The Belle Fourche junior joined her three sisters — Fehrin (Ward) Brindley, KeAnna (Ward) Hodsen and Sierra Ward — in leading the Broncs to state volleyball tournaments in the past 10 years. 

“Because my sisters all made the state tournament that was always in the back of my mind,” Mataya Ward said. “This year was the best opportunity to go because our team played so well all season.”

Belle Fourche sisters Mataya, KeAna, Sierra and Fehrin have each played in the Class A state volleyball tournament for Belle Fourche - Photo courtesy of Ward family.

The Broncos finished eighth at this year’s Class A state volleyball tournament with Mataya contributing 35 kills and 37 digs during the tournament. While Mataya might have felt some nerves at the state tournament, this wasn’t her first rodeo with state and national events. 

As a freshman she was part of the Belle Fourche basketball team that qualified for the Class A state tournament. In the spring Ward was part of the Belle Fouche track team and qualified for multiple events during her freshman and sophomore seasons. She finished third in the Class A triple jump last May at the Class A state track meet. 

Last summer she qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo in Gillette, Wyoming. She represented team South Dakota in the breakaway roping.

With just a few days off following volleyball, Ward will turn her attention to basketball next week where she’s a starting forward for Belle Fourche. 

“We should be pretty decent again and we made it to the SoDak 16 last year,” she said. 

Having been raised on the family ranch near Belle Fourche, horses have always been part of Mataya Ward’s life. She uses about six horses for rodeo events and works with others for training purposes. 

The experience of qualifying for the National High School Finals Rodeo last summer seems to have a special place in Ward’s life. 

“That was mind blowing because I’ve watched it for a lot of years,” she said. “It was a lot different being behind and being in a really elite group of girls.”  

As a sophomore Mataya Ward represented Team South Dakota in the breakaway roping competition at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Gillette, Wyoming.
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Those in the Belle Fourche community are well aware of Ward’s other talent, singing. She regularly sings the National Anthem at sporting events and was chosen to sing the anthem at the 2022 Class A state boys basketball tournament. 

“The choir director asked if I wanted to try out to do that,” she said. “We recorded it in one of the rooms and he and our athletic director sent it to the state and I was chosen to perform.” 

What little free time Ward does have she can usually be found competing in Future Farmers of America competitions or playing volleyball with the Kusler Volleyball Clinics in Pierre. 

“I don’t really have that much free time,” she said. “I just like doing everything I do and that kind of seems like down time to me.” 

Excelling at so many things, Ward has yet to declare what sport she’ll pursue at the next level. She’ll also continue another family tradition as her sisters have all played college sports. Fehrin played volleyball at Black Hills State while KeAnna was a member of the rodeo team at BHSU. Sierra, who started her career at Black Hills State, is a graduate student playing volleyball at the University of North Dakota. 

“I haven’t really narrowed down where but I’m kinda leaning towards playing volleyball in college,” she said. “It is hard to explain but there is something about the nature of the sport. There is always something to improve on whether that’s athleticism, skills or just the mental part of the game.”