These Scotties Go to Eleven

11-0. The Scotties volleyball team continued their roll through the conference at the District 2B tournament in Wolf Point this weekend as they claimed their third straight championship. Glasgow has now earned the top slot in six of the past seven years. The 2021 Scottie team became the 19th in school history to hoist the conference title hardware.

The Scotties entered the district tournament with a perfect 8-0 conference record and left the Wolves' gym having taken it to eleven. Glasgow defeated Wolf Point in the first round of the tourney before taking on Malta in the semi-final and final matches.

Glasgow's first match against Wolf Point ended in three sets 25-14, 25-11, 25-19. Coach Somer Hoerster said Wolf Point came out strong against a slow-starting Glasgow team, but "I do have confidence in my group to score their points once they get rolling a bit and they did just that. I was very happy at the end of that match that everyone showed up excited to play."

The Scotties notched 29 kills, 23 assists, 11 aces, 19 blocks and 3 digs in their win. Wolf Point had 21 kills, 18 assists, three aces, two blocks and 25 digs.

Abrianna Nielsen led Glasgow in kills with eight. Daley Aune had 20 assists for the Scotties. Tyann Graham registered four of her team's aces. Klaire Krumwiede had seven blocks and Blaire Westby had 12 digs.

The win pitted Glasgow against Malta, whom Glasgow defeated in four sets just over a week prior at home. This time, the Scotties took only three sets to defeat their Hi-Line rivals 25-23, 25-22, 25-12.

"They gave us a good run those first two games and then for whatever reason, my team just settled in and played more loose and confident and I believe that was part of the difference in the score," Hoerster said.

The victors had 30 kills, 24 assists, 13 aces, 15 blocks and 49 digs. Malta tied in digs, also with 49, while putting up 23 kills, 22 assists, six aces and four blocks.

Carly Nelson led the Scotties in kills with 10. Aune was again the assist leader, putting 16 on the stat sheet. Nielsen had six aces and Krumwiede had six blocks in their leadership roles. Westby led again in digs with 16 against the M-ettes.

"At the end of Friday, I was very proud of my team for everyone's all-around efforts and for taking care of business in six straight games," Hoerseter said. "We played some very efficient volleyball," Hoerseter continued.

Glasgow's win advanced them to the championship game, where they again faced Malta after the M-ettes defeated Wolf Point in the consolation game. In front of what was equivalent to a home crowd – the Scottie pep band, cheerleaders and football team were all on hand to cheer on their cohorts – Glasgow used the crowd's energy to fuel a 25-13, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23 win over Malta. Hoerster praised the challenging team, "Malta is a tough team, with a great group of athletes. They've gotten better every time they set foot on the floor and we never discount them."

The first set of the match started a bit slowly with quick points and an early Glasgow lead they built to a win. Set two went much the same for a period, though Malta showed signs of a second wind. That second wind hit strong in set three when Malta took a game off Glasgow. The extended volleys, as well as heart and hustle of both teams, extended into the fourth set until a Malta side out gave Glasgow their winning point.

"We pulled the win out, and the first two games were tough but felt good. Then we missed some unnecessary serves in game three that probably cost us the win which led to that tight game four. I am always proud of my team when they battle and find ways to score points in tight matches. They did just that in game four and we scored when we needed to," Hoerster explained. "It wasn't as pretty as the first two games, but a win is a win."

Glasgow outpaced Malta in all stats save digs, where the M-ettes notched 91 to the Scotties' 73. Glasgow had 41 kills to Malta's 24, 36 assists versus 23, 14 to eight in aces and 20 blocks compared to 14.

Nielsen was the kill leader for the winners, notching 15 over the four sets. Aune racked up 25 assists as the Scotties' go-to setter. Nelson had six aces and Krumwiede had eight blocks. Westby led all players in digs with 25.

Scottie teamwork was the star of the championship game, so much so that when asked how they felt about their third title, all four seniors answered in unison, "Amazing."

Krumwiede, Westby, Nielsen and Graham agreed that Glasgow's win came as a result of all players stepping up to play as a team, as well as having fun on the court. "We worked together as a team really well," Nielsen said. Krumwiede added, "We really came together when it mattered."

Hoerster also highlighted the team's togetherness as key to their wins, " ... this is the final push for end of season and the girls are big enough competitors that they want to give strong efforts at tournaments. They expect to play well come tournament time, and that's from all of the weeks of their hard work and conditioning coming in to play. It matters to them and they have some some big goals. We also had some absolutely incredible defensive plays in our championship match. It was so fun to watch from the sideline and I know our crowd had a great show as well."

Glasgow will host the Northern Divisional tournament this Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 4-6. The Scotties' first-round match will be played at 1:30 p.m. against the Conrad Cowgirls. Hoerster said, "We hope to have a huge home crowd to support us this coming weekend."

Full tournament action begins in Scottie gymnasium at 10 a.m Thursday with a Choteau-Harlem match-up, followed by Shelby vs. Malta at 11:45 a.m. Wolf Point will play Fairfield at 3:15 p.m. The top three teams in the tournament will move on to the State All-Class Tournament in Bozeman Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 11-13.

With a home court tournament advantage, the Scottie stars are also asking for a loud and exciting atmosphere to play in. Again speaking as a team, the seniors said, "Please come out and cheer us on! Come to every game! It really really really helps us. It really hypes us up. Please be loud. Be loud!"