Polson volleyball seniors dish on the season

POLSON — The four seniors on the Polson volleyball team know what it’s like to be at the bottom.

But Staci Benson, Nicole Davey, Loni Havlovick and Christa Red Crow also know what it’s like to be on the top.

Two years ago, the varsity team won one game, going 1-17. When asked what team they beat, all four named Columbia Falls in unison. Red Crow said winning the game felt like winning state.

“That was a great game,” Havlovick said. “We won by like two points.”

It wasn’t that they were terrible on the court. The team was made up of freshman and sophomores.

“It wasn’t that we were bad,” Red Crow said. “We were all young.”

Last year, they gained confidence and finished second in the conference with a record of 16-4, earning a trip to the state tournament.

This year, the entire starting line-up returned and went 13-0 in the regular season to finish in the top spot.

Entering the divisional tournament Nov. 6, the four understood what the tournament meant.

“It’s like the real season now,” Benson said.

“This is where it begins,” Havlovick said.

“We’re so excited; we’re nervous though,” Davey said.

“Definitely excited,” Red Crow said.

The Pirates took second in the divisional tournament and went on to take fourth at the state tournament.

Since seventh grade, these four have played together. Through the ups and downs, many others have been discouraged from continuing volleyball.

“I’m glad all of us stuck with it because it helped build our program,” Davey said.

The positive record and competitive team has helped spark interest in the team.

“People are going to want to play volleyball,” Red Crow said.

The reason for the success in the last two years?

“It helps having the exact same team for three years,” Red Crow said as all four laugh.

But seriously, all four agreed on dedication and head coach Jan Toth as the two prominent ones.

Toth runs her practices like a college team. The girls give her all they’ve got for 90 minutes.

In the summer, the entire team hit the weight room, attended open gyms and went to camps to improve.

“This hard work definitely showed up in the amount of talent as well as improvement we saw at tryouts this year,” Toth said in the beginning of the season.

“We have the same goal, not just the seniors,” Davey said. “A lot of the underclassmen want to win, too.”

Another part of the team’s ease on the court is the team’s closeness off the court. During the summer, the team traveled to Havlovick’s cabin for a weekend to bond. They have team dinners the night before games that provide more time for the girls to hang out.

“We’re close on and off the court,” Havlovick said.

This includes letting the petty drama go. When it counts, the team leaves the problems at the door.

“Even if there are problems, we are good about not bringing it to the floor, just letting it go,” Red Crow said.

One problem the four didn’t have was naming the best moment of the regular season.

Two words came from all four mouths at the same time with the same amount of excitement: “beating Libby.”

“The picture of us where we are all hugging and stuff with Nicole’s arms in the air, it’s so cool,” Havlovick said.

Benson feels that Ronan isn’t their rival, it’s the Loggers.

“They’ve always been the team to beat,” Benson said. “We focus on every game but we try to beat Libby.”

The Pirates didn’t do this once, but twice, in the regular season.

Despite Libby handing Polson its first loss, the Pirates earned revenge when they ended the Loggers season in the state tournament.

Libby has always been the powerhouse, whom the Pirates looked to beat.

“It’s not like we could beat them,” Red Crow said. “It’s just they had something psychologically over us. We always froze when we played Libby.”

It was just another example of how this year was different.

Last year, the team was more serious. This year, the team is able to laugh things off and get the job done, Havlovick said.

“Everyone can come together and say ‘let’s just do this,’” Davey said.

As seniors, the four also have more confidence on the court.

“Even if you are down, it’s not that big of a deal,” Red Crow said. “Sophomore year, if we were down, I was freaking out. I was stressing, biting my nails in the game. A score is just a score until the end.”

If someone is having a bad game, Red Crow said they own up to it and move on.

Help comes in the form of the younger players that can step up to take the pressure off.

“I’ll have a bad game and Riley Kenney will step up,” Havlovick said. “She will be able to help. To have someone to rely on if you’re not having your day, it’s really nice.”

The closeness of the team is shown before practice, as the team waits for the coaching staff to open Linderman gym. They bounced between cars, listening to music, eating candy.

That doesn’t change when Toth showed up as more joking and laughing ensued. The team’s mentality is stressed in the team motto: “We are only as good as our weakest player.”

None of the players knew they were leading the conference in different areas until Toth spilled the beans.

“We don’t really care,” Davey said. “It’s cool to see that everyone cares about the team and not the individual stuff.”

Toth said the hard work and success the seniors have been a part of has created a positive tradition for Polson volleyball.

“It’s giving our crowd something to cheer for,” she said.

The four seniors have had outstanding careers and Toth said they will be missed.

Benson was the lightning quick libero.

“She was the best libero I’ve seen in high school volleyball,” Toth said. “She devastated a lot of hitters from the back row.”

Benson looks to go into dental hygiene after graduating and would like to play softball.

Davey showed leadership and poise on the court, Toth said.

“She has gotten better and better each year,” she said. “She has left behind a legacy and is someone the younger players want to be like.”

Davey has three colleges in mind and would like to play volleyball.

Havlovick was a solid middle hitter for the Pirates.

“She has been a great role model,” Toth said. “She has been a pivotal player at the net. She keeps us all grounded and is so faithful to her teammates and coaches.”

Havlovick wants to go to college and would like to go into business and pursue track or volleyball.

Red Crow provided a left-handed versatility for Polson.

“Shes a 5-foot-4, little girl but she has a big impact at the net,” Toth said.

Red Crow is thinking about going to Bozeman for psychology.

For three years, Toth and the four seniors have gone through the ups and downs of winning and losing.

“We’ve learned together, lost together and won together,” Toth said.

After ending their volleyball season in fourth place at the state tournament, Toth said, “You win some, you lose some but I wanted it for them.”