Hi-Line Volleyball Roundup: Chinook rolls to District 6C East title

GILDFORD — All season long, the Chinook Sugarbeeters have been the top volleyball team in the District 6C East Division. And following an undefeated regular season, the Beeters had one thing on their mind, a district championship.

After getting into the championship game against the Chester/J-I Hawks unscathed, Chinook kept its perfect record intact Friday night with a dominating three-game sweep over the Hawks in Gildford by the scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-11.

“I am proud of my team,” Chinook head coach Molli Rose said. “They have worked really hard all season and they did a great job again tonight (Friday).”

The Hawks would have needed to beat Chinook twice to rally back and capture the district title, but the Beeters would have none of it and took a commanding two-game lead thanks to a five-point win in the first set and a six-point win in the second.

With the Hawks on the ropes in the third set, Chinook was determined to put C/J-I away and along those lines they jumped out to a 19-7 lead. The lead got as big as 23-8 before the Hawks battled back a little bit, but back-to-back points for the Beeters wrapped up their third consecutive district championship following a 25-11 win in game three.

“All year long we have been able to hit the ball well and get up on teams,” Rose said. “And we hit the ball well again. We did a good job of communicating and that was a big key for us.”

The Beeters outhit the Hawks in the match, posting 23 kills compared to just 16 for C/J-I. Abby Ellison led the way for Chinook with a match-high eight kills. Sierra Swank was also strong for the Beeters with 12 assists, while Lauren Harshman added an impressive seven blocks. Brooke Nicholson added 13 digs and Kelsey Mathon had one ace.

Allix Goldhahn was the top performer for the Hawks and tied Ellison with a match-high eight kills She also finished with one ace. Madeline Woods contributed with eight assists for C/J-I, while Erin Wolfe added a pair of blocks and 18 digs.

The Beeters cruised to the title match with two wins Thursday. In the quarterfinals, Chinook swept Big Sandy by scores of 25-9, 25-10 and 25-20. The Beeters got 10 kills from Sierra Swank and 12 digs and two aces by Cortney Gunderson. The Pioneers were paced by two kills and three blocks from Alana Ostrom.

Chinook then took down arch rival North Star in Thursday night’s semifinal, by scores of 20-25, 25-18, 25-22 and 25-19. The win was a hard-fought one, as the Knights came out on fire and took the opening set. But from there, Chinook was just too tough.

Abigail Ellison had nine kills for Chinook in the semifinal victory, while Sierra Swank had 17 assists. North Star got 12 kills from Sheridan O’Neil, while Sheridan Spicher totaled an ace and two blocks.

Meanwhile, C/J-I’s run to the championship match was much more difficult. It started with a quarterfinal loss to the Knights Thursday, as North Star won 25-22, 8-25, 25-17 and 25-22. Sheridan O’Neil had 15 kills and Jewel Wicks had 19 digs for the Knights, while Allix Goldhahn had 15 kills, 37 digs and five blocks, and Madeline Woods tallied four aces.

The Hawks quickly rebounded Thursday with a four-set win over Box Elder. In what would be the final match of the season for the Bears, they fought valiantly, but fell by scores of 24-26, 25-17, 25-12 and 25-20. In that match, Allix Goldhahn had another 15 kills for C/J-I, while Erin Wolfe had 21 digs. Box Elder got five kills from Eve The Boy, while Lilian Gopher totaled 35 digs and two aces.

To stay alive, C/J-I had to take out Big Sandy, which beat Box Elder by scores of 25-16, 25-20 and 25-22 in the opening match of the tournament Thursday morning. And it was no problem for the Hawks, as they knocked out the Pioneers by scores of 25-12, 25-7 and 25-14 Friday morning.

In the win, C/J-I got 12 kills from Allix Goldhahn, while Kristina Dahinden had six aces. In the last match of the season for the Pioneers, they were led by Alana Ostrom with two kills, while Jenna Leader had eight assists.

