POLSON — The Polson volleyball team has made it to the State A volleyball tournament for the third straight year. The Pirates also come in with the pressure of being the No. 1 seed out of the Western A, but luckily that's what this team lives for.
"It is a lot of pressure but I thought of it as an advantage, because going in as the number one seed we get to play like the easier team's first, which will help us and then we'll get to see how the other teams are playing,” senior Elizabeth Tolley said.
Polson's seniors say they owe a lot their success to the standard their coaches have held them to.
“I think a lot of it is my coaches they push us all the time, they push me to be better and they give me a good work ethic and make sure we are always doing the small things,” said Tolley.
Head coach Lizzy Cox says she is trying to build a foundation for the pirates program for years to come. This is her fourth season as the Polson’s head volleyball coach and Cox has already made three appearances to State, but she says this is just the beginning.
“It is about buying into philosophy and the goal of building the program, this isn’t just about last year or the year before or this year, it is like what is long term and I think long term we just want to be great,“ Cox said.
The Pirates had six seniors graduate last year, so although this season may be shocking to some, this year's team knew what it would take for another State championship tournament appearance and came out firing since the beginning of the season.
“We graduated a ton of seniors last year and a lot of people thought it's going to be a down here for them but they came in and from the very first practice, and thought, do not tell these girls out,” said Cox.
Polson's first game of the state tournament will be the winner of Miles City vs. Hamilton.
