Polson Volleyball: New look in P-Town

Polson has quite the pedigree after making three straight trips to the state tournament since head coach Jan Toth righted the ship and put the Lady Pirates among the elite of Montana volleyball programs.

This year will be a bit different as the core group of seniors that played for Toth through the years have graduated, meaning new players will be at the ready to step up and make their own legacy.

They're already off to an impressive start as 42 girls tried out for the volleyball team this year and there is plenty of competition among the skilled players.

Toth ran the players through a plethora of skill-based drills to find who fit in the program.

"We looked at what kids knew, how they responded to coaching and their attitude," she said.

While it will be a new look team, there are some returners that should make a huge impact this year for Polson. The Lady Pirates have seven returning players who were on the divisional tournament roster.

"They've seen it and they've played in it," Toth said.

Junior Shay Duford should step in nicely at setter as she brings a competitive edge from softball where she's the team's ace pitcher.

"Not only can she set but we hope she'll be an offensive threat as well," Toth said.

Senior Riley Kenney, who struggled with a shoulder injury last year, has been working hard and should be at 90 percent now.

"She's really court-smart," Toth said. "It was nice to see that she's back."

Junior Heidi Rausch will bring power to the lineup and senior Ashley Johnson should bring leadership and has been working on her quick-arm serves.

The Banner sisters, Mackenzie and Macall, should be fun to watch out on the court and Kenzie Clay also returns as a middle hitter.

"We're still battling it out for some remaining spots," Toth said. "I'm going to slowly add to our roster."

Coming down the pipeline is a JV squad that has been undefeated and a large class of juniors. Toth said that despite the team not being as experienced, they still expect to be good.

"Our expectations are huge," Toth said. "I don't use inexperience as an excuse. We're too good as an athletic powerhouse."

And since that's the way its been at Polson for years, the girls also expect plenty of things.

"That definitely plays a large part in where we're going," Toth said. "They couldn't even imagine not making it to a state tournament. I think that's going to be an advantage for us."

Polson will implement more strategy this year on offense as opposed to a straight power hitting game. There's still plenty of power, as the Banner sisters can hit from the back row and junior Tina Marquardt has a deadly outside hit.

In the conference, Columbia Falls was young last year but has plenty of big kids returning this season. Whitefish was also young but has a long legacy of being successful at volleyball and should continue to give Polson a run for the division.

Frenchtown will also be a newcomer to the conference. Polson had to come back from two games down in the divisional championship game last year against Whitefish. They pulled it off for the divisional title.

There's no doubt that the Lady Bulldogs remember that.