Elementary Volleyball Wraps up Season

SEELEY LAKE & POTOMAC – The Seeley Lake Elementary Eagles wrapped up their season with a 5-4 record for the eighth grade A team and 7-2 record for the B team of seventh graders.

"We are so proud of all of the girls who played volleyball this season," wrote Head Coach Angela Harris in an email.

This season Coach Harris and Assistant Coach Jama Mauldin focused on bringing the girls together as a team. Concepts such as celebration and communication were part of the team goals.

"As a team, we recognized how important it is to believe in ourselves as athletes and to not give up!" wrote Harris.

The A team finished in fourth place at the Copper League Tournament. When the tournament started they ranked fifth and missed third place by only two points.

"As a small school, they definitely earned recognition as the teams that placed higher were all larger schools [Target Range, Lolo, Hellgate]," wrote Harris.

The B team is looking forward to next year where they can lead Seeley Lake to a great season in the Copper League.

Potomac Volleyball

Head Coach Kristy Pohlman was really happy with the season. She had six returning players and seven first year players on a B team, fifth and sixth grade, and A team, seventh and eighth grade.

This was Pohlman's first season coaching the girls at Potomac School. She worked with them on the basic skills including approaching the ball, serving the ball and 1,2,3 or bump, set, spike every time the ball came over the net. She said they worked a lot on controlling the ball instead of just hitting it back over the net.

"This is our very first year at Potomac doing [bump, set, spike] and I think the girls did amazing at it," said Pohlman.

Pohlman wanted the girls to focus on goals instead of wins and losses.

"This first year we are going to set goals and achieve those goals," said Pohlman. "Next year we can talk about a record."

Each match they set goals for set-ups, hit attempts and serving percentages. Their typical goals included 18 set-ups and half of their serves making it over the net. Pohlman requires all of the girls on the A team to serve overhand. The B team can underhand serve during a game but are required to overhand serve during practice.

Pohlman said they met their serve percentage and set-up goals every match. The team stats for the season included: 4 blocks; 19 unassisted hit attempts where they returned the ball with one hit; 124 set-ups including bump, set, spike in 7 matches.

"Those are pretty impressive stats and I'm proud of them. Achieving our goals was a win in our book," said Pohlman. "They learned the basics and ran with it as a team. That was awesome."

Potomac matched up against Seeley Lake Oct. 6. The 13 Potomac players played three games after biking 60 miles just before the games during Potomac School's annual bike-a-thon. Eighth grader Maggie Vann successfully executed the first block of the season and seventh grader Elizabeth Boyd made her first overhand serve over the net.

"The biggest thing for me was watching the girls grow and learn as a team," said Pohlman. "They enjoyed themselves, they had fun and they took what I taught them and they excelled."