BIGFORK - The Bigfork Valkyries volleyball team has started their year off with a perfect 8-0 record and though there are still plenty of games left to play, they already have their eyes set on their first class B volleyball state title.
"Using the skills that we’ve worked on and we work on every single day and staying consistent with them," said head volleyball coach Ariel Stallknecht. "If they do that I think that they have a good chance of taking down any team that they see in front of them. And they have the will to do it and they’re just athletic and they fight for what they want."
And when it comes to improving after posting a 12-9 record last year the Valkyries have their ways.
"We don’t really compare ourselves to our competition as much as we just compare ourselves to how we played the game before and how we can get better," said Stallknecht. "We’ve watched some film on how we play not really what the other teams do and we know we’ve got all we need, all the puzzle pieces. We’ve just gotta put them together each day that comes through."
Despite the perfect start to the season the girls' mentality hasn’t changed.
"You never know what could happen, like they could be really good and you just want to go in really confident and not like, ‘oh this game we’re gonna win by a lot,’ you always wanna go in like, ‘this is gonna be a good game,' said senior Ellie Jordt.
While game-time intensity never falters as shown through their impressive feat of not losing a single set so far this year, the pregame hype is what builds it up.
"We jam out like we go all out, music turned up, we’re all dancing and just getting each other hype for our game," said Jordt with a big smile.
Fellow senior Zoey Albert echoed Jordt’s thoughts on the team mentality week in and week out.
"We’re not overly cocky about it," said Albert. "We have a good level of confidence and a good level of nerves to keep us pushing forward and keep us wanting it."
Confidence that has led to excitement as the team chases it’s first volleyball state title since 1986 and first ever in class B.
"I’m most excited to show everyone what we can do, because we’ve never been looked at as a threat, and now we’re the main threat," said a confident Albert. "So I’m just really excited to keep playing with my family."
