BOZEMAN — There aren't many teams that can say they've had Huntley Project's number over the past two decades.
But Baker this season won five of the teams' six head-to-head matches — including two at the District 3B tournament and one at the Southern B divisional tournament — going into Friday's undefeated semifinal match of the Class B state tournament at Worthington Arena.
"Honestly, we were sick of losing," Huntley Project senior Maddison Akins said afterward. "We came at practice and we worked hard. This was our goal, just to beat Baker finally."
The Red Devils accomplished that goal in thrilling fashion Friday, rallying for a 22-25, 25-18, 28-26, 7-25, 15-12 win in one of the most exciting matches of the tournament through the first two days.
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After Baker pulled away late to win the back-and-forth first set, Huntley Project controlled the second and then eked out the third. The Spartans dominated the fourth to set up the deciding fifth set.
"I think we just had to put (the fourth set) behind us, focus on the next point, don’t linger about what happened in the fourth," Akins said. "Just try to come back as strong as we were in that second and third set."
Project jumped out to an early lead in the fifth, but Baker rallied to get back within 8-6. Akins put down a massive kill to quell the Spartans' rally, and the Red Devils were in control the rest of the way.
Baker still registered 65 kills, with Madison O'Connor (27) and Kyal Hadley (19) leading the effort. The Spartans, who assured themselves the first state trophy in program history with Thursday's quarterfinal win, will play in the third-place match at 10 a.m. Saturday. If they win that one, they'll get another shot at the Red Devils in Saturday's championship match, where Baker would need to defeat Huntley Project twice to claim the title.
Akins finished with 19 kills and 25 digs, as the Red Devils recorded 111 digs as a team to contend with Baker's aggressive attack. Sannah Windy Boy had 22 kills and three blocks and Gracie Norman dished out 46 assists for Huntley Project, which will be making its 16th consecutive appearance in the championship match.
The Red Devils have won the past three titles and 15 overall.
"I honestly, at the start of the season, I didn’t know if we were going to come back this year," Akins said. "And to be here again, it’s awesome."
Florence moves into third-place match
After a narrow sweep to Huntley Project in Thursday's first round, Florence bounced back with three wins on Friday to advance to the third-place match.
The Falcons will play Baker at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to the championship against the Red Devils.
Florence got its Friday marathon started at 10 a.m. with a sweep of Fairfield and followed that with a four-set win over Anaconda. In the fourth-place match, the Falcons defeated Jefferson in five sets, 25-23, 12-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-8.
The Panthers, who lost to Huntley Project in Friday's quarterfinal round, swept Shelby in an earlier loser-out match Friday.
