Sanders County Ledger - Your Best Source For Sanders County News

The late-season doldrums, they can drag you down if you let them.

Not that the Plains Trotters and head coach Jesse Butcher have not gone through this before. Why, just last year, they were in a similar situation, enduring a late-season volleyball slump just as the tournaments were about to begin.

In 2018, after losing their final home match of the season to Arlee, the Trotters promptly went out and streaked to the District 14C tournament title in Hot Springs without the loss of a match. Sort of a late season rejuvenation that ended up producing a championship.

Reflecting on last week’s 25-10, 25-21, 25-14 loss to Sanders County rival Hot Springs, Butcher is hoping for more of that type of late-season magic this season. After finishing regular season play hosting Charlo for senior night Thursday and visiting Seeley-Swan Saturday, the District 14C tournament will be held in Noxon Nov. 1-2.

“We have had seasons like this before, where we are not playing our best late in the season,” Butcher said, “but we were able to pull it together and perform well at tournament. I am hoping we can do that again these next few weeks.”

As for why Hot Springs was able to brush her Trotters aside so convincingly last week, Butcher was blunt. “They definitely wanted it more than we did, they played with a lot of fire and we didn’t,” she said. “It was frustrating to watch happen and we just couldn’t seem to get it turned around.”

In spite of the Savage Heat dominance, returning All-State C hitter Kylee Altmiller still had the opportunity to blast a match-high 15 kills to lead the Trotters at the net, Emma Morgan floored two blocks, Dakota Butcher rifled two aces and Izzy Butcher contributed 10 set assists and 10 digs.

Please see other story for details on Hot Springs’ performances in the match.

Looking ahead to surprising Charlo, which has proven to be one of the better teams in 14C (the Lady Vikings defeated Hot Springs two weeks ago and played very well against District 7B power Thompson Falls Saturday), Butcher is wary.

“They are much better than advertised this season,” she said. “They surprised me when I saw them play – they are athletic and have some good size up front. We look for a good match.”

The Trotters complete regular season action with a non-conference match against Seeley-Swan at Seeley Lake Saturday. “I don’t know much about Seeley, we haven’t seen them yet. We just want to go out, play hard and have some fun with it.”