BILLINGS – Six of 10 nominees for the Midland Roundtable’s Athlete of the Year Award hail from Billings Senior, including female finalist Courtney Bad Bear.
Bad Bear finished her varsity volleyball career 91-9 with one state title and two more championship appearances as an all-state setter.
Bad Bear admits she was fortunate to play both varsity volleyball and basketball with her sisters Naomi and Kola. Naomi, who was also an Athlete of the Year finalist, is closing her second year of volleyball at Rocky Mountain College. Kola is wrapping up her junior year with the Broncs and has committed to play basketball for Montana State.
Courtney clearly has all her ducks in a row, showcasing academic all-state honors in both volleyball and basketball. Safe to say, calling her ‘pretty organized’ is an understatement.
“I’m a bit O.C.D.,” laughed Bad Bear. “Sometimes, during the day, I’m really tired and decide I’ll go to bed early. Then I get home and I’m laying in bed and I’m wide awake, so I get up and organize my closet.”
And by ‘organize’, she hardly means cleaning, or simply straightening up.
“Everything is color coded, from my shirts to … I’m just kind of weird like that. I always fix my drawers. Everything has to be perfect or it drives me crazy,” she said.
Bad Bear admits what also drives her crazy is when Naomi comes home to ‘steal’ clothes out of that perfect closet.
They’ll likely settle it on the collegiate volleyball court. Though they’ve never played competitively against each other, Courtney will play volleyball at Montana Tech this fall with high anticipation of the battle with Rocky.
“I can’t wait to beat her,” she smiled.
