BOZEMAN — Kamryn Reinker’s serve hit the top of the net and somehow worked its way over to the other side, falling to the floor for an easy Billings Central point.
A bit lucky, to be sure, but Reinker’s serve only served to highlight an obvious certainty in Friday night’s undefeated semifinal at the Class A state volleyball tournament: The Rams didn’t need any extra help against Dillon, they were doing just fine as is.
The Rams beat Dillon 25-13, 25-8, 25-19 in just under an hour at Worthington Arena, perhaps one of the team’s most efficient displays of the season. Now, they hope to have just one more match, that being Saturday’s championship. Even if the Rams lose the noon match (the opponent will be decided Saturday morning), they’ll get a second chance since they are the tournament’s lone unbeaten team in the double-elimination format.
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“We feel confident, but we can’t overlook anybody,” said Billings Central coach Anita Foster, who has now guided the Rams to the title match in each of her five seasons at the helm. “I mean, we’ve come back around in the (loser’s) bracket in previous years and won two state championship matches and that’s not very much fun to lose like that. So we have to step on the court ready to go, whoever it is.”
Reinker’s net-chewing serve was one of six aces she had in the match, and she led the Rams with 18 kills, as well. Gracie Loveridge added 13 kills, Kaitlyn Foster finished with 11 digs, and Annie Hanser provided 36 assists for a Rams team that grabbed the momentum from the get-go and never let it go.
Saturday’s championship appearance will be the ninth in a row for the Rams, who had to settle for second place to Hardin last year, ending a three-year title run. That second-place finish has been in the Rams’ minds ever since, Reinker said.
“We talked about it in the beginning of the season, our goals, and winning state was at the top of it,” she said. “But how to get there? That’s just what we’ve been really focusing on.”
Now they’re there, thanks to a dominating performance. No luck needed.
“It’s insane, it just shows our culture, how well we work together,” Reinker said. “Like, our work ethic is crazy. We will always be hustling for every ball. We never let something drop and it really just shows up on the floor.”
Dillon drops into the third-place match Saturday at 10 p.m. against Frenchtown. The winner of that match advances to play Billings Central for the title. A second championship is scheduled for 2 p.m., if necessary.
Frenchtown survives Friday
The Frenchtown Broncs defeated Lockwood 25-17, 25-16, 25-23 in the last match of the night Friday to advance to the third-place match against Dillon. The winner moves on to play Billings Central for the state title.
It was the second win of the day for Frenchtown and means the Broncs will return home with a tournament trophy. Frenchtown defeated Bigfork earlier in the day after falling into the loser-out bracket in a Thursday quarterfinal loss to Billings Central.
Against Lockwood, Rachel Walls had 15 kills and Ryan Lucier added 12 to lead the Broncs. Addi Romine had 36 assists and Iris Arlint finished with 15 digs.
Lockwood had a long day, but almost made it to the trophy day in its second straight trip to state. The Lions, who were also swept by Frenchtown on the first day, rebounded to beat Columbia Falls and Hardin on Friday to set up the late match against the Broncs.
Dani Jordan led the Lions with 12 kills and 17 digs. Gracee Hunt contributed 18 assists.
