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Malta to host State C Volleyball Tourney

Though folks in Phillips County won't be able to attend the 2020 Class C State Volleyball tournament, the Malta High School Gymnasium will be the host of the eight-team tournament.

"We are pretty excited about hosting the Class C State Volleyball Tournament," Malta High School Activities Director Travis Somerfeld said. "I believe this tournament will be beneficial for both our school and the community."

Somerfeld also said that he was glad for the opportunity to showcase the facilities at Malta High School as well as the community of Malta.

The MHSA split up the State Volleyball Tournament, which was originally set for MSU-Bozeman to host all classes (AA, A, B, and C) on Thursday, November 12 through Saturday, November 14. According to Somerfeld, the split, which was approved by the MHSA was due to COVID-19.

"Each classification got the option to do a playoff-style bracket," Somerfeld said. "Where the higher seed hosts and it would have been single elimination."

Somerfeld said that Classes A, B, and C all voted to have a regular volleyball tournament but the issue was finding three sites to host each event separately.

The MHS campus was initially considered to host the Class B by a couple of unnamed Class B schools, but Shelby made a push and will host the Class B tourney.

A couple of days later, the MHSA contacted Malta to see if the school had interest in hosting the Class C tourney. It was approved, announced, and made official on Wednesday, October 4, via a release by Montanasports.com.

"We were pretty honored with them giving us this opportunity," Somerfeld said. "I feel Kris Kuehn and Scott King (former Malta Adminastators) set a standard of excellence for hosting tournaments here in Malta. I feel this standard will be on full display as we host the State C Volleyball Tournament. I strongly believe people will be pleased with the job we do with hosting this tournament."

Somerfeld said that the school will work with the MHSA to create guidelines to slow the spread of COVID-19. The tournament will have a limitation on fans and all spectators will be required to wear masks.

"Only two fan bases are allowed in the gym at a time. We are going to keep each team's fan base separated as best as possible," Somerfeld said. "Once the match is over, both fan bases will have to exit the faculty before the next two fan bases enter."

Local fans will not be allowed in the gymnasium during the tournament per MHSA guidelines. Matches can be streamed on the NFHS network.

Sidney will host the Class A Tournament and Shelby will be the site for the Class B State Tournament. The Class AA tournament started on Saturday, November 7, and will conclude on Saturday, November 14.

 

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