quite gotten this far before,” Columbia Falls libero Tiffany Hummer said.

“We came last year, but I don’t think we were quite ready for it. To come this far is just a great experience and our program can only excel from here I believe.

“All these teams are just awesome teams. They really deserve to be here. They came out swinging at us. I believe we could’ve got it, we just weren’t quite in it.”

Columbia Falls dropped the first two sets against Billings Central 25-8 and 25-22. It rallied to win the third 25-21 before losing the fourth 25-22.

The third set was tied at 21 when a block by Carla Nicosia and a tip by Winter Kemppainen put the Wildkats ahead. Nicosia closed it out with back-to-back aces.

“I think it’s awesome we came in fourth this year,” Brown said.

“Our last game was really good. It was a great team but we never stopped. We were able to stop them at times with a great block and great defense.”

Kemppainen led Columbia Falls with eight kills and five blocks. Justyn Juhl led Billings Central with 22 kills and the Lady Rams outhit the Wildkats 55-27.

Columbia Falls advanced to the Billings Central match by beating Belgrade 25-16, 12-25, 25-22, 25-23.

The Wildkats rallied from deficits in the third and fourth sets to close out the victory.

With five girls listed at 5-foot-10 or taller, Belgrade had a big blocker in the middle on every rotation, but Columbia Falls countered with a crafty offense. Setter Cydney Finberg directed most of the traffic to outside hitters Haley Belgarde and Carla Nicosia and the Wildkats effectively utilized tips to keep Belgrade’s blockers on their toes.

“Cydney’s been fantastic,” Brown said. “To have a freshman run a 5-1 at state and place fourth is phenomenal. She really did a great job of mixing up the hitters and being able to play her own game and get some kills in there herself.

“Kudos to my seniors who stepped up tonight. Having Tiffany play libero and Haley going out there swinging to the bitter end, we’re going to miss them greatly.”

Belgarde finished with 16 kills against Belgrade, Nicosia had eight and Ciera Finberg tallied seven.

Six-foot-1 middle hitter Taylor Woolman led Belgrade with 16 kills and five blocks.

Billings Central will play Lewistown today in the loser-out semifinal. The winner will play Corvallis for the championship.

Billings Central def. Columbia Falls 25-8, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22.

COLUMBIA FALLS - Kills: 27 (Winter Kemppainen 8, Haley Belgarde 6, Cydney Finberg 5). Digs: 61 (Cydney Finberg 15, Cierra Finberg 12). Blocks: 10 (Kemppainen 5). Aces: 7 (Carla Nicosia 2, Belgarde 2, Kemppainen 2). Assists: 19 (Cydney Finberg 18).

BILLINGS CENTRAL - Kills: 53 (Justyn Juhl 22, Erika Kuehn 10, Casey Tehle 8). Digs: 89 (Miranda Clarin 24, Juhl 23, Kuehn 11). Blocks: 8 (Baylee Hadley 4, Jenny Garber 3). Aces: 14 (Hadley 5, Kuehn 3, Tehle 2). Assists: 49 (Hadley 49).

Columbia Falls def. Belgrade, 25-16, 12-25, 25-22, 25-23

Kills - Columbia Falls 59 (Haley Belgarde 16, Carla Nicosia 8, Ciera Finberg 7), Belgrade 49 (Taylor Woolman 16, Madi Page 15, Paige Schladetsch 8). Assists - Columbia Falls 47 (Cydney Finberg 46), Belgrade 42 (Olivia Kleinsasser 41). Aces - Columbia Falls 5 (Winter Kemppainen 2), Belgrade 6 (Jamie Woolman 3, Tanna Holliday 2). Blocks - Columbia Falls 8 (Kemppainen 6, Cydney Finberg 4, Ciera Finberg 2), Belgrade 10 (Taylor Woolman 5, Holliday 2, Schladetsch 2). Digs - Columbia Falls 65 (Tiffany Hummer 17, Belgarde 10, Kemppainen 10), Belgrade 72 (Kyra Fisher 18, Page 15, Kaitlin Marcelin 11).