Local volleyball teams take a shot at the Northern C crown

For three Hi-Line volleyball teams, the season marches on. But how long that season will last for Chinook, Chester/J-I and North Star will all come down to the next three days in Belt.

Starting Thursday morning, the Sugarbeeters, Hawks and Knights will all play in the 2015 Northern C Divisional tournament, where two spots at next week’s Class C state tourney are on the line. The tournament also includes the top two teams from the District 7C, Belt and Geraldine-Highwood, and the top three teams from the 6C West, Sunburst, Dutton-Brady and Valier.

Chinook comes into the Northern C undefeated and the favorite to win the divisional championship. But, the Beeters were in the same position last year, and a couple of upsets kept them from even making it to state.

Still, Chinook, which opens the tournament against Geraldine-Highwood Thursday at noon, is a year older and much more experienced at this level. The Beeters, led by head coach Molli Rose, haven’t lost a regulation match since last year’s divisional tourney, and they’ll be tough to beat this weekend.

If Chinook gets past the Rivals, the Beeters will face either Sunburst or North Star. The Knights finished third at last week’s 6C East tourney, but, their only losses this season have come against either Chinook or C/J-I. Sunburst is a big rival of North Star’s and the Knights beat the Refiners during the regular season, so, if they can do it again Thursday afternoon, they’ll get a fourth match with the Beeters Thursday night.

On the other side of the bracket, 6C East runner-up C/J-I takes on Dutton-Brady Thursday morning. The Hawks have come on strong this season, thanks in large part to the dominating play of Allix Goldhahn. But, overall, C/J-I experience has also paid dividends, and like North Star, the Hawks open the divisional tournament with a foe they’ve already beaten this season in Dutton-Brady.

If the Hawks can get past the Diamondbacks, they’ll likely run into the other juggernaut in the field, the host Belt Huskies. Belt won the Northern C a year ago, and the Huskies have been just as tough this season. Of course, fans will be looking forward to a Belt/Chinook showdown this weekend, but the Huskies must get past Valier, and then either C/J-I or Dutton-Brady before that can happen.

But no matter what happens this weekend, the Northern C is always the toughest divisional in Class C volleyball, and it is no different this year.

The 2015 Northern C Divisional gets underway Thursday morning and runs through Saturday afternoon in Belt. The top two teams from the tournament will move on to the Class C state tournament Nov. 12-14 in Bozeman.