The Plains Trotters volleyball team finished the season at the Class C Western Divisionals, taking third place over the weekend.

The girls played hard through the elimination bracket, though they would fall short against Gardiner in the semi-final that would determine the final two teams who would then move on to the state tournament in Bozeman.

Throughout their campaign at the divisional tourney, head coach Jessica Butcher had nothing but praise about her team and how they played on the court.

The team opened the tournament against Seeley, which saw the girls take the win at 3-0.

Their second match was against Ennis and though the team has a reputation to being tough to beat, coach Butcher said the 0-3 loss was just on the scoreboard and not a loss for the team as a whole.

The final scores of that game only proved that the Trotters made the opposition work for the win. Final scores were 23-25, 16-25, 23-25.

“Everybody considers Ennis to be untouchable. Others have been lucky and thankful to score in double digits against them. I am proud of our girls,” said Butcher

From there the girls fought their way back up the ladder, beating Twin Bridges in five sets, and Manhattan Christian in three sets, before falling to Gardiner.

Against Gardiner, Jessica Thompson had eight of 16 kills as well as 12 of the 33 digs. Rachel Huenik had all three blocks recorded, with Lindsay Laws taking a pair of aces and nine of the 15 assists.

What started as a steady grind for the girls at the beginning of the season has seen a team come out in force on the court. Though they missed out on the state tournament, it certainly wasn’t without a lot of effort.