The win over Big Sandy then gave the Hawks exactly what they were looking for — a rematch with arch rival North Star. And out for revenge, C/J-I came through, beating the Knights by scores of 25-22, 25-21, 23-25 and 25-17 in the third-place match Friday afternoon.

The Hawks got eight kills and four aces from Allix Goldhahn, while Madeline Woods had three blocks and eight assists. North Star, which finished third, was led by Sheridan O’Neil with 11 kills and two blocks, while Graysen Spicher had three aces and all 32 of North Star’s assists.

Now, the Beeters, Hawks and Knights will all get ready for this week’s Northern C Divisional, which starts Thursday in Belt. The top two teams from that tournament advance to the Class C state tournament Nov. 12-14 in Bozeman.

Meanwhile, the season ended for Rocky Boy and Harlem at the district level this past weekend.

At the 1B tourney in Fairfield, the Morning Stars lost twice, including a three-set sweep at the hands of host Fairfield Friday morning. The Eagles beat the Morning Stars by scores of 25-13, 25-11 and 25-10. Jurnee LaForge had three kills and three blocks to lead Rocky Boy, which was then eliminated Saturday morning.

At the District 2B tournament in Glasgow, Harlem lost twice Friday, seeing its season come to an end. The Wildcats lost their opening match to Poplar by scores of 25-15, 25-21 and 25-15, with Brooke Levaldo recording six kills and three aces for Harlem.

In a loser-out match later Friday, Wolf Point knocked the Wildcats out with a four-set victory. The Wolves won by scores of 25-13, 14-25, 25-16 and 25-13. Anita Bentley had six kills and a block in Harlem’s last match of the season.

Note: Havre Daily News sports reporter Chris Peterson contributed to this story.

District 6C East

At Gildford

Thursday

Big Sandy def. Box Elder

25-16, 25-20, 25-22

Big Sandy: Assists 32 (Jenna Leader 21), Kills 36 (Alana Ostrom 9), Blocks 3 (Lisa Pegar 2), Digs 48 (Leader 12), Aces 13 (Ostrom 3).

Box Elder: Assists 14 (Nakayla Anderson 7), Kills 14 (Tai Russell 6), Blocks 5 (Eve The Boy 2), Digs 74 (Russell 16), Aces 8 (Lillian Gopher 4).

Chinook def. Big Sandy

25-9, 25-10, 25-20

Chinook: Assists 21 (Kelsey Mathon 11), Kills 28 (Sierra Swank 10), Blocks 4 (Lauren Harshman 2), Digs 34 (Cortney Gunderson 12), Aces 7 (Gunderson 3).

Big Sandy: Assists 7 (Jenna Leader 7), Kills 9 (Alana Ostrom 2), Blocks 7 (Ostrom 3), Digs 87 (NA), Aces 1 (Cheyenne Pegar 1).

North Star def. Chester/J-I

25-22, 8-25, 25-17, 25-22

C-J-I: Assists 31 (Jereca Tempel 10), Kills 31 (Allix Goldhahn 15), Blocks 6 (Goldhahn 5), Digs 166 (Goldhan 37), Aces 13 (Madeline Woods 4).

North Star: Assists 25 (Graysen Spicher 25), Kills 31 (Sheridan O'Neil 15), Blocks 3 (Sam Pester 2), Digs 59 (Jewel Wicks 19), Aces 9 (Lily Pedersen 3).

Chester/J-I def. Box Elder

24-26, 25-17, 25-12, 25-20

C-J-I: Kills 32 (Allix Goldhahn 15), Assists 30 (Jereca Tempel 13), Aces 18 (Kristina Dahinden 5), Digs 98 (Erin Wolfe 21), Blocks 2 (Goldhahn 2).

Box Elder: Kills 13 (Eve The Boy 5), Assists 8 (Tesla Belcourt 5), Aces 6 (Lilian Gopher 2), Digs 155 (Gopher 35), Blocks 2 (Madison Wolf Chief 1).

