GREAT FALLS — The Great Falls CMR volleyball team locked up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern AA with a crosstown win over rival Great Falls High on Thursday. But the Rustlers are a group of perfectionists, and they’re hungry for more.
If there’s one person on the team who embodies that perfectionism, it’s junior setter Tennisen Hiller. She tallied 27 assists against the Bison on Thursday and has been the main director of CMR’s potent offense all year.
"Practices get a little brutal. Sometimes I get a little in my head. But yeah, I'm working on it," Hiller said. "But I think for the most part, it helps a lot, too, for me to just be so hard on myself a lot of the time."
Her dad, head coach Patrick Hiller, said she’s always been that way, whether it's sports, academics or cleaning her room. And right now it’s very beneficial for the Rustlers.
"As a setter, the cerebral aspect of what she has to do, compared to a lot of players on the floor, it's a constant mental game for her," Patrick said. "And learning to deal with that the first year as a freshman, then really she got control of that last year, and this year, I don't have to tell her anything anymore."
As the regular season winds down, CMR is 12-0 and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern AA. The Rustlers are two wins away from heading into the divisional playoffs with a perfect conference record. But the Rustlers also know the postseason will present challenges, and they’re counting on that perfectionist attitude to pull them through.
"It means a lot, especially with the season where we could so easily lose everything. And to have some of us pulled away, it means a lot that we're still here and we're achieving what we are right now. And it's a ton of fun," Tennisen said.
The Eastern AA divisional playoffs begin next week.
