Summer volleyball tournaments don’t really count for anything. High schools compete unofficially, often against club squads or patched-together groups from across schools. They’re a way for teams to gel, to adjust for lost seniors and new players, and to tune up for the fall.
And yet: When a side of Jefferson High players won the gold bracket volleyball competition at last month’s Big Sky Games, an annual Olympic-style sports festival in Billings, it meant something. A lot.
Why? Because in the final, the Jefferson girls beat a squad from Huntley Project. And here’s the thing: Huntley Project doesn’t much lose.
Huntley has been the picture of dominance in Class B volleyball. It has won the state championship in six of the last seven years (beating Jefferson in the 2021 final in straight sets). Last year, it went 31-0, dropping just six sets all season — including one to the Panthers in the South Division tournament.
“Huntley is so dominant that it’s psychological with a lot of teams,” says Jefferson Head Coach Mike Majors. “We’ve beat them a set here and a set there, I think a total of three sets over the last five years — and those were tremendous highlights. But to be able to win a match, and to win a third set, that’s something we’re going to keep in our memory.”
Majors wasn’t even in Billings to savor the victory. For this event, the Jefferson girls were coached by volunteers Sydney Mace, a member of the 2021 team, and Kaera Averill, the older sister of senior libero Maddy Averill.
The Panthers beat a team from Lockwood in the first round, 25-15, 25-15. In the semifinals, they rolled past North Central, 25-15, 25-23.
And then came Huntley. Jefferson took the first set, 25-22, but the Red Devils came back in the second, 25-18. That left the 15-point third set – and the Panthers came through, 15-7.
It won’t be clear what the result signifies for the fall season until…the fall season. Huntley may well have been missing some players — but at least three potential Panther starters couldn’t make the trip, either, Majors says. Brooklyn Miller, usually a hitter, moved to blocker in Billings. Sophomore Allison Zawacki filled in as a hitter.
The fact that Jefferson thrived with a few parts in the wrong places “is even more exciting,” Majors says. So, too, he says, has been the performance this summer of center Erica Shields, and the improvement of middle blocker Ryian Eveland.
What’s more, 60 girls have come to summer work-outs in the Jefferson gym, including 20 to 25 freshmen. That’s a lot to manage, maybe too many, but “a pleasant challenge,” Majors says. Official practices start Aug. 16.
Jefferson and Huntley Project compete in different conferences, so they likely won’t meet again until this year’s South Division tournament in November. But now the Panthers know: The Red Devils can be beat. And “when they have to dig deep,” Majors says, “those girls know how to get it done.”
