Wibaux sweeps Chinook in Class C's opening round

The level of talent always gets drastically better at the state volleyball tournament, and after not seeing state action since 2005, the Class C Chinook Sugarbeeters were quickly reminded of that.

Chinook opened up the Class C state tournament Thursday morning at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman. But it was the No. 1 team out of the east in the Wibaux Longhorns who handed the Beeters, the No. 2 seed out of the north, a first round loss.

The Longhorns defeated the Beeters 3-0 by scores of 25-23, 25-22, and 25-10.

Neither team has had success at the state level in recent seasons, but the Beeters saw firsthand why the Longhorns were an early frontrunner. After going two and out the last two seasons at state, Wibaux entered the state tourney with just two losses on the entire 2013 season. The Longhorns advance to the quarterfinals, but fell to Gardiner Thursday evening. And with the loss, the Beeters dropped into the consolation bracket where they were matched up with Bridger early this morning.

Early on the Beeters looked poised to run away with the first round win. They led the Longhorns 14-4 and held all the momentum. But the Longhorns put together multiple double digit runs and eventually fought back for a narrow 25-23 win over the Beeters in game one. Wibaux got back on track after the slow start, and the Beeters were never able to put a stop to the surging program.

Makhayla Farmer had a solid opening match and led the Beeters with 14 of the teams 29 kills. Farmer had five blocks, and Katelyn Neibauer also had a nice start to her state tournament, as she grabbed eight kills and led the team with her six blocks. Chinook totaled 23 assists, led by Mariah Swank with 10, Hannah Weber with nine and Kelsey Mathon with four. Emily Dennis had three aces and 19 digs, while Madison McCann had two aces and Brooke Nicholson had 14 digs to help lead the way.

Wibaux def. Chinook

25-23, 25-22, 25-10

Wibaux – Kills: 29 (Chelsea Leach 11, Lexi Begger 10, Hannah Bakken 4). Assists: 30 (Sydney Schieffer 27). Aces: 7 (Hannah Bakken 3, Skyla Wamsley 2, Skylar Stenson). Blocks: 4 (Lexi Begger 2, Chelsea Leach 2). Digs: 50 (Hannah Bakken 12, Skylar Stenson 12, Chelsea Leach 11).

Chinook – Kills: 29 (Makayla Farmer 14, Katelyn Neibauer 8). Assists: 23 (Mariah Swank 10, Hannah Weber 9, Kelsey Mathon 4). Aces: 5 (Emily Dennis 3, Madison McCann 2). Blocks: 13 (Katelyn Neibauer 6, Makayla Farmer 5). Digs: 72 (Emily Dennis 19, Brooke Nicholson 14).