Scottie Volleyball Season Closes at State

The Scotties' volleyball season came to an end in Bozeman at the State Tournament this past weekend, after Glasgow suffered two losses early in play. Glasgow fell to Florence-Carlton in round one, losing the match in four sets Thursday. The loss pitted Glasgow against hi-line rival Malta on Friday morning. The Scotties took the first two sets but Malta rebounded to take the next three and the match.

Glasgow's first round came at 4 p.m. on Thursday, when they faced Florence-Carlton. After four sets, Florence-Carlton came out on top 25-13, 21-25, 25-19, 25-13.

Florence won the set in part due to a late seven-point run. The second set saw the Scotties fall behind early followed by a strong rally to take the lead. After some back and forth play, Glasgow pulled away late in the game to take a 25-21 victory. Set three saw sustained scoring by Florence with one strong Glasgow rally which was not enough to overcome Florence's lead. Florence kept their momentum rolling in set four and shut down all Scottie rallies as Florence went on to win the set, 25-13, and take the match.

"Florence is always going to be a tough team. They have been to state for at least a ddecade in a row now, maybe longer, which builds this automatic environment of a certain expectation that is to be met. Plus they see a ton of tough competition all year long so I can only assume that they are playing in many four and five game matches all season long," said Scottie head coach Somer Hoerster. "It all matters in this sport."

The Scotties notched five aces, 37 kills, 33 assists, 26 blocks and 98 digs. Tyann Graham and Carly Nelson each had two aces, while Daley Aune had one. Nelson had 11 kills to lead Glasgow, followed by Nielsen with 7 and Graham and Aune with 6 each. Aune racked up 21 assists for the Scotties while Graham had 10 and Nelson 2. Nelson led the team in blocks with 9, followed by Klaire Krumwiede with 6 and Nielsen with 4. Blaire Westby led the team in digs with 25, followed by Aune with 21 and Graham with 18.

Glasgow returned to the court Friday morning to take on the Malta M-ettes, who were at the state tournament for the first time in nearly 20 years. Malta came into the match hungry for a win but Glasgow took the first set 25-23 after a hard fought battle. Glasgow staved off a late game rally in set two to win 25-21, but the M-ettes fought back in set three to take a 25-21 win over the Scotties. Set three saw more back-and-forth play between the hi-line teams, but a late five-point stretch by Malta earned them the 25-17 win. Neither team managed a big points run in set five – the biggest point runs in the game never exceeded four points – but Malta narrowly held on to their lead long enough to secure the 16-14 set win and the match.

Glasgow had 10 aces, 50 kills, 49 assists, 24 blocks and 128 digs in the match. Tatum Nyquist had 3 aces in leading Glasgow while Aune and Nelson added 2 each. Nielsen led in kills with 23, followed by Nelson with 13 and Graham with 6. Aune racked up 44 assists while Graham and Nelson added 4 each. Krumwiede had 10 blocks for the Scotties, Nelson had 6 and Nielsen had 4. Aune led Glasgow in digs with 36, followed by Westby with 34 and Nielsen with 23.

"The gym was loud, hard to yell over the noise and the multiple whistles – it was all a different setting," Hoerster said. "However at the end of the day, the girls just didn't play well. We had too many errors, we didn't play to our potential and that's frustrating."

In a social media post, Hoerster highlighted her team's successes, noting "17-6 is an awesome record."

Scottie seniors Nielsen and Krumwiede also expressed pride in their team and season. "I feel really good about how the season went! We accomplished goals and worked hard to get to where we got," Nielsen told the Courier. "I'm most proud of all the girls on the team and how far we came from the beginning of the season."

Krumwiede said, "Honestly I thought that we had a great season! It had its downs, but it also had its ups. More ups than downs! I'm just really proud of all my teammates and the girls that really stepped up. Really had a fun season with them!"