A year after winning the school's only section championship, the FHS volleyball team suffered a reversal of fortune in 2010. The Tigers finished 9-19 overall and 2-5 in Missota Conference play.
"We worked hard and had fun,"" coach Mike Woody said. "We wish we could have pulled out a few more matches, but I was proud of the way we finished the season...We lost a lot of close matches."
Woody awarded 13 letters to team members for their work in 2010: seniors Renee MacLean, Amanda Mohr, Ashlyn VanNoy, Brook King, Jordan Bridges and Katie Habeck; juniors Adrienne Jolicoeur, Laura Steege, Andrea Smith, Bekah Lippert, Allie Pierskalla and Katy Varner and sophomore Mia Johnston.
Habeck, who shared captain's duties with Bridges, had a memorable senior season. The 6-2 hitter moved from the inside hitting position to the outside and led the team in kills (404), digs (349) and service aces (28) and ranked second in blocks (52) and serve receptions (434). Those numbers along with her reaching the 1000 career kill mark, helped her earn all-state honors and a repeat spot on the all-Missota Conference squad.
"Having a young lady of Katie's caliber and character for four years was a blessing for me and our program," Woody said.
Bridges who led the team in blocks with 92 received all-Missota Conference honorable mention.
Woody said that the loss of his six seniors will offer a challenge to the 2011 team.
"For the first time in four years we will not have a 'superstar' to build around," he said. "We have a lot of talented girls in the program who could be very competitive if they put in the work in the off-season.
"We'll need to get back to he basics of passing and playing defense. We will have to be a scrappy, ball control team that can keep our opponents from scoring. That will take patience and resilience because it's not going to happen in the first week."
As for the six seniors, Woody said they had a good year despite the final numbers.
"I am very proud of them," he said. "It is very difficult to follow a team that had so much success. This group worked hard, had fun and handled things well."
