Bigfork cancels volleyball matches after COVID-19 contact

Bigfork High School’s volleyball team will be off the court for at least the next two weeks due to COVID-19 concerns after several players were put into quarantine over the weekend.

The decision comes after contact tracing of a positive case at the school identified the students as having had significant contact with the infected individual.

The quarantined athletes leave the Valkyries short of enough active players to participate in competition at the moment.

“We had a positive case and it impacted some of the volleyball players, so we’re just unable to muster up a team at this time,” Bigfork Athletic Director Matt Porrovecchio said.

“It’s unfortunate, but I think we all anticipated it happening at one point or another.”

According to Porrovecchio, the students affected are healthy and taking all necessary precautions.

“Right now it is just contact tracing. Right now the kids are all healthy and doing well. We just have to be careful. It is what it is,” he said.

As of right now, the Valkyries have been forced to cancel upcoming matches against Lincoln, Troy, Whitefish and Thompson Falls, but Porrovecchio says any lost conference contests will not count against the Valkyries and will be rescheduled at a later date.

“We are working on rescheduling conference games and doing the best we can, but there is just no way around it. We will not be penalized for it, though,” he said.

“We don’t take any day that we get to play sports for granted. We are lucky to be out there and we need to enjoy it as much as possible.”