Powder River Examiner -

The Lady Hawks continue to win volleyball matches, advancing to a 12-0 record with wins against Ekalaka last Thursday, and bringing home a first ever win at the Belle Fourche tournament on Saturday, where Broadus won 6 straight matches including a win against Belle Fourche.

"I'm proud to see how the team has matured," Broadus Head Coach Gordon Archer commented on the wins. "Last year when we fell behind or lost a game it seemed to take the fire out of us, but this year it seems to motivate us to come back and win."

Broadus didn't fall behind at Ekalaka, but they were short middle hitter Oliveah Schaffer, who was out for the match with a sore knee. This season Archer has been consistently subbing out players in case of just such an eventuality as an injury, and Ciara McDowell was able to step in to play the position without issue.

Broadus won that match in three straight sets: 25-10, 25-16, and 25-13.

"Ekalaka is always a determined team, but in this case our strength overcame their determination," Archer commented on the win during a Monday interview.

On Saturday Broadus traveled to Belle Fourche for the 16 team tournament, featuring teams from around South Dakota, along with Bowman, ND, and Broadus.

Archer commented that the majority of the teams present were the equivalent of Montana's Class B teams, while teams like Belle Fourche would be the equivalent of a Class A team in Montana.

The tournament featured a best of three game setup for the matches, with all three games played to 25.

First up for Broadus was the Redfield Pheasants, a town from East River South Dakota which is known for its excellent pheasant hunting.

"They were a good team, but we dominated," Archer noted. "I think we snuck up on them a little, and they didn't expect us to be so tough."

Broadus won handily, 25-18 and 25-16.

Next up was the Kadoka Kougars, hailing from just east of the Badlands on I90. The Lady Hawks let the first game slip away from them 18-25, but dug in and came back for easy wins in the next two games, 25-14 and 25-16.

The third match of the day and final pool play match was played against the Custer Wildcats of the southern Black Hills.

"Custer was a good team but we found our groove at this point in the day," Archer said of the match.

Broadus won against Custer in two, 25-22 and 25-18.

Teams were then seated into one of two tournament brackets, with Broadus and Redfield advancing to the upper bracket from their original pool.

Broadus would next face the Wall Eagles from the plains of Western SD.

"Wall was up there with Circle – they had taller girls that could block and hit" Archer said, comparing Wall to the tough Circle Lady Wildcat team.

Broadus won against Wall in two, 25-22 and 25-23.

"One of the things I was most excited about is how we found a way to get the ball down past blockers all day; that skill should really help us moving forward," Archer spoke.

Next up was the Hill City Rangers, a team from the Black Hills that holds its graduation ceremonies at Mount Rushmore. In the 1930s a group of young men from the town including the basketball team, an eighth grader, and several recent graduates helped battle a forest fire in the Black Hills, and were recognized as one of the top crews on the fire.

The "Ranger" name was given to the school in honor of the boys' work on the fire, and Hill City became the only team in the United States to use Smokey Bear of the US Forest Service as their team's mascot.

Archer described Hill City as the best team Broadus has met all season. One of their players was around 6'2" in height, and could defend the net well and hit hard.

By that time in the day all the teams were a bit tired, and it showed as Broadus lost the first set by a hard fought score of 28-30. From there Broadus seemed to regain their strength to roar back in the second and third to win, 25-19 and 25-21.

Broadus now faced Belle Fourche, a team which they've faced multiple times over the years, with Belle consistently coming out on top. Archer thought that Broadus has played them for at least eight years, and has not beaten them once....until last Saturday.

"They're a really good team, and we were glad for the opportunity to face them, especially in the tournament finals," Gordon spoke.

Broadus controlled the first set to win 25-18, with Belle coming back in the second set but Broadus holding them off to win the set and the tourney, 25-23.

"It was an absolutely exciting and fun day. I couldn't be prouder of the team," Gordon beamed as he spoke of the win. Broadus won t-shirts and medals for their first place win, the first Belle Fourche tourney win in Broadus school history.

This week Broadus faced St. Labre on Tuesday (after the paper went to print), and will look to continue their momentum as they face Jordan at home on Thursday. Broadus beat Jordan at the Fairview tournament earlier this season. On Saturday Broadus travels to the Ekalaka tournament, where they will face teams from the 4C as well as Baker, which Broadus beat in tournament play over the summer.