Hawks, Trotters advance to divisional

The Lady Hawks of Thompson Falls hosted the 2024 7B district tournament taking first place, beating the undefeated Eureka Lady Lions in four epic sets.

The district tournament at Thompson Falls High School ended up being a great day for the Sanders County teams, as Thompson Falls had two wins to take the championship and Plains lost one and won one to earn third place and secure a trip to the divisional meet in Anaconda, which begins Thursday, Nov. 7.

The Hawks won the championship after defeating the Eureka Lions in four sets. The Lions had been undefeated the entire season until meeting the Hawks in the championship match. In their first meeting of the season, Eureka beat Thompson Falls in four sets. When they met in Thompson Falls, the Hawks took the Lions to five sets before falling. On Saturday, the Hawks got their sweet revenge, finally beating Eureka.

The Trotters' road to divisional started last Tuesday as they hosted Troy for a district play-in game, winning in three straight, 25-7, 26-24 and 25-20. Mission won the other play-in game last Tuesday, defeating Superior in five sets.

In Thompson Falls on Saturday, Eureka took on Mission in the first match of the game, with the Lions sweeping the Bulldogs 25-18, 25-23, 25-17. Thompson Falls and Plains also faced off in the first round, with the Hawks winning in three straight, 25-12, 25-16, 25-15.

Both the Hawks and Plains worked to settle into their game on Saturday before the Hawks took a massive lead in the first set. Hawk senior Olivia Fitchett helped Thompson keep their colossal lead by hammering down aces and quickly the Hawks won the first set 25-12. The Trotters came out in the second set fired up, but once again the Hawks took the lead and held on to it for much of the set as they put more points between them and Plains. With the score 20-14, Plains would only gain two more points before the Hawks took the second set 25-16.

In the final set, the Hawks came out to gain the first points and would take a 7-2 lead over the Trotters, but Plains kept a level head and worked together and would close the point gap. From there they would take their first lead of the game, 9-10, until the level headed Hawks came back to grab the lead and take off for the win.

There was no rest for the Trotters, who immediately faced the Mission Bulldogs to determine third and fourth place. The Bulldogs took the lead early, but Plains was able to make a comeback and tie the set at 11 apiece. From there Mission would take a slight lead, but the Trotters never faltered and would bring the score back to a tie at 15. Plains was able to take the lead from there and keep themselves in a good position for the set win 25-20.

The Trotters would continue the intensity in the second set, putting 10 points between them and the Bulldogs. Mission wasn't ready to give up, and came back within two points, giving Plains just a 23-21 edge. The Trotters would only allow one more point before Claire Lakko set up Kalli Tuma for the final spike and the Trotters took the set win 25-22.

Mission took the lead in the final set, but Plains would take the lead after the teams tied up at four points. From there the Trotters would keep their lead, putting points between the teams until the score was 16-9. The Trotters would only allow the Bulldogs to gain five points before taking the match win and securing third place.

"We got our pregame jitters out of the way against Thompson and came back to play our best game," said co-captains Tegan Saner and Lexie Deming". When the Ledger asked what goals the seniors had for divisionals they just said "Make it to state and play our game."

The final matchup of the night was against the undefeated Eureka Lady Lions and the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks. The Lions started the game out strong, coming out fierce taking a five-point lead over the Hawks. Thompson would keep a level head but wouldn't be able to gain the lead back, and soon the Lions held a massive nine point lead over the Hawks. The Lady Hawks would try to lessen the point gap but they were too late and before the crowd knew it the first set went to the Lions 25-18.

The ferocious Lions came out and made the score 7-4 quickly in the second set. They made the Hawks work for their points, but Thompson was able to band together and tie the game at 13 each. From there the powerhouse teams would go point for point and have long volleys before the Hawks would take the lead putting the score 23-20 before the Hawks won 25-23.

The third set was just as intense, with the Lions again taking a slight early lead before the Hawks would come back within one. From there the Hawks were able to serve down aces to make their lead even larger over Eureka. Gaining a seven-point lead over the Lions at 20-13, the Hawks would make quick work of the last five points and go into the fourth set up 2-1 over Eureka.

Staying in their groove in the final set, the Hawks would come out to take the lead over Eureka, until the evenly matched teams tied the game at seven. From there Thompson would take back the lead, finding holes in the Lions defense, putting the Hawks up 13-9. After some epic volleys, the Hawks kept the edge on the Lions and the score was 21-20. With everyone on the edge of their seats the teams would go point for point until Olivia Fitchett was able to send a perfect set to outside hitter Addy Deal for the final point crowning Thompson Falls the 2024 district champions.

"We played our game. We all have a close bond on and off the court and I think you need that to be successful. We haven't been able to win districts in a long while so this feels really good," stated Hawk senior Sarah Koskela. She said looking forward to divisional that her goal was to "play our game and do what we know."

The divisional volleyball tournament starts Thursday in Anaconda. Thompson Falls will face Deer Lodge in their first match at 1:30 p.m., and Plains will take on Loyola at 3:15 p.m. All games will be broadcast on NFHS Network.