Eagles Soar Over Broncos

SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary Eagles girls volleyball team hit the court running this fall with only three practices before their first game. In their first home game against Frenchtown Sept. 16, both the A and B teams swept the Broncos.

"We've had to get it together very quickly," said Head Coach Angela Harris. "It's been okay because it's a new season."

Volleyball joined the Copper League this year and are meeting new teams on the court that they have never played before. Also, since Copper League does not typically have C teams, made up of fifth and sixth graders, they will not have as much playing time this year. However the Eagles' C Team, including one fifth grader and seven, sixth graders will face Drummond, Philipsburg and Potomac later in the season.

The Eagles have also added four team members from Swan Valley Elementary School to the A team. Aspen Conley played last year with the Eagles. This year, Swan Valley students Riley White, Rose Mercer and Kinley Moore are all new to the team.

The team has also gotten new uniforms. While they were partially funded from a donation from the annual Fourth of the July Duck Races, the rest of the money the team is raising through working concessions and charging $1 per adult to attend the games.

Harris said she has two goals for the team this season, communication and celebration.

"Communication is getting the girls to talk to each other," said Harris who added the eighth grade students are really quiet and the seventh graders are not.

"Celebrate is about getting them to come together as a team after every play and celebrate whether we make a point or make a mistake. It's getting them to unite on the court and celebrate each other's efforts."

In the first game of the season Sept. 12 against Target Range A teams, the B team, consisting of six seventh-graders won and the A team, made up of eight, eighth-graders, lost.

The Eagles owned the court against Frenchtown B teams. The Eagles B team won all three games with scores of 25-7, 25-10 and 15-6.

The Eagles A team swept the first two games and lost the last for the match win. The girls traded points in the first game with SLE staying ahead by one or two points until eighth-grader Jordan Johnson put a nine point spread on the board. The Broncos never recovered, finishing the game 25-17.

The Eagles took an early lead in the second game. Despite Frenchtown's rally, never gave it up, winning 25-19.

Game three took on a different tone as the Broncos took an early two-point lead. While the Eagles were able to tie it up a couple of times, the Broncos took the game winning by four points, 11-15.

The next home game the Eagles will take on Bonner, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m.