PERFECTION: Columbia Falls caps undefeated volleyball season with a 2nd straight Class A title

BOZEMAN — Nobody beats the Columbia Falls Wildkats, and they’ve got the record to prove it.

Seven Wildkats seniors finished a victory lap around the state of Montana with a second consecutive Class A state championship, the last step in a blemish-free 23-0 season, on Saturday evening at the all-class state volleyball tournament at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

The Wildkats beat feisty Billings Central 22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-17 in the title match.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” senior setter Cydney Finberg said afterwards, surrounded on the court by friends and family who made the trip east, including a few who trickled in during the match after watching the Wildcats football team win down the road in Belgrade.

Alongside Finberg, Morgan Stenger, Anna Nicosia, Keavyn Baker, KJ Schweikert, Kaitlyn Casazza and Kiara Burlage — the seven seniors — posed for photos and drank in just what they had accomplished. The seven were the only players to see the court all tournament and finished their careers with 27 straight wins and back-to-back titles, narrowly missing out on a third with a second-place finish at state in 2014.

“It means the world because all six of them are my best friends,” Stenger said. “I wouldn’t want to win it with a different group of people.”

“Oh God,” Finberg started when asked about her classmates. “They’re my best friends, all of them, so it’s really nice to end it all with them. It was amazing.”

The seven even managed to do something unexpected — they made second-year coach Jessy Matthews cry.

“I’m not usually a crier but they had me teared up at the end of that one,” Matthews said, her eyes welling again. “It’s going to be really hard to say goodbye to these girls. We’ve got a lot of great stuff coming up, too, but I’m just excited for these girls to have achieved their goal and move on from here with that.”

Columbia Falls was remarkably efficient all season and the state tourney was no different. The Wildkats lost only two sets in four matches and, once they hit their groove, dominated the Rams on Saturday.

Billings Central won a mistake-plagued first set, just as they had against the ’Kats on Thursday, but Columbia Falls won the second set and cruised in the third and fourth.

“At the end of that second (game), when we fought hard and we took care of that I knew the confidence was back,” Matthews said.

“Then in the third set when they kind of went on a roll, I knew we had it.”

Matthews said she made no significant tactical adjustments, instead choosing simply to sharpen her team’s focus against a Rams squad that had won three consecutive five-set matches, including a come-from-behind win over Belgrade earlier Saturday.

“I think we just came in not fully giving the respect to them that they deserved in that first (set), knowing they were tired,” Matthews said.

“(Billings Central) fought really hard and they had some great momentum coming in from a win this morning. That’s always big for a team to be able to use that and fight really hard, but we just talked about the fact that we know we have the skills, it’s just more about the belief and the focus and that heart-piece.”

Billings Central played a remarkable 27 sets in the tournament, compared to 14 for Columbia Falls. Over the tournament’s last two days, Billings Central beat Corvallis in five, Whitefish in five, Belgrade in five and lost to Columbia Falls in four. The Wildkats simply swept Belgrade and won the title match over the same 26-hour stretch.

In the first set, though, it was Billings Central that established control, finishing with a 5-2 flurry and limiting the explosive Wildkats offense.

Nothing stopped the Columbia Falls attack the rest of the way.

The Wildkats finished with a punishing 64 kills — the Rams had 37 — and Finberg masterfully mixed up the recipients of her 48 assists. Stenger led the way with 19 kills but Casazza wasn’t far behind with 15 and Burlage had 13.

Matthews called the win “a little bit sweeter” than a year ago because of the senior class and had a hard time wrapping her mind around her remarkable first two seasons as a high school head coach.

“Even the state title from last year hasn’t totally sunk in yet,” she said. “(The seniors) have been incredible. You couldn’t ask for a better group of girls ... I’ve been really lucky to stumble into that for my first years as head coach, for sure.”

Championship

Columbia Falls def.

Billings Central 22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-17

Kills - Columbia Falls 64 (Morgan Stenger 19), Billings Central 37 (Hailey Keller 9). Blocks - Columbia Falls 8 (Stenger 5), Billings Central 9 (Olivia Moten-Schell 5). Assists - Columbia Falls 54 (Cydney Finberg 48), Billings Central 35 (Devin Nielsen 34). Digs - Columbia Falls 87 (Kiara Burlage 20), Billings Central 54 (Bailey Kufeld 14). Aces - Columbia Falls 5 (Finberg 2), Billings Central 3 (Kufeld 2).

Loser Places Third

Billings Central def. Belgrade

25-21, 23-25, 16-25, 25-14, 15-13

Billings Central ­ — Kills 49 (Olivia Moten-Schell 14). Assists 44 (Devin Nielsen 41). Aces 6 (Hailey Keller 2). Digs 60 (Avery Hadley 17). Blocks 7 (Devin Nielsen 3, Sydney Hawbaker 3).

Belgrade — Kills 64 (Bailey Christensen 12). Assists 43 (Shania Neubauer 31). Aces 4 (B. Christensen 4). Digs 82 (Taylor Christensen 21). Blocks 12 (Sydney Lambeth 2, B. Christiansen 2).