BOZEMAN — After winning the undefeated semifinal match Thursday to advance to the Class C state championship, Circle coach McKinna Yerbich said Madeline Moline “hates to lose … fights for every ball” and “there’s just nothing you can do to prepare for Kate Nasner.”
Yerbich proved prophetic Friday, as the senior Moline and freshman Nasner combined for 39 kills to help lift the Wildcats to a 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16 win over Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
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It was the second consecutive title for Circle.
“It means a lot — a great way to end my career and a really good look for our community, a small town. Really shows work ethic, I think,” said Moline, whose younger sister Charlie is the setter that makes the Wildcats’ offense go.
Photos: Championship Friday at all-class state volleyball
Charlie Moline had 38 assists, divvying up passes to her star hitters, who dominated throughout the state-tournament week.
“If one’s on, I’ll just keep feeding them over and over,” said Charlie Moline, a junior. “And we use that to feed off all the other hitters and just keep building off of it.”
Circle — which prior to last year’s title had last won a championship in 2015 when Yerbich was a player — feels as if it’s back atop the Class C mountaintop where it belongs.
And the Wildcats have every intention of making Brick Breeden Fieldhouse their home away from home.
“We’ve always been a volleyball town, that slipped away for a little bit. We had to get back to that and really get these girls to understand what Circle Wildcat volleyball is about,” Yerbich said. “Now that they’re in that mindset, we refuse to stay home. We want to be here every year. I’ve got freshmen and sophomores all over that court, and I think we’re going to be coming back for quite a while."
