Lady Hawks Take Out Four Teams On Their Way To Second Place State Trophy

The Broadus Lady Hawks were in rarified air at the Brick Breeden Field House in Bozeman last week, as one of the eight schools from across the state who had navigated the trials and tribulations of district and divisional volleyball tournaments to compete at state.

Broadus came into the tournament as the #1 seed from the East, and were perhaps a bit of an underdog in the tournament, with no players over 5'10" tall on the roster, while competing against many teams with players over six feet in height. Lady Hawk Head Coach Monica Smith told us during an interview Monday that she had told the girls "We don't have the height, but we have the heart." The team showed that heart as they played in six matches in three days, winning second overall in the state.

Path To Victory

The Lady Hawks led off the tournament against the #2 team from the south, Roy/Winifred. Broadus seemed to bit shaky in the first set, with the noise and pressure of the state tournament perhaps rattling their nerves. Smith was able to compose her team to win the next two sets, but she said that later in the match they seemed to be playing more as individuals than as a team, and Roy/Winifred took advantage of the situation to win the final two sets, sending the Lady Hawks into loser out play.

Following the loss, Smith had a conversation with the team about why they were at the tournament, why they play, and what the tournament meant to them, and emphasized some of the points she's made this season – that they shouldn't be afraid to fail and not to use any excuses if things don't work out their way.

The next day, Broadus led off against Chester-Joplin-Inverness, and easily swept the #2 team from the north in three sets, 25-13, 25-21, and 25-20.

That put Broadus into a match against Bridger, the #1 from the south, which Broadus had previously beaten earlier in the year, at the Bridger tournament. Smith commented how Bridger had been advertised as never having lost this season against a Class C opponent, despite Broadus beating them. So that reporting drove the Broadus girls to prove themselves once again, and they showed it a tough match with the first set going to extra points, with Broadus winning 27-25. Broadus then won the second 25-18, but dropped the next two 20-25 and 21-25 to take it to a fifth and final set, winning 15-11.

That win propelled Broadus into a no worse than 4th place finish, in their third match of the day. Beginning at 8 pm, the Lady Hawks took on the #2 from the west team Twin Bridges. 4th place was not where the Lady Hawks were comfortable finishing – they craved more, and easily trounced the Falcons 25-16, 25-14, and 25-19.

Smith noted the team got back to their hotel rooms around 10 that night, but had to be up bright and early with bags packed Saturday morning, in order to be ready to head home later in the day. Whether that journey homeward would take place after a match for second against North Country, or after a match against #1 ranked Manhattan Christian remained to be seen.

At 10 AM action got underway against the Saco-Whitewater-Hinsdale co-op, and Broadus went out to an early 25-14 lead. North Country managed to eke out a win in the second set 26-24, but Broadus came back to win the third 25-23. In the fourth set, Broadus overcame a nine point deficit, down 12-3 and kept the lead to go to match point. The game was paused by a timeout, and viewers from home watching the match on NFHS Network were greeted by a commercial. As the match returned, the commercial ran long and viewers only were able to see the Broadus teaming cheering as they won, and not the Kendall Stanley ace serve that had secured the win.

That win put Broadus into the championship against the Manhattan Christian Eagles in a battle of mascots featuring birds of prey (Hawk vs Eagle).

Manhattan Christian is a formidable opponent, with four players over six feet in height (Miranda Wyatt standing at a towering 6'4") including two committed to play volleyball at the collegiate level (one at Boise State and another at Northwestern University-St. Paul).

The Eagles had won their way through the tournament without losing a single set, and their dominance continued unabated against Broadus.

The Lady Hawks led briefly in the third set, but overall the fresh legged Manhattan Christian proved to be too much for the Lady Hawks, who were on their sixth match in three days, while Manhattan Christian was on their fourth.

Manhattan Christian won out over Broadus 25-12, 25-10, and 25-17 to end the Class C volleyball season for all Montana teams.

Attaining the second place trophy for Broadus was a huge win – Coach Smith said that after the match, as the team huddled around the trophy, she asked who amongst the team thought that at the start of the year they'd be standing where they were at the end of the season. Few hands were raised. She told them that ability to overcome and go further than what they thought they were capable of was a testament to the hard work they had put in – beginning last summer and continuing in practice, where the team were often pushed beyond their comfort zone.

Reflection

The second place win marked a milestone for Lady Hawk team athletics.

Previous to this year, the 2015 and 2016 Lady Hawk volleyball teams won third under then Head Coach Gordon Archer.

Other Broadus team sports who brought home state trophies include the 2023 Lady Hawk golf team, which won second at state; the first time a Broadus girls team has achieved a second place trophy at state in any sport. In 2022 the girls golf team won third.

The only boys teams to win second were the 1973 and 1976 wrestling teams, while the 1977 boys basketball team took third at state.

A Broadus team sport has never won a 1st place state title.

98 Montana schools comprise 79 teams across the state in Class C volleyball, meaning Broadus bested 77 other teams to achieve their second place trophy.

For Manhattan Christian, this win was their third state title in a row, after five straight state championship match appearances, and their fifth state title overall. They've also placed second or better 12 times since 1989.

Across the state some controversy exists over the inclusion of schools like Manhattan Christian in Class C.

A January 2023 MHSA proposal sought to add a multiplier to the attendance of private school attendance numbers, effectively bumping up smaller private schools to Class B. The rationale was that with private schools' ability to have an enrollment/recruiting/selection process, they have an advantage over public schools, which play with what they have available for students. What this shows in practice: between 2015 and fall of 2022 in MT Class C, a private school has won fully 1/3 of all state championships in volleyball, basketball, golf, track, and cross country combined.

According to NFHS, 21 states have a multiplier or competitive balancing formula for private schools.

The multiplier was not enacted at the January meeting.

Manhattan Christian is located in Churchill, around 20 miles from Bozeman. Cost to send a student to the school is $11,000 per year, though scholarships are available to reduce that amount.

The Path Forward

The graduating seniors for Broadus include Ciara McDowell, Aspen Krantz, Zeason Schaffer, Mia Mader. These girls had their first taste of life on the volleyball court when Libby Nisley started the AAU volleyball program when they were in fifth grade (freshmen Macyn McDowell and Shaylee Bilbrey started AAU in Second Grade). The group of Seniors went on to play five years for high school, culminating in the state trophy from Saturday.

"The seniors will leave tough shoes to fill," Monica said of the group. "But if the younger girls continue to put in the work the future looks bright."

For more pictures from the tournament, please see the November 16th photo gallery.