Hi-Line Volleyball Roundup: Beeters claim 6C East title

With three of the best teams in Class C volleyball, and only two spots into the Northern C Divisional available, it was no secret the 2013 District 6C East Tournament was going to be a dogfight.

And for two days in Gildford, it was exactly that. The Chinook Sugarbeeters emerged from the fight as 6C East champions, as they beat host North Star in four games in Friday night's 6C East championship match.

The Beeters, who were perfect over the course of Thursday-Friday's tournament, will move on to the Northern C Divisional this weekend in Conrad, as will the Knights.

As expected, the title tilt was a tough one for both teams. Friday night's match was the third meeting of the season between the Beeters and Knights, and it was another thriller. Chinook took the early lead with a 25-22 win in the first set, but North Star evened things up with a 25-23 victory in the second. From there however, the Beeters started to roll. They dominated the third set, 25-15, then held off the Knights in the fourth, winning 25-21, and bringing the district title back to Chinook.

In the title match, Chinook's Makhayla Farmer totaled 18 kills and 10 blocks, while Emily Dennis recorded 51 digs on defense. The Knights got 13 kills and 10 blocks from Bettie Carlon, and 46 digs from Mackenzie Hansen. North Star also got 24 assists from Graysen Spicher in the loss.

"They played amazing," Chinook head coach Kaylee Larson said of her team. "They had been playing really tough coming into the tournament, and against really tough competition. Big Sandy and North Star are both so tough, and matches against both those teams are always so tough. But our girls just played with a lot of confidence and there was no doubt in their minds they were going to win."

Chinook reached the championship match by outlasting the tough, Big Sandy Pioneers in the semifinals on Thursday night. The Beeters beat the Pioneers by scores of 25-20, 22-25, 27-25, 13-25 and 15-13.

It was a wild, back-and-forth match, and one that could have gone either way right down to the end. Farmer totaled 18 kills in the win, while Dennis had 22 digs and three aces and Katelyn Neibauer added an astounding 11 blocks. Big Sandy's Molly Herron racked up 10 kills and four blocks in the tough loss, while Brooke Leader had 21 assists.

The Pioneers' loss to Chinook set up a Friday showdown with the Knights for the right to advance to the championship match. In Thursday's first round, Big Sandy beat North Star by scores of 19-25, 25-21, 25-18 and 25-19, behind eight kills and five blocks from Kaylie Gilman and eight kills and eight digs from Herron. Big Sandy's win forced the Knights to take the long road back to the championship match.

That road included a three-set sweep of Hays-Lodge Pole on Thursday afternoon as Melissa Pester had 11 kills and a block, and Tylynn Rettig had 14 digs, as well as a Friday morning win over the Chester/J-I Hawks. In that loser-out match, the Knights beat the Hawks by scores of 25-21, 25-16 and 25-11, with Rettig totaling nine kills, Hansen racking up 30 digs and Kiera Miller earning five stuff blocks. In C/J-I's final match of the season, Denerey Haaland had 16 digs and a block and Peyton Cole had four kills and an ace.

The win over C/J-I was already North Star's third match of the tournament, and their second elimination match. And it set up a rematch with the Pioneers, with the right to play for the 6C title on the line. And in that match, the Knights won a thriller and knocked Big Sandy out of the tournament. North Star beat the Pioneers by scores of 25-16, 22-25, 25-20, 21-25 and 15-9, in what was another roller coaster match.

In the victory, the Knights got 10 kills each from Carlon and Pester, while Miller had a match-high 12 blocks. Hansen also recorded a remarkable 69 digs in the back row. In Big Sandy's final match of the season, Gilman was a force, totaling 17 kills and seven blocks. Herron was also clutch, recording 69 digs. But the story was the Knights, who won a five-set thriller to keep their season alive.

The tournament began with C/J-I sweeping Hays-Lodge Pole by scores of 27-5, 25-11 and 25-11. Cole had four kills and Emma Earl added eight assists and seven aces for C/J-I, while Olivia Gray had five digs for the Thunderbirds.

The win pushed C/J-I into the winner's bracket, but the Hawks were quickly dispatched by Chinook by scores of 25-13, 25-5 and 25-8. In the victory, Chinook got 12 kills and seven blocks from Farmer, while Mariah Swank had 10 assists. C/J-I was led by Haaland with two kills and an ace, while Erin Wolfe had six digs on defense.

Now, Chinook and North Star will move on to the Northern C Divisional. The tournament runs Thursday-Saturday in Conrad, and the top two teams will advance to the Class C state tournament next weekend in Bozeman.

"It was a tough tournament," Larson said. "Our wins against Big Sandy and North Star were huge wins because both of those teams are so good. So because there is so much tough competition, it feels awesome to come out on top. Now, our next goal is to get in that top two at divisionals and go to state."

THURSDAY

District 6C East

At Gildford

Chester/J-I def. Hays-Lodge Pole

25-7, 25-11, 25-11

C/J-I-- Kills: 16 (Peyton Cole 4). Blocks: 0. Aces: 25 (Denerey Haaland 7, Emma Earl 7). Digs: 1 (Madeline Woods). Assists: 15 (Earl 8).

HLP-- Kills: 1 (Tia Zander). Blocks: 0. Aces: 0. Digs: 14 (Olviia Gray 5). Assists: 0.

Chinook def. Chester/J-I

25-13, 25-5, 25-8

Chinook -- Kills: 19 (Makhayla Farmer 12). Assists: 14 (Mariah Swank 10). Aces: 9 (Emily Dennis 3). Digs: 72 (Dennis 22). Blocks: 10 (Farmer 7).

