FLORENCE — After a disappointing loss in the state volleyball tournament last year, Florence immediately set its sights on making a run at a title — and they wanted to do that by becoming closer as a team.
The Falcons again have earned a trip to the Class B state tournament this weekend in Bozeman.
When the Florence was eliminated last year after days of hard-fought games at state, the team decided this would be the year to set its goals higher.
Florence coach Christy Duchien recapped the end of last year:
“We lost our first match at the state tournament and had to work our way through that back door,” Duchien said. “We found ourselves playing late Saturday night in that late match and we went five sets.
“It wasn't quite enough, so we went home late Friday night and these girls, we've been saying that we felt that we had some unfinished business going into this season.”
The team got to work on that unfinished business during the regular season, finishing with an undefeated record in the district.
With an overall record of 25-4 and a win in the Western B divisional tournament, the players are going into state as the No. 1 seed from the West but with losses under their belts. Elise Schneiter a senior on Florence’s team, says the Falcons know they are not invincible.,
“I feel like a lot of undefeated seasons everyone is like, 'Oh, we don't want to lose and stuff, but we have,'” Schneiter said. “We've lost in non-conference games, we've done a lot of tournaments, but I feel like the losses have really made the wins feel better and made us work a lot harder.”
Along with the hard work on the court, the Falcons knew they would have to be closer off of it to achieve the success they set out for.
With a team led by five seniors, Duchien decided she would introduce a motto for the girls to live by.
“Our motto this year is 'Unite,' and the word unit is in unite,” Duchien said. “We know that that's what we have to do in order to have success. Volleyball is a team sport, It's not an individual sport and you've got to be able to have everybody do a part, even if they don't see the court in order to unite as a team, and in order to make it to that next step and that next step and that next step.”
The players took this to heart and the senior leaders at Florence say this is the closest team they have ever played for.
“I feel like we really took our mindset from an individual, playing as individuals and we switched it to more of a team aspect,” Goeltz said. “We really used to unite and when it comes down to it, the team that's going to succeed is the one that's mentally, the toughest, rather than skill.”
Florence starts the state tournament Thursday against perennial Class B power Huntley Project.
