BOZEMAN — Semifinal Friday night at the all-class state volleyball tournaments is upon us.
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On the Class C court, Manhattan Christian and Denton-Geyser-Stanford Geraldine will square off. Manhattan Christian has won four State C volleyball titles since 2019, while the Bearcats have just one state title between the four schools — Stanford in 1994. D-G-S-G is the reigning State C girls basketball champion.
The Class B court will feature an all-Southern B undefeated semi between Huntley Project and Jefferson. Huntley Project has looked the part of a championship team in its return to the state tournament after missing last year for the first time in 25 years. The Red Devils, though, have a stiff test against the Panthers, who beat Project for the Southern B divisional title last weekend.
Class A will feature a pair of Western A teams as Bigfork will take on Frenchtown. The Western A swept the entirety of the first round, as it's now the Western A's No. 2 seed Bigfork vs. No. 3 seed Frenchtown after the Broncs topped Western A divisional champion Polson on Thursday night.
Class AA has a crosstown battle between rivals Bozeman and Gallatin. The Hawks have gotten the better of Gallatin so far this season, but the Raptors are the two-time defending state champions and are led by one of the Northwest’s top players in Kennedy Varda, who signed with the University of Kentucky on Wednesday.
“It was pretty crazy. It went by really quick," Varda said of her recruiting process. "As soon as I got that Kentucky offer, I just knew."
"I'd like to think that I've helped them along their journey, for sure, and hopefully they can take some stuff with them to the next level," Gallatin head coach Erika Gustavsen said of the recent run of NCAA Division I commits from the Raptors. "I still have a relationship with them. I still text them all the time, and I foresee that happening with (Varda), as well. I think it's a really awesome thing and I feel very lucky to have the talent that we do and to be able to coach them."
Varda took an opportunity to expand upon her other-worldly talents this past year, as volleyball was able to take her all over the globe.
“In the last six months of the spring I moved to Spokane (Wash.) to play on a team, and we traveled all over the country. I traveled to China this summer, and the summer before we were overseas in Europe," Varda said.
Varda and the Raptors take on Bozeman at 6 p.m. Friday.
