The Broadus Lady Hawk Volleyball team made the long drive down the Yellowstone drainage basin to Sidney last Thursday, where they competed in the Eastern C Divisional Volleyball Tournament. Hopes were high for the tournament caliber team, as Broadus was coming off a first-place win at the 2C District Tournament the previous week.
The first challenge in Sidney would come against Fairview, a team which had placed fourth in regular season play, and had come into the Divisional tourney seeded third from their district.
Broadus Head Coach Gordon Archer told us that the Lady Hawks came out in the first game hitting on all cylinders, with the entire team contributing to an easy 25-16 win in the first game.
The Lady Hawks' confidence continued to build in the second game, which Broadus won 28-26, though Fairview had begun to shift the momentum, edging closer during a long run of scores. With only a single game win needed for the Lady Hawks to advance, the momentum continued to favor Fairview, as Broadus struggled with their serving percentage as the match progressed.
Fairview took the third game 25-21, the fourth 25-19, and the fifth 15-8, to advance in the tournament.
Archer commented on the match: "Our nerves may have got to us in that match. We started out hitting 96% of our serves, and by the fifth game we were hitting 60%, which is the lowest percentage we've served all year."
Broadus was now in loser out play, and would need to advance down a long road if they were to snag one of the top two trophies and move on to State.
Later that evening, Broadus faced Froid/Medicine Lake, a team which had been beaten earlier in the day by Circle.
Froid/Medicine Lake came out strong in the first game, beating Broadus 25-11, and 25-17 in the second game. With the season on the line, Broadus fought back in the third game to win 25-22 and force a fourth game. Archer commented that Broadus was looking good in the fourth game until a ball went into the stands.
Zeason Schaffer dove after the errant ball and sustained an injury in the process. Zeason would come back to play later in the game and would suffer no permanent injury, but the play seemed to once again signify a momentum shift, with Froid-Medicine Lake taking advantage of the situation to pull ahead and win the game and thus the match, 25-18.
Though the Lady Hawk season had drawn to a close, their accomplishments this season were great. A team of freshmen and sophomores had overcome the adversity of a season mired by shutdowns for COVID and won the district tournament trophy. The loss to Fairview at Sidney was tempered by the fact that Fairview went on to win second in the tournament and go on to State. Plentywood remains undefeated in first place. Circle took third but did not advance.
Archer summed up the tournament and season: "I told the girls that they should be confident in themselves, as they played at the level of a State level team for those first games. I received some really nice comments from refs and other individuals at Sidney who were seeing our team play for the first time, and they were all impressed with our performances. I'm incredibly proud of how the team played all year, and I'm really pleased that I don't have to say goodbye to any Seniors. If the team continues to work towards their goals, I see great things for us in the future."
Coach Archer wanted to thank his Assistant Coach, Melissa Billing, for all the hard work she put in this season, as well as his wife Deb, for helping keep stats and for all of her support. Additionally, Gordon wanted to thank all the parents for their help. Last week, the Schaffers gave out goodie bags to the team as they departed for Districts, and Amber McDowell and Powder River Petals made District Champion T-shirts for the team. The Krantz family donated individualized pillow cases and pillows for each member of the team, and a variety of tasty food and drink found its way onto the bus to help sustain the girls on their long trips.
The Lady Hawk team will return their full roster of players next season. The future looks bright for volleyball in Broadus.
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