B-B-E Jaguars earn back-to-back State Final Four berths

An excited, elated group of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa volleyball players gathered in the seats of the Grand Casino Arena press conference room on Friday, November 12. It was nearing 9 p.m., and the Jaguars had just defeated two-time defending state champion Mayer Lutheran in a 3-0 sweep. The win advanced the Jaguars (21-8) to the Class 1A state semifinals.

The post-match press conference featured head coach Holly Breitbach with three of the team's players: McKinley Haider, Kamie Fischer and Teagan Dingmann. The rest of the team and coaches sat in the general seating area listening intently while the press asked their questions.

Coach Breitbach started off, "The first game had a lot of back-and-forth to it. The second set was more hairy, but they worked through it. I'm just so proud of these guys. They came back, and they battled. The third set was a battle, too, and it was just good volleyball. "

"We came here to play, and we had to work against some good hitters, she added."

Coach Breitbach cited Mayer Lutheran hitters Courtney Tuttle and Hallie Hunter as being especially strong.

"Those players had some fantastic shots that we had to adjust to. We took advantage of what we could. We've had nights this year where we struggled at our serving, but tonight, we really knocked them down."

Asked about the emotions of having back-to-back state trips, senior setter Kamie Fischer said, "This feels good. We had one goal at the beginning of the season, and that was just just play each game one at a time while trying to make it back here. Once we got here, it's the same goal, one game at a time."

Sophomore outside McKinley Haider, said, "Overall, it's just a good experience for everyone."

Coach Breitbach said, "I've been here as a player, I've been here as a C-squad coach, and now to be here as a head coach and watch these girls play and do what they do is pretty incredible."

"We knew we had some big shoes to fill from last year's third-place team. This wasn't about coming back and being state champions. This was about beating Mayer Lutheran. That was first and foremost."

Coach Breitbach spoke about prior B-B-E coaches and how the current staff more or less has just continued on what was already built.

"It's the old adage: if it's not broke, don't fix it," she said.

The Jaguars now face Fillmore Central in the Class 1A state semifinals at 3 p.m. on Friday, November 13. To follow frequent Jaguar sports updates, click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports blog: https://bbejaguars.blogspot.com.