COLUMBIA FALLS — The Columbia Falls volleyball team just wrapped up an undefeated regular season, and the Wildkats now look to cap their magical run with a Class A state title.
"They hate to lose," said head coach Jolandie Brooks.
And 'hate to lose' might actually be an understatement at this point. The Wildkat seniors are simply on a mission.
They just led their team to a perfect 12-0 regular season and are attempting to find the magic from their back-to-back state title runs from 2015-16.
While it's been a few years since then, the Wildkats knew they had a special senior class coming into 2020.
"When they were in seventh grade, we saw them in club and we saw how much they hate to lose," said Brooks. "We saw their passion and the amount of time that they spend in the gym, and we had this vision of what their high school career could look like."
The six seniors this season are Hannah Schweikert, Rhys Sharpton, Dillen and Madysen Hoerner, McKenna Rensel and Lauren Falkner.
For many of those seniors, the memory of the 2015-16 team is fresh in their minds, and they know how special it would be to cap off an undefeated season.
“Knowing how much it meant to those girls and always looking up to them since we were really little," said Madysen Hoerner, "seeing how much it meant to them and knowing that it's something that’s in reach for us is really special.”
While the team has already accomplished an undefeated season, the Wildkats aren't satisfied with anything until they come home with the State A title.
“A state championship has been the goal every single year I’ve played, and every single day we come out here on the court with a state championship in mind," said Schweikert. "Every single time we play our heart out and we just want to win, and that’s the goal.”
