Sydney Pierce has made quite a name for herself at Billings West, garnering all-state selections across multiple sports.
But volleyball will be her focus in the future, as she’ll play at the University of Montana in Missoula. We don’t see a ton of D-I volleyball girls stay in state, but it was an important factor for Pierce.
“I wanted to represent my state. I thought it would be so fun to be able to wear Montana because I know a lot of people watch that kind of stuff and pay attention, so I wanted to be a part of that," Pierce told MTN Sports. "We're actually house divided. My mom is kind of having to switch over."
Pierce is just one of the standouts in an extremely talented senior class that has made deep postseason runs each of the past three years. A couple of heartbreaks at the state tournament have left a void for this group, though.
“It's definitely motivation for us. We know what happened. We felt it and every emotion, but I also think we're trying to move past it and trying to focus on this year and focus on day-by-day and not really linger on what happened in the past," Pierce said.
While Pierce and her teammates focus on getting back to the state championship game, she’s going to soak up the moments playing with her younger sister Brooklyn. While admittedly not overly competitive with each other, you don’t want to be on the opposite side of the Pierce sisters.
“I think just taking in every moment. Taking in every pregame locker room stuff, post-game stuff, getting as many pictures together as we can. It's very bittersweet and it's kind of sad for us but it's super exciting. We love it," Pierce said. "I'd say we kind of know our place in certain things. I know she's better at certain stuff and she knows I am, so it's kind of a mutual thing sometimes."
Pierce and the Golden Bears get their season started this weekend against at home against Butte and Helena Capital.
