Class A volleyball: 'Kats state 'K'hamps

BOZEMAN — Sometimes, turning points are hard to find.

Other times, they stare you right in the face and call you a quitter.

Fueled by the comeback of the tournament in their opening match, the Columbia Falls Wildkats won the Class A state volleyball championship, putting an exclamation point on an undefeated run through the field with a 25-17, 25-22, 25-15 win over Corvallis Saturday afternoon at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

“Well, (Columbia Falls head coach Jessy Matthews) called us quitters and, for one, we’re all true fighters and that, I think, proved it,” junior Kiara Burlage said after the match. “We just had to fight back and that’s exactly what we did.”

The pivotal timeout came with the Wildkats trailing Billings Central 22-12 in the third set Thursday. After that, Columbia Falls ripped off 11 straight points and would go on to win the set, the match in four and, eventually, the whole double-elimination tournament.

“At that point in time they had kind of quit,” Matthews said.

“They’ve proved me wrong every single second since that timeout. They have worked and fought harder than I’ve seen them ever; the whole season, their whole career that I’ve been with them.

“They just fought and fought and fought. Battled, battled, battled.”

Columbia Falls (20-3) finished second at the state tournament last year, but graduated five seniors off that team and were breaking in a new head coach in Matthews, who spent the previous three seasons as the freshman coach.

After winning their first 13 matches of 2015, the Wildkats lost their regular season finale, lost twice in the Western A divisional tournament and lost right side hitter Keavyn Baker to a knee injury.

While that may have lowered outside expectations for the team entering this weekend, it only served to fuel the Wildkats.

“Last week at divisionals was motivation for them,” Matthews said.

“People kind of gave up on us. We’re apparently the big underdog, to which we were like ‘umm, OK?’

“It’s all motivation for them to come in here and be the team that they knew they were capable of being.”

The title is Columbia Falls’ first in volleyball since 1996.

“It’s an indescribable feeling,” Burlage said.

“Really, it’s one that I’ve always dreamed of.”

Standing on the same court where she and her teammates experienced the other side of a championship match, Burlage recalled the moment.

“Getting second, no one wants that,” she said.

“We tried to just forget about (last year) but we had our butts in the gym very often and were working.”

“(Last year was) huge,” Matthews said.

“I pulled some of them aside last year as an assistant coach and said ‘next year, next year. Put this in your heads and your hearts right now and use it.’

“They absolutely have used that as motivation all season long.”

The Wildkats rarely trailed in Saturday’s final, notching their second win of the tournament against the Western divisional champion Blue Devils (18-5).

Using a distinct size advantage — Columbia Falls has seven players 5-10 or taller — the Wildkats had 13 blocks and 33 kills in the final.

Burlage finished with a team-high five blocks and eight kills. K.J. Schweikert had four blocks and Morgan Stenger added 10 kills.

Cydney Finberg finished with 24 assists and 12 digs.

“I inherited a great group of girls,” Matthews said.

“They’ve had great coaches from the time they started volleyball, so lots of credit to those old coaches and to these girls for working hard.”

Columbia Falls has only one senior on the roster, and Samantha Collins would end up playing a huge role in the title run as Baker’s replacement.

“Sam’s never played right side before and I asked her to step up and she certainly did,” Matthew said of the senior.

“There was a moment (against Billings Central) where she got a dig off of their great middle and it was a turning point in that third game, and that was the turning point for everybody — just seeing her able to get that dig.”

Collins had 10 digs in the championship match.

With virtually its entire roster expected to return, Columbia Falls will be the clear favorite to win next year’s state championship, too. But Saturday was no time to think about that.

“We’re going to go out, have a big meal,” Matthews said.

“And just enjoy being with each other.”

Columbia Falls def. Corvallis 25-17, 25-22, 25-15

Kills - Columbia Falls 33 (Morgan Stenger 10), Corvallis 25 (Hannah Capko 10). Assists - Columbia Falls 29 (Cydney Finberg 24), Corvallis 22 (Holly Wilson 21). Digs - Columbia Falls 54 (Finberg, Kaitlyn Casazza 12), Corvallis 68 (Ashley Davis, Capko 16). Blocks - Columbia Falls 13 (Kiara Burlage 5), Corvallis 6 (Maureen Jessop 3.5). Aces - Columbia Falls 6 (Samantha Collins, Burlage 2), Corvallis 7 (Taia Tully 5).