HIGHWOOD — There are plenty of trophies in the Highwood school cafeteria, and the gym will have a top-ranked volleyball team in it most of the week preparing to try and add one more.
With all the sports going on the last couple months, it can be easy for things to be lost in the dust. The dust is starting to settle, and the Geraldine-Highwood Rivals volleyball team has come out of it as one of the top squads in the state, boasting a 20-0 record and most recently, a district championship trophy.
Many of the trophies that line the schools’ cafeteria walls involve football from their 6-man glory days. There hadn’t been a district championship trophy put up in the school since 2008, and that was the last time they were undefeated this far into the season. They also hung a state championship banner that year, going undefeated the whole way.
Head coach Dave Bahnmiller says this year has been a lot like that 08 season because of how much chemistry the team has and Geraldine-Highwood is ready for divisionals after beating Fort Benton in four sets for the district title. Bahnmiller has been coaching in Highwood for 23 years and says he’s more appreciative of this year’s district title after piling up so many years under his belt and not taking this year for granted. He still thinks this year’s Rivals aren’t to be messed with.
“We’re feeling good about our chances. We knew we had a chance to go and be competitive this year. We didn’t necessarily think 20-0 at this point in the season but it has been absolutely 100% all about the team,” Bahnmiller said. “It doesn’t matter who has the kill or who has the dig or the ace. Whatever the stat is, they’re celebrating for each other.”
Geraldine Highwood remains one of only a handful of teams across the state to be unbeaten up to this point, and the Rivals are looking to keep it going in Belt this coming weekend, the site of the divisional tournament. They have already played most of the teams in the bracket so they will be familiar with most of their opponents.
Not only do they know the playing field, but the confidence is also running high too and the Rivals think they have it what it takes to get through the bracket.
Senior Abigail Dines was thrilled to win the district title but she wants more, and she thinks the team is capable of more.
“I feel like we’re more confident and trusting each other. We’re not going to let a ball drop easily. For me it’s just like having fun. My mindset is to be confident, be happy, and get another trophy. We just need to bring it up and be at our level the whole time,” Dines said.
20-0 is nothing short of remarkable, and the Rivals know that. They also know getting through divisionals won’t be easy, but they are ready for the challenge and ready to defend their district crown.
Senior Lizzie Summers sees the chemistry too and came into the season unsure of where’d they would be at this point but it’s a pleasant surprise to be sitting on top of the district and there’s no turning back for the Rivals.
“We’ve all been playing together since eighth grade, so we have this really unique bond and we all understand each other and just get along really great. We feel confident. We’ve played the top two teams over there in that division. We’ve beat them both, so we have an open mind about this. We didn’t expect to come this far but we’re not going to stop now,” Summers said.
The Rivals will have a couple days to prepare before they head to Belt for divisionals and face their first-round opponent Valier. They play the Panthers this Thursday at noon.
