By Bruce Sayler
Patience might be harder to teach than it is to learn and former Montana Tech volleyball star Karina Mickelson is looking now at both wheels on that axle.
In her first year as head coach of the Butte Central high school volleyball program, Mickelson is anxious for the Maroons to experience success. She’s had it, enjoyed it and desires to share it with the girls in her charge.
Days like Saturday make the task maybe a bit more daunting. Titanic Hamilton entered the Maroon Activities Center and swatted the BC girls 25-7, 25-13, 25-9 in a Southwestern A Conference match.
“We’ll get there, we’re not done yet,” Mickelson, a year removed from playing European league pro volleyball in The Czech Republic, promised. “We’ve been doing a whole lot better lately.”
For perspective, Hamilton has lost just two matches this year, both to Frenchtown. Hamilton also sports a roster that includes five seniors and is headed by 6-foot-3 Gonzaga volleyball commit Aurie Duncan. She is one of four Broncs standing 5-11 or taller. Only one player shorter than 5-8 is on the roster. Three sophomores played Saturday, the rest were seniors and junior.
Contrastly, Butte Central owns a win over Libby in a two-set match while competing in a strong league with two seniors, two juniors and six sophomores on Saturday’s varsity roster, and getting contributions from two eighth-graders. Three of the Maroons are taller than 5-8, topped out by 6-0 junior Rylee Forbes.
Saturday was Senior Day for BC and 5-9 middle blocker Arika Stajcar, a fourth-year starter, and 5-0 back-row specialist Izabel Lopez were honored with their family members in before-the-match festivities.
Mickelson said she liked the eagerness and courage of the girls on her team, noting not even the eighth-graders looked intimidated one bit by a 6-3 senior standing on the other side of the net standing as a D-1 college recruit.
Growing pains hurt.
“We’re a very young team,” Mickelson said. “Of course, I’d like to have us be where we need to be right now, but that’s not always the case.
“We’ll get there, once we figure it out. Volleyball is a mental sport and it is so quick. If your mind is someplace else, the ball will be, too.”
Hamilton went through its serving lineup just once in winning the first set. Kills by Jenna Ellis and Duncan opened a 19-4 spread and a Butte Central serving error soon after tallied set point at 24-7. A kill by Maroon sophomore Jaedyn Maldonado staved off the set end for a point before Ellis, a 5-8 senior, drilled a kill. Forbes had a block and a kill in the set, and Stajcar and 5-9 sophomore Zayonna Otherbull downed kills for the Maroons.
The BC girls grew a little more confident and relaxed a bit in the next set, but were still shorter and lesser experienced. They trailed just 11-6 after a Stajcar block before a pair of errors later widened the gap to 19-8. A kill by Duncan later tallied set point, 24-12. The teams traded serving errors, ending the set. Forbes, Otherbull, Stajcar and 5-8 sophomore Braelynn Schelin all scored on blocks and/or kills for Butte Central in the set.
The Broncs re-established their dominance in the third set. Serving runs by Lundyn Murray and Duncan opened a 14-5 difference and errors hampered the tiring Maroons. Holding a 21-9 lead, 5-9 junior Carsyn Clack served out for Hamilton, the Broncs scoring on a Coco Vachon stuff, a BC hitting error, an ace serve and, at the end, a kill by 5-9 sophomore Kassidee McKern. Schelin, Maldonado and Stajcar tallied kills and blocks for Butte Central in the final set.
“(The Maroons program) will be good,” Mickelson said. “We need to be a little bit older and a little more experienced. And, another year with me, I think, will help because the girls coming back will know what to expect and about what we’re trying to do. And, the good seniors from the other teams will be gone then.
“Our girls are very competitive, spiritually, and I like that vibe.”
The BC girls will close out the regular season on Tuesday at Dillon, then face possibly two divisional play-in games on Thursday and next Saturday.
Hamilton def. Butte Central 25-7, 25-13, 25-9.
KILLS – Hamilton 28 (Ciara Hanley 6, Aurie Duncan 5, Kaitlyn Snavely 5, Jenna Ellis 4, Ashlynn McKern 3, Ella Griffin 3, Kassidee McKern 2), Butte Central 8 (Arika Stajcar 4, Rylee Forbes 3, Zayonna Otherbull 1). ACES – Hamilton 11 (Carsyn Clack 4, Hanley 2, Lundyn Murray 2, Duncan 1, Jade Jimenez 1, Ellis 1), Butte Central 0. ASSISTS – Hamilton 23 (Duncan 18, Murray 2, A. McKern 1, Clack 1, Jimenez 1), Butte Central N/A. DIGS – Hamilton 42 (Murray 9, Duncan 8, Jimenez 7, Hanley 6, Ellis 6, A. McKern 2, Clack 2, Griffin 2), Butte Central N/A. BLOCKS – Hamilton 4 (Hanley 1, Coco Vachon 1, Griffin 1, Snavely 1), Butte Central 3 (Forbes 2, Otherbull 1).
