M-ettes head to 2B tournament

The regular season has come to an end for the Malta M-ettes Volleyball Team, but the postseason starts this week in Poplar, as all five teams get ready for the 2022 District 2B Volleyball Tournament in Poplar.

The tournament is scheduled to begin on Friday, October 28, and conclude on Saturday, October 29. As the team prepares for the tournament, Malta Head Coach Mary Grace Kalal was asked about the team's approach.

"We just have to come out bigger and stronger than we did in the pre-season," Coach Kalal said.

The M-ettes, who finished second in the 2B District, will face the third seed Wolf Point Lady Wolves, who they have defeated twice this season.

Despite Malta's dominant wins over most 2B teams, the M-ettes will not underestimate any team they face.

"Everytime that we go into a game, we make sure that they are focused, that they are prepared and that they are ready to go," Coach Kalal said. "We treat any team like they are the better team, that way we don't ever underestimate, because once you do that, they get a one-up on you and steal your momentum."

If Malta can make it past the Wolves, the team will face the winner of Match three in the semifinals. Harlem and Poplar will open the tournament on Friday morning at 10 a.m. The winner of that game will face the first place Glasgow Lady Scotties in match three.

Though Malta finished the season with a 13-2 record overall, the M-ettes struggled in their last home game against Glasgow on Wednesday, October 19, falling 3-1 to the Scotties. Due to both teams finishing 7-1 in 2B, the Lady Scotties earned the top spot due to tie-breaking procedures.

The scores in Malta's loss to Glasgow were 16-25, 17-25, 25-16, and 20-25.

"We had a lot of mistakes," Coach Kalal said. "I like to tell the girls to control what we can. I call them our controllables. We kind of let them take over us tonight. We had a lot of mis-serves that were unnecessary."

The M-ettes were led by Allison Kunze, who had five kills and ten digs. Maddie Williamson had 11 assists, four aces, and tied with Kunze for the lead in blocks with two.

As a team, Malta had 73 digs, 41 kills, 39 assists, 13 aces and 10 blocks.

The team also held their Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser in which the proceeds will go to Barb Bushman and Lois Waters.

"The goodies sold really fast," Coach Kalal said. "I think the community did great! We had businesses that donated baskets, which is amazing. It shows you how supportive the community is and how together everyone is."

The M-ettes finished the regular season on a high note, defeating the Roundup Panthers in Roundup 3-0. The scores were 25-11, 25-15, and 25-14.

Coach Kalal reflected on the team's strong regular season. A season that only featured two losses.

"Even in the games that we did lose, the girls went out there and gave it their all," Coach Kalal said. The next day, when we have practice, they are dead tired, so we usually take a light practice the day after, because they put so much into those games."