Cubs hope to make most of surprise appearance in KC

BELL CITY -- Last year was supposed to be Bell City's year.

Not much was expected of the Cubs volleyball team this year.

That's how this year's team likes it.

"Everybody thought we wouldn't go anywhere," Bell City senior Bethany Chilton said. "We're a class that likes to prove people wrong."

The Cubs earned a trip to the Class 1 state tournament, and will begin play at 10 a.m. today at the Memorial Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. They open against Sacred Heart, the defending state champion.

Bell City upset Leopold in two games Saturday to win its quarterfinal and earn its third trip to the final four in the last four years.

"We didn't expect it," Bell City coach Erin Hoffman said of making the final four. "Even Bismarck was supposed to go before us. We were definitely the underdog. But I think this group played their hearts out.

"We're the underdogs again. That gets them more fired up than anything, people who don't think they can do it. Since their seventh-grade year, they've tried to prove me wrong. This year, definitely, they've done a good job of it. They have four more games to go."

The Cubs' offense starts with freshman Jasmine Johnson. She leads the team with 398 kills by using her powerful swing to blast balls past blockers. The Cubs also benefit from the experience of senior setter Codie Lancaster. She's started every varsity match since she began her freshman year.

"Our team doesn't have a bad attitude," senior Sherilyn Long said. "We don't get mad at each other. You're a team, you shouldn't do that. Other teams do. If we can get them down and get their attitude down, then that excites us. ... Getting them down brings us up."

The Cubs enter with the worst record of the four teams in Class 1 at 23-8-2. Eminence is 36-3, while Santa Fe is 27-5-3 and Sacred Heart 28-6-3.

Hoffman is using the records of the other teams to motivate her girls. She's telling them that no one expects her team to compete. She's playing the underdog card as often as possible. She admits she's using every trick she knows to motivate her team.

"I love when they prove me wrong," Hoffman said. "They can prove me wrong all they want."