Chinook def. North Star (SF)

20-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-19

Chinook: Kills 29 (Abby Ellison 9), Assists 22 (Sierra Swank 17), Aces 9 (Kelsey Mathon 2), Digs 55 (Cortney Gunderson 18), Blocks 11 (Lauren Harshman 4).

North Star: Kills 29 (Sheridan O'Neil 12), Assists 25 (Graysen Spicher 25), Aces 2 (Sheridan Spicher 1), Digs 25, Sheridan Pena 5), Blocks 7 (S. Spicher 2).

Friday

Chester/J-I def. Big Sandy (lo)

25-12, 25-7, 25-14

Big Sandy: Kills: 7 (Alana Ostrom 2). Blocks: 6 (Madison Reichelt 3). Aces: 4. Digs: 69 (Molly Kain 17). Assists: 9 (Jenna Leader 8).

C/J-I: Kills: 25 (Allix Goldhahn 12). Blocks: 3 (Madeline Woods 2). Aces: 15 (Kristina Dahinden 6). Digs: 61 (Erin Wolfe 14). Assists: 24 (Jereca Tempel 10).

Chester/J-I def. North Star (3rd)

25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17

North Star: Kills: 35 (Sheridan O'Neil 11). Blocks: 7 (O'Neil 2). Aces: 8 (Graysen Spicher 3). Digs: 57 (Lily Pedersen 12). Assists; 32 (Spicher 32).

Chester/J-I: Kills: 18 (Allix Goldhahn 8). Blocks: 7 (Madeline Woods 3). Aces: 8 (Goldhahn 4). Digs: 110 (Kristina Dahinden 34). Assists; 16 (Woods 8).

Chinook def. Chester/J-I (1st)

25-20, 25-19, 25-11

Chinook: Assists 16 (Sierra Swank 12), Kills 23 (Abby Ellison 8), Blocks 11 (Lauren Harshman 7), Digs 53 (Brooke Nicholson 13), Aces 4 (Kelsey Mathon 1).

C/J-I: Assists 16 (Madeline Woods 8), Kills 17 (Allix Goldhahn 8), Blocks 2 (Erin Wolfe 2), Digs 77 (Wolfe 8), Aces 1 (Goldhahn 1).

District 1B

Fairfield def Rocky Boy

25-13 25-11, 25-10

Rocky Boy: Kills: 4 (Jurnee LaForge 3). Blocks: 4 (LaForge 3). Aces: 1 (Kristen LaMere). Digs: 7 (Kiara Surall 3). Assists: 3 (Juanaya Gamble 3).

Fairfield: Kills: 20 (Taleigh Isakson 8). Blocks: 23 (Isakson 10). Aces: 18 (Amelia Konen (10). Digs: 13 (Alexis McWilliams 4). Assists: 20 (Brooke Poor 18).

District 2B

Poplar def. Harlem

25-15, 25-21, 25-15

Poplar: Kills 19 (Samantha Youngman 6); Blocks 1 (Kylee Stump), Aces 21 (Samantha Youngman 6), Digs 20 (Emily Hagadone 9), Assists 15 (Kylee Stump 9).

Harlem: Kills 19 (Brooke Levaldo 6), Blocks 1 (Kinsey Carnell), Aces 11 (B. Levaldo 3, Emma Humphreys 3), Digs 29 (Jazzamyn Benson 8), Assists 13 (Hailey Lamebull 9).

Wolf Point def. Harlem (lo)

25-13, 14-25, 25-16, 25-13

Wolf Point: Kills 17 (S. Wells 5), Blocks 7 (S. Wells 3), Aces 11 (S. Wells 4), Digs 29 (Loverty Lindsay 9), Assists 15 (Kelsie Neubauer 9).

Harlem: Kills 19 (Anita Bentley 6), Blocks 1 (Bentley), Aces 9 (Emma Humphreys 4), Digs 48 (Emma Humphreys 13), Assists 9 (Hailley Lamebull 9).