by Scott Sacry
The Florence volleyball team won the 2024 Class B State Runner-up trophy in Bozeman on Saturday, November 16. The Falcons lost the first game of the tournament on Thursday to Huntley Project. Then they made it all the way back to the championship game on Saturday, where they faced Huntley Project again and were defeated 2-3 (25-13, 25-15, 22-25, 20-25, 10-15) in an epic five-set match.
In the championship game, the Falcons needed to beat Huntley twice to claim the title, since they came up through the loser’s bracket in the double elimination tournament.
The title game started off ideally for Florence as they won the first two sets, 25-13 and 25-15. Then they dropped the next two sets, 22-25 and 20-25, which set up a decisive 5th set, where they lost 10-15.
“I’m super proud of our team. They are a special group of young girls,” said Florence’s head coach Kristy Duchien. “It’s just bittersweet right now to have gotten so close and it stings to have come up just short. But to even get to the championship game, our players had to step up. And they did. As a group we talked about ‘running through a brick wall for each other’ and that’s what these girls did at state.”
In the championship match, for Florence, Maggie Schneiter had 4 aces, 7 kills, 37 assists and a block, Elise Schneiter had 2 aces and a block, Taylor Pyette had 20 digs, Emory Ralston had 13 kills and a block, Ava Philbrick had 12 kills and 4 blocks, Ella Goeltz had 25 digs, and Dia Jenkins had 19 digs.
It was a long and winding road for Florence at State. The Falcons played three weeks worth of volleyball in three days in Bozeman, playing six total games from Thursday to Saturday.
“After they lost the first game, they knew it was going to be a lot of hard work to make it back,” said Duchien. “But they didn’t want it to be over. They weren’t ready to die, not this time. They went out there and performed.”
Here’s a recap of Florence’s path. Florence lost 0-3 to Huntley in the opening round on Thursday, they defeated Fairfield 3-0 Friday morning, they defeated Anaconda 3-1 Friday afternoon, they defeated Jefferson 3-2 Friday night, and finally they defeated Baker 3-1 on Saturday morning to get to the Championship game where they played Huntley again. Phew.
Pivotal game against Jefferson
Like last year at state, the Falcons lost their first game, then clawed their way up the loser’s side of the bracket to the 3rd/4th game. Last year they lost to Columbus in this game and missed out on a trophy. The feeling after that loss has fueled this year’s team all season.
As fate would have it, they found themselves in the same spot on Friday night in Bozeman in the 3rd/4th place game where they faced a strong Jefferson team. A loss meant going home without a medal just like the year before. A win propelled them to the top three and a guaranteed trophy.
Florence won the first set, then Jefferson won the next two sets and Florence trailed 1-2. Jefferson had all the momentum, and it looked like Florence might suffer the same fate as last year.
But the girls dug deep and rallied to win the 4th set, setting up a dramatic 5th set. Florence got up early and held on for a 15-9 victory to seal a top three finish.
“Before the 5th set we talked about how we were here again on a Friday night,” said Duchien. “We knew that we needed to push through and play how we were capable of. And they went out there and did it and won.”
Florence had defeated Jefferson 3-2 (25-23, 12-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-8). For Florence, Emory Ralston had 3 aces, 15 kills and a block, Maggie Schneiter had 44 assists and 2 aces, Taylor Pyette had 15 digs, Olivia Raczykowski had 9 kills and a block, Ella Goeltz had 25 digs, Ava Philbrick has 11 kills and a block, and Dia Jenkins has 13 digs.
Tournament recap and stats
For the Falcons, the tournament started and ended with Huntley, as they opened up the tournament against the Red Devils in the first round on Thursday. Florence lost 0-3 (23-25, 24-26,15-25) in a competitive match.
For Florence, Maggie Schneiter has 2 aces, 9 digs and 22 assists, Taylor Pyette had an Ace and an assist, Ava Philbrick had 9 kills, Emory Ralston had 8 kills, 2 blocks and 12 digs, Elise Schneiter had 6 kills and 2 blocks, Ella Goeltz had 16 digs, Aislynn Campbell had 3 blocks, and Dia Jenkins had 9 digs.
This loss sent them to the loser’s side of the bracket where they defeated Fairfield 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-15) early Friday morning. For Florence, Emory Ralston had 2 aces, 9 kills, 2 blocks and 14 digs, Maggie Schneiter had an ace, 24 assists and 15 digs, Ella Goeltz had an ace and 3 assists, Olivia Raczykowski had 6 kills and a block, Aislynn Campbell had 5 kills, both Elise Schneiter and Ava Philbrick had an assist and a block, and Taylor Pyette had 14 digs.
This win sent them to play Anaconda on Friday afternoon and they defeated the Copperheads 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-16). For Florence, Elise Schneiter had an ace, 9 kills and a block, Ella Goeltz had an ace and 20 digs, Emory Ralston had an ace, 10 kills and 12 digs, Taylor Pyette had an ace, two assists and 16 digs, Ava Philbrick had 17 kills and 3 blocks, Maggie Schneiter had 35 assists, Aislynn Campbell and Olivia Raczykowski each had a block.
Florence then defeated Jefferson 3-2 sending them to the 3rd place match (loser takes 3rd, winner moves on to the championship) against Baker on Saturday morning. Florence won 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 18-25, 25-13) to punch their ticket into the championship match against Huntley.
“It’s sad that we won’t get to play together anymore,” said Duchien. “We had such a great group of girls and a great group of seniors. We are all so proud of them. The young girls got a taste of what it’s like to be at state, what it takes to be successful at the highest level, so the future looks good for Florence volleyball.”
All Photos by Jason Larson