BOZEMAN — Anita Foster liked where she was, didn’t envision being anywhere other than on the bench as an assistant coach for the Billings Central volleyball team.
For two seasons, Foster had watched — and helped — head coach Kylie Reitz not only maintain the program’s level of success started by Liz Hanser, but take it to even greater heights.
During the final four seasons of Reitz’s six years at Billings Central, the former Billings Senior three-sport standout had taken the Rams to four consecutive championship matches, winning titles in 2017 and ’18.
But even before the ’19 season was over, one in which the Rams took second place, Reitz received a job offer from a chemical and water treatment company that she couldn’t refuse. She accepted the job and left following that season and moved to Bellingham, Wash.
Ahead of her departure, Reitz met Foster for dinner and asked her to take over the program.
“I remember, like, the weight of it hit me,” Foster said last Saturday, standing on the Class A volleyball court in Montana State’s Brick Breeden Fieldhouse after the jubilation of the Rams’ latest championship win had calmed somewhat. “Like, no, no, I like you here, like, I want you to coach my daughters. I just want to be a part of the program … big shoes to fill, you know?”
Foster has filled those shoes comfortably.
In her now Reitz-like six seasons, Foster’s Rams have appeared in the championship match in all of them. Saturday’s title win, which came in a sweep of Havre, not only completed an unbeaten season, but was the Rams' second title in a row and fifth in those six seasons.
Total it all up, and the Billings Central volleyball program has reached the state championship match 10 years in a row.
“I mean, 10 years, that's insane,” senior Kamryn Reinker said on Saturday. “So, keeping that going, we’re going to have highs and lows throughout the season, and it's just about coming together, figuring everything out. And I think we just do a great job of that.”
Reinker elaborated that the “coming together” part of the formula isn’t just about on the court. A four-year varsity player for the Rams, Reinker said the coaching staff’s availability off the court has been just as big a factor for the program’s success.
Fellow senior Gracie Loveridge reiterated the same. In fact, Loveridge, another four-year varsity player, wanted to talk about that as much as what happens in the gym.
“The coaches are really one of a kind,” Loveridge said. “When we have something going on and we're going through difficulties, we can go to the coaches, and we can talk to them with whatever we need.
“We can go to our teammates, talk about whatever we need. And that's really just made us such a great family that we can bond on the court so well.”
Foster saw as an assistant how close Reitz and her players were. It was an atmosphere she wanted to encourage, as well, and she knew that couldn’t happen without looking out for the individual, rather than the player.
“I have to earn their trust before I can expect them to respect me or even listen to me, so that means caring about them on a personal level,” Foster said. “I do think Central is a really hard school, and even just asking about how their classes are going and finding out what's going on in their personal life (is important).
“I feel like we do have close relationships on this team, and it’s not just me, either. Like, my assistant coaches are fantastic in building those relationships. It's all the way through and, yeah, I mean, we just love them — like, we want to be a part of their life.”
Assistants Nikki Burke and Becky Williams have been with Foster since the start, and Sydney Hawbaker has been on the staff for four seasons. Stephanie Marquardt, Randi Harrington and Ashley Pitsch completed their first seasons but knew a lot of the players through club.
Being part of such a successful program doesn’t come without its weight, especially for the players. Sure, winning is fun, and it’s easy to want to be a participant in that. But the pressure to maintain that high level of achievement can often come from inside the player, rather than inside the program itself.
“We definitely don't take it for granted, we work for this all year long,” Loveridge said. “But going to state is something that we're definitely used to, and so we talk all the time about don't take a play off, don't let a ball drop. I think that's really what's helped us get here every year.”
At some point, the streak of 10 championship appearances will end. Whenever it does, it won’t be because there was a change in philosophy or foundation or because the coaching staff began chasing a result rather than their process. It will end because it was time.
“Every year is different,” said Foster, who won two volleyball titles at Hardin and played on the basketball team that was featured in the Larry Colton book “Counting Coups” before graduating in 1994. “We’re losing five great seniors, so whatever next year looks like, next year looks like. Above all, these kids know that I value them so much more beyond their performance.
“That's the main lesson that I want these kids to know, their value does not come from how they perform on the court, it's who they are, and I think that's what makes our program so special. I do feel like our program’s winning culture is truly as a foundation on love for each other and for the sport and for playing for each other, and that's really hard to beat.”
Whatever size those shoes were six years ago, they’re even bigger now.
