State Volleyball: Upstart Columbia Falls rolls into semis

BOZEMAN — Columbia Falls pulled off a remarkable third-set comeback to upset Billings Central, then avenged a six-day-old loss to Corvallis to roll undefeated through the first day of action at the Class A State Volleyball Tournament on Thursday.

The West’s third seed, the Wildkats (18-3) knocked off the east’s number two and the top-seeded western team, each in four sets, to move undefeated to the semifinals where they will meet Butte Central tonight at 6 p.m.

After winning the first set, 26-24, in its opener with Billings Central, Columbia Falls allowed an 11-2 run to lose the second set, 25-19, and found themselves down 22-12 in the third.

Wildkats coach Jessy Matthews called a timeout.

“We had a little talk about not quitting,” Matthews said. “And then they came out and proved me wrong, and that was the best thing they could have done.

“They got that mentality that they needed to battle and that’s what they did.”

The Wildkats more than battled — they scored 11-straight points and eventually won the set, 28-26. With momentum on their side, they took the fourth set, 25-20, to end the match.

“These girls are all about momentum,” Matthews said after the first match.

“They get in deep holes when they’re down and big highs when they’re up, so that momentum is in their minds and that will carry over.”

The Wildkats coach proved prescient, because in the nightcap Columbia Falls took down a red-hot Corvallis team, 25-22, 19-25, 25-16, 25-23. The Blue Devils were coming off an undefeated Western A divisional championship last week, which included a three-set sweep of Columbia Falls.

“We’ve battled with Corvallis all season long, and we used the momentum from earlier and a little bit of revenge to take care of it,” Matthews said.

Columbia Falls used a balanced offensive effort in the nightcap, getting 15 kills from Kiara Burlage and 14 each from Kaitlyn Casazza and Morgan Stenger.

Stenger was the star in the opener, putting down 17 kills including eight in the decisive third game.

Fourth-seeded Whitefish (12-7) lost its only match Thursday, falling 25-16, 25-14, 25-15 to defending state champion Belgrade. The Bulldogs were led by Nina Thew’s seven kills.

Whitefish will return to the court today at 10 a.m. in a win-or-go-home match with Havre.

Whitefish will return to the court today at 10 a.m. in a win-or-go-home match against Havre.