M-ette Volleyball: Malta looks to win district tourney in Plentywood

Standing at number one in 2B volleyball, the Malta M-ettes look to capture the district tournament crown for the first time in Coach Julia Tatafu's program.

Because of their 9-1 district record, the team is looking at a first round bye, and will not play until 5:00 tomorrow.

Their opening opponents will be either Wolf Point or Harlem.

On the other side of the bracket is second place Plentywood who will face either Glasgow or Poplar.

Malta has faced each of these teams twice this year, only losing one game to Plentywood, so the team will look to stay mentally focused to come out on top.

"We just gotta make sure every time we step out on that court, we're ready for business," Malta Head Coach Julia Tatafu told the PCN. "It's go time. For every game we play we need to leave everything on that court."

Coach Tatafu wants to make sure that there are no regrets this weekend.

"The seniors have done a great job leading this team and making sure that when we step on the court, we get it done," she added.

Last Saturday on the team's Senior Night, Malta played 4B opponent Roundup, who caught the team by surprise, given their height and play at the net.

Malta ultimately lost to them in four sets, the scores were 23-25, 25-21, 25-11 and 16-25.

Between the two teams there were 218 digs. Malta had 110 of those with Larimie Scheffelmear leading with 26.

Scheffelmear also lead in kills with nine of 28. She led in blocks with three of eight and tied Darby Schye and Markelle Lett with 2 aces a piece.

"They were good competition and had strong blocks," said M-ette outside hitter Kelsey Kuehn.

The Lady Panthers net game was fierce and was full of dumps, kills and blocks, something Malta wasn't anticipating, but they played well considering.

"One thing that we weren't used to was how well this team blocked," said Coach Tatafu. "We haven't played another tall team like this and it just threw them off."

Tatafu also said Malta received a bit of their own treatment, noting that it's typically Malta blocking balls to throw other teams off.

"They got into some of our hitters heads," she said. " Then my hitters started over thinking. That's something we will work on this week."

Coach Tatafu expects to face much more of that kind of play from here on out.

She also said it was a good game to have before the district tourney.

"We saw some things we needed to work on and improve on this week," she said.

If Malta could have a do-over to that game senior captain Larimie Scheffelmear said the M-ettes would , "Try to keep our momentum up, talk more and get more excited."

As far as the regular season went, both Kuehn and Scheffelmear seemed happy with the results.

"It went pretty good, we finished number one (in the district),"she said. "We've just been playing really good together."

Which was only surprising due to the fact there was so much senior leadership on the team.

"We all are just team players," Kuehn said. "We all have our roles and know what we need to do and I feel like we all play as a team and don't really think of it as an 'I' thing. We like to see each other succeed because we're all seniors."

Though the team lost against Roundup, the team played like a professional team tracking down over 100 kill and dump attempts, an excellent defensive game.

"Coach T (Tatafu) also says that when you're on defense always think the ball is coming to you," Scheffelmear said.

Coach Tatafu later confirmed the last statement.

"Always be ready for anything," Kuehn added.

Kuehn and Scheffelmear are two of the heaviest hitters on the team, and they say the keys to their success are timing and a good approach. Both have been playing since the seventh grade.

The team's Senior Night, which honored eight players, also served as a fund-raiser for coach Tasha Hines' mother (Kari Cash), who is currently battling breast Cancer.

"We had a fund-raiser for her tonight and boy did the crowd come out and support that," said Coach Tatafu. "That was really neat.

The team raised $479 for the cause.

The idea was sparked by Mary Grace Kalal, who was helped by fellow M-ette Riley Mortenson and other teammates.

"All the girls brought in baked goods," Coach Tatafu said. "It was cool seeing the support."