BIG SANDY — After having to go through the consolation bracket in the Northern C divisional tournament, Big Sandy ended up taking down Belt twice in the double championship to clinch a spot in this weekend's state class C bracket.
The divisional title allowed Big Sandy the right to compete for a state championship for only the second time in its history. According to the school, the last time it got to this point was in 1991 where it finished fourth.
"It's really exciting," senior Jenny Sant said at Tuesday's practice. "I'm really proud of our team."
"Our mentality was just make it to state," senior Eva Yeadon said. "Once we beat Belt that first time in the championship game, then we were like maybe we can actually like win, like get first. And so then we started to really just get confident."
"It's really exciting especially because we kind of came from like, kind of the bottom," senior Jai Baumann said. "It's super exciting that we brought ourselves up and got to the top."
Big Sandy is coached by Brittany Richard — a former two-time state title winner as a player with Huntley Project. As someone who's been able to experience the big state already, she said she's been "in awe" of what the Pioneers have already accomplished.
"I'm still kind of in shock about it," Richard said. "Not shock in the sense of not feeling like they could do it — because I definitely, you know believed all the way through — but it's a feeling you can't quite describe. You know, I was just so proud of everything that they had accomplished."
For a team that has seen adversity by losing early on in both the district and divisional tournaments, it's time to put it all together to try and win its first-ever class C championship.
"I would just be kind of unbelievable," Sant said.
"I'll never play volleyball again, and it'll just be so amazing to be left on such a high note," Yeadon said.
"It would be the best way to end the season," Baumann said.
"If we actually were to go the distance, I mean talk about insane," Richard said. "It would just be so, so awesome and I know the girls would be absolutely excited as well."
Big Sandy's run at a state title begins Thursday at 2 p.m. against Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine.
