TEARS OF JOY!

For the 14th time in the history of Glasgow Scottie volleyball and nine years since their last apperance, the Lady Scotties will be competing at the 2019 State Class B State Tournament from Nov. 14 through 16. In addition to securing their spot at State, after beating Shelby on Nov. 9, the Lady Scotties also achieved second place at the Class B Northern Divisional Tournament after being defeated by Choteau. The Lady Scotties ended the season with an impressive 18 and three record.

As a result of being crowned District 2B Champs the week before, the Lady Scotties had an early afternoon match on Nov. 7 against Great Falls Central in the Wolf Point High School gymnasium. The Scotties defeated Central in three games, 25-11, 25-6, 25-13. The win was a huge motivator for the Lady Scotties as they continued through the bracket. "My team showed up ready to play and handled business like they needed to. That match went exactly how I hoped it would and gave the girls a great feeling headed into that evening's play," coach Somer Hoerster told the Courier.

The good feelings and momentum carried into the second match of the tournament, which was played later that evening against Shelby. The Lady Scotties won the first two games, 25-19, 25-16, and everyone watching and following the scores was confident the Scotties would punch their ticket to state after the third game. However, Shelby had other ideas and came back, winning the following three games, 25-10, 25-13, 15-12. With Shelby's win, they automatically secured their trip to State, and left the Lady Scotties digging and fighting for their chance at the State title.

"We started out great and won the first two, but I can't tell you the number of times in volleyball, game three seems to be the hardest to win sometimes. We talk of momentum all the time in this sport and you can feel when it starts to shift. Things that were going our way, all of the sudden weren't. Then we started to make a few mental errors and then their big hitter got hot and created some issues for us. We knew at the end of that match that we ultimately beat ourselves and we went home knowing that we all could have done a better job and we needed to work harder the next day," coach Hoerster reflected.

As a result of losing the match, the Scotties had to play the M-Ettes on Nov. 8, whom they beat twice during the regular season. Again the Lady Scotties dominated the court beating Malta, 25-13, 25-11, 25-6. "Our Malta match was somewhat of a surprise for us as they came out and really battled hard with Harlem and won against a very good team. It wasn't expected for us to be playing them however we did and my team really handled that match well and went in with a fierce determination that I was very proud of," said Hoerster. The Lady Scotties allowed very few points scored by the M-Ettes and it was the start of their winning streak on their "loser out" day.

The next match, which determined fourth place of the Divisional tournament, squared the Scotties against Fairfield, whom they beat in four games, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-17. "With that match we felt the pressure and just knew that if we served and passed well and attacked the ball consistently it would be good for us. Our serving created some issues for them and after we dropped the first game, I looked around at my team and never once saw fear from them. They were smiling and positive and ready to go back out and do better," recalled Hoerster.

However losing the first game was the motivation the Lady Scotties needed to keep their eyes on the goal of punching their ticket to State. Hoerster recalled after the third game, she could see the game shift in the Scotties favor followed by the fourth game where the team provided a "solid and commanding effort" leaving "no doubt we deserved to go to State."

After officially clinching the win, the Lady Scotties punched their ticket to State. "I was so completely happy for my team and was just happy to sit back and watch them celebrate and see the pure joy and emotion from them. That moment is something I will always hold close to my heart as a coach," recalled Hoerster. "The thing with playing the Malta and Fairfield teams is they are proven tournament teams and are used to rising to the occasion of high pressure play so we knew Fairfield was going to be a battle."

The win against Fairfield allowed the Scotties to get revenge on Shelby for the loss the day before. In four games, the Scotties beat Shelby, 13-25, 25-19, 25-20, 26-24, securing a spot in the championship. Even though the Scotties lost the first game, they came back with their goal in mind.

"Once we knew we had made State (which we have talked about almost daily all summer and season long) a certain amount of pressure was off and that certainly gave us a chance to just play a game and try to have some fun. Of course we talked about not being done with our goals and wanting to play in the Championship match, but we also talked about being in the moment and just enjoying the game," Hoerster told the Courier. "You have a certain comfort level when you get to play against teams a few times and know what to expect from them. We didn't have that with Shelby and they have beaten Glasgow at crucial points in the past and sent us home from Divisional ending our season, so we needed that monkey off our backs."

The win against Shelby allowed them to play in the Championship round against Choteau, who they haven't seen since the first week of the season during the Choteau Invitational. Choteau won in three games, 25-23, 25-9, 25-13, which allowed the Scotties to secure the second place finish at Divisonals.

The first game saw the Scotties fighting a battle. "I honestly felt like we should have won that game if some calls would have gone our way. It was unfortunate for my team to work that hard and not be rewarded with a win and have to stay in rallies longer than necessary. I am sure that had an impact on them some mentally," stated Hoerster. In games two and three, there were errors that contributed to the Scotties not playing to the best of their ability. "We know we didn't play like we could against Choteau and are hoping we get a chance to play them again," said Hoerster.

With a short week, the team will focus on the basics of the game and what they need to do well to compete, which is passing, serving and defense as they prepare for State. The Lady Scotties will play on Thursday, Nov. 14, against Huntley Project starting at 10 a.m. at the Brick Breeden Field House on the Montana State University Bozeman campus.