BOZEMAN — The Polson volleyball team did it the hard way, but the Pirates did it nonetheless.
After an upset loss in the second round of the Class A state volleyball tournament at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, the Pirates battled back through the consolation bracket and won two championship matches over Western A rival Bigfork on Saturday to claim the first volleyball title in school history.
WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS:
Polson senior McKenna Corley put down match point of the Pirates' 25-19, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22 win in the second championship.
"We had a conversation after our loss. It was definitely a hard loss. From beating Frenchtown (in the regular season) to losing in five (at state) was hard and it took a toll on us," Corley said. "(But) we knew we had it. We love each other. It was so perfect this year, everything came together so well."
Polson, which won the Western A divisional tournament last week, rebounded from Thursday's loss to Frenchtown to sweep Billings Central in a loser-out match Friday morning. The Rams had won the previous two State A titles.
The Pirates then swept Laurel late Friday and got revenge versus Frenchtown Saturday morning. They beat the Broncs 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 25-17 in the third-place match to set up the final with Bigfork.
"It was awesome. Kind of a little bit of a revenge," Corley said of playing the Valkyries for the title. "We beat them at their home and they beat us at our home, and so being able to come here, beat them where it really counted is really, really sweet."
Corley was part of a dominant multi-faceted attack for Polson in the championship. At times, the Pirates dominated Bigfork. They won the first championship 25-17, 25-19, 14-25, 28-26 to force the second winner-take-all match.
The Valkyries took the second-place trophy, and Frenchtown placed third.
"This group of girls, they're just all amazing," Corley said. "The coaches, everything is so cool. To know that I got to make an impact on every person I got to play with, I got to make an impact in their lives, it's truly incredible."
