BUTTE — Last week, I had the pleasure of attending Butte Central’s Blocktober volleyball tournament, a two-day long affair in which Montana high schools near and far compete in a quick-paced style of play.

I picked the brain of Billings Central state champion coach Anita Foster after the Rams won their second straight Blocktober tournament. Foster and the Rams have won four state titles since 2020 and and she told me she believes defense wins championships.

It’s something I’d heard before but never spent much time investigating. And yet, here in the Frontier conference, we have two very dominant volleyball programs in Providence and Bellevue that would serve as perfect case studies into this investigation.

So this week, we dive deep into the defensive stats of the best volleyball progra

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