Former Lady Pirate Kelley coming into her own at Montana Western
DILLON — It hasn’t taken too long for former Polson volleyball star Breanne Kelley to settle into a starting role at the University of Montana Western (UMW), where she has been the past two years.
DILLON — It hasn’t taken too long for former Polson volleyball star Breanne Kelley to settle into a starting role at the University of Montana Western (UMW), where she has been the past two years.
Kelley signed on with the NAIA Division I school after a stellar career with the the Lady Pirates from 2007-2010.
She played a big part in Polson’s emergence as a Northwestern A title contender, starting as a sophomore in 2008 when she snagged second-team All-Conference honors and helped her team to a second-place finish at divisionals.
In 2009, Kelley elevated her play to the next level, this time picking up All-State and first team All-Conference recognition. The team again placed second at divisionals, but went on to take fourth place at the State Tournament.
As far back as the 2002 season, the earliest tournament records shown on the Montana High School Association website, that fourth-place finish is the best the Lady Pirates have placed at state.
Kelley capped off her Polson career in 2010 by again earning All-State and first team All-Conference accolades.
She also helped the Lady Pirates do something they had not done since at least the 2002 season: win the Northwestern A title.
The team went on to go three matches at state before being eliminated from the tournament, but it was a season to remember for Kelley regardless, as well as a solid end to an outstanding career.
Now at UMW, Kelley may be on a similar career path with the Bulldogs.
She found her way onto the floor as a freshman last season, but was limited to being a role player.
Still, Kelley managed to turn in 72 digs, 47 kills, eight aces, five assists and five blocks in 51 games played.
Just like she did as a sophomore with Polson, Kelley had a breakout year this season for the Bulldogs in her second season.
She was given a starting role as an outside hitter this year for UMW and she showed why.
Kelley would go on to play in 101 games, tied for third-most on the team, while hitting the 200 mark in both kills (205) and digs (200). Both totals were good enough for fourth on the team.
She also turned in the fourth-most aces on the team with 11 and had 14 blocks on the year as well.
While these numbers aren’t indicative of being the team’s star player, Kelley was able to flash star potential during the 2012 season.
The Bulldogs’ Sept. 6 matchup with Montana Tech was the by far the best example of this, as the former Polson phenom racked up a team-high 21 kills in the match to go along with 15 digs.
The performance earned her the team’s Player of the Week honors and surely has her coach, Lisa Griffiths, excited for what’s ahead for Kelley.
What may be in store for Kelley and the Bulldogs is a winning record and perhaps a Frontier Conference championship, things Kelley has a had history of helping teams accomplish.
It could be chalked up to coincidence, but the UMW did improve from 7-19 overall and 2-12 in conference in 2011 to 10-19 overall and 5-11 in conference in Kelley’s first season as a starter.
Whether Kelley will be able to help the Bulldogs in the same way she helped the Lady Pirates or not remains to be seen, but Kelley certainly has made a significant impact so far in her short time with the team.
One sees little reason why she won’t be able to continue to do so.