C/J-I-- Kills: 6 (Denerey Haaland 2, Peyton Cole 2). Assists: 6 (Emma Earl 3, Madeline Woods 3). Aces: 1 (Haaland). Digs: 22 (Erin Wolfe 6). Blocks: 1 (cole, Allix Goldhahn).

Big Sandy def. North Star

19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-19

Big Sandy -- Kills: 28 (Kaylie Gilman 8, Molly Herron 8). Assists: 28 (Brooke Leader 17). Aces: 4 (Kylie Cline 3). Digs: 28 (Herron 8). Blocks: 11 (Gilman 5).

North Star -- Kills: 34 (Tylynn Rettig 8, Kiera Miller 8, Melissa Pester 8). Assists: 28 (Graysen Spicher 27). Aces: 7 (Mackenzie Hansen 2, Pester 2). Digs: 163 (Hansen 46). Blocks: 26 (Pester 13).

North Star def. Hays-Lodge Pole

25-9, 25-5, 25-9

HLP -- stats not reported.

North Star -- Kills: 28 (Melissa Pester 11). Blocks: 1 (Pester). Aces: 23 (Whitney Wendland 12). Digs: 50 (Tylynn Rettig 14). Assists: 20 (Graysen Spicher 16).

Chinook def. Big Sandy (SF)

25-20, 22-25, 27-25, 13-25, 15-13

Chinook -- Kills: 45 (Makhayla Farmer 18). Blocks: 27 (Katelyn Neibauer 11). Aces: 10 (Emily Dennis 3). Digs: 82 (Dennis 22). Assists: 34 (Hannah Weber 26).

Big Sandy -- Kills: 36 (Molly Herron 10). Blocks: 8 (Herron 4). Aces: 6 (Kylie Cline 3). Digs: 46 (Kiah Wilson 14). Assists: 31 (Brooke Leader 21).

FRIDAY

District 6C East

At Gildford

North Star def. Chester/J-I

25-21, 25-16, 25-11 (lo)

North Star - Assists 24 (Graysen Spicher – 24), Aces 8 (Melissa Pester 3, Mackenzie Hansen 3), Digs 107 (Hansen 30), Kills 32 (Tylynn Rettig – 9), Blocks 15 (Kiera Miller – 5)

C/J-I - Assists 10 (Madeline Woods - 6), Aces 1 (Peyton Cole), Digs 43 (Denerey Haaland -16), Kills 15 (Cole – 4), Blocks 3( Haaland – 1).

North Star def. Big Sandy

25-16, 22-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-9 (3rd)

North Star - Assists 21 (Graysen Spicher – 21), Aces 5 (Delainey Spicher – 2), Digs 216 (Mackenzie Hansen – 69), Kills 34 (Bettie Carlon – 10, Pester – 10), Blocks 47 (Kiera Miller – 12),

Big Sandy - Assists 29 (Brooke Leader – 17), Aces 5 (Leader – 2), Digs 218 (Molly Herron – 69), Kills 51 (Kylie Gilman – 17), Blocks 17 (Gilman – 7)

Chinook d. North Star

25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 25-21 (1st)

Chinook - Assists 10 (Hannah Weber – 6), Aces 10 (Brooke Nicholson – 4), Digs 150 (Emily Dennis – 58), Kills 32 (Makhayla Farmer 18), Blocks 14 (Farmer – 10).

North Star - Assists 24 (Graysen Spicher – 24), Aces 4 (Whitney Wendland – 2), Digs 173 (Mackenzie Hansen – 46), Kills 31 (Bettie Carlon – 13), Blocks 28 (Carlon – 10).

District 1B

At Conrad

Shelby def. Rocky Boy

25-4, 25-8, 25-7

Shelby - Kills 20 (Chloe Blevins 5), Blocks 5, Digs 61 (Melanie Brauchle 13), Assists 30 (Savannah Sanchez 17), Aces 12 (Sancez 4).

Rocky Boy - Kills 4 (Codi Parker 2), Blocks 1 (Jurnee LaForge), Digs 34 (Raney Singer 16), Assists 3 (Allison Windy boy 3), Aces 1 (Teshia Big Knife).

Cut Bank def. Rocky Boy

25-11, 25-15, 25-11 (lo)

Rocky Boy - Kills 15 (Codi Parker 5), Blocks 2 (Parker, Jurnee LaForge), Digs 54 (Rainey Singer 28), Assists 12 (Allison Windy boy 11), Aces 2 (Teshia Big Knife, LaForge).

Cut Bank - Kills 24 (Kayla Leary 8), blocks 8 (Leary 5), Digs 34 (Lanae Salway 8), Assists 17 (Paige Larson 9), Aces 12 (Salway 6)

District 2B

At Wolf Point

Malta def. Harlem

25-14, 25-18, 25-13

Malta leaders – Kills 39 ((Darby Sche 11); assists 33 (Markelle Lett 28); aces 11 (Kelsey Kuehn 5); digs 34 (Markelle Lett 8); blocks 3 (Darby Schye 1, Laramie Scheffelmear 1).

Wolf Point def. Harlem

22-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-13 (lo)

Harlem leaders – Kills 19 (Erin LaMere 6); assists 9 (Jaylynn Allen 4, Erin LaMere 4); aces 12 (Erin LaMere 4); digs 56 (Coco Moore 11, Erin LaMere 11, Tyra Allen 110; blocks 7 (Monique Doney 3).

Wolf Point leaders – Kills 34 (T'Elle Evans 13); assists 30 (Sarah Hafner 26); aces 16 (T'Elle Evans 4); digs 28 (Sonica Archdale 9); blocks 3 (Mariah Weeks 2).