These girls are on to STATE!!! The way they have battled these last two weeks to prove that they have what it takes is admirable. I say this a lot, but I will repeat it. These girls have heart! Plain and simple. (And great coaching)! For a team to face adversity like they have the last 2 weeks and how they overcome it and WIN....baffles me. The grit, the teamwork, the hard work, the hustle, and the heart! I am so proud to be a Lady Pioneer volleyball fan!
This past weekend at Divisionals, the ladies played Cascade, Belt, Simms, Fort Benton, CJI, and Belt again twice for the championship. Their only match loss was against Belt the first time they played.
Coach Brittany said: "For the first time in school history, your Big Sandy Lady Pioneers are going to STATE! This is also the very first championship trophy for volleyball. I still haven't fully processed the magnitude of what these girls accomplished. I thought I saw it all last weekend when we played 28 sets in 3 days, including 16 sets in one day, and finished in 2nd place. It turns out I was wrong. We played another 27 sets in 3 days, including 16 sets in one day AGAIN, but this time we are walking away CHAMPIONS!! I can honestly say I have never witnessed anything like it in my lifetime. The pure grit and guts it takes to do what they did is truly unbelievable. You had to watch it with your own eyes to grasp the achievement fully. They played 14 matches in 10 days (55 Sets). That's a season's worth of games! I'm in awe of them, and I couldn't be more proud to be their coach. Thank you to EVERYONE who supported us both near and far. We appreciate you so much!! Keep cheering these girls on at STATE! We play at 2:00 pm against DGSG. As always... GO PIONEERS!!"
Just like last week, because so many sets were played, we are going to stick with the team stats and game scores.
Cascade: 25-18, 25-14, 25-12
Belt: 26-24, 19-25, 25-20, 19-25, 8-15
Simms: 25-16, 25-19, 25-17
Fort Benton: 25-19, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21
CJI: 18-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-23
Belt: (For Championship): 25-19, 22-25, 25-11, 25-20
15-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-20
Total Digs: 632
Total Assists: 219
Total Kills: 274
Total Blocks: 41
Total Aces: 65
As I sat down to write the article about these amazing girls, I got an email from an individual who said they had contacted ESPN and submitted a story about the Lady Pioneers in hopes of being featured. My email was included as my contact info since I run the local newspaper. It honestly brought such a huge smile to my face because these girls absolutely deserve it!
