Hi-Line Volleyball: Box Elder has a big week on the court

The high school volleyball season has reached the halfway point, and on the Hi-Line, it’s been an exciting year so far.

Last week was packed with local volleyball action, starting with Box Elder’s win over Class B Harlem Tuesday night. The Bears defeated the Wildcats by scores of 22-25, 25-21, 25-15 and 25-10. Lilly Gopher had a huge match with 17 kills, 26 digs and one block, while Eve The Boy had 13 assists and seven aces. Harlem got a combined eight kills from Skylee Dirden and Eleesha Bell.

Chinook wasn’t as fortunate Tuesday as the Sugarbeeters also took on a Class B rival. In Chinook, the Beeters fell to the Malta M-Ettes in five tough sets, by scores of 25-14, 19-25, 19-25, 25-16 and 15-8, as the M-Ettes came from two sets down. Kourtney Hanson had eight kills and four blocks for Chinook, while Carrie Hofer tallied 20 digs.

Two nights later, Chinook found itself locked up in another five-setter, only Thursday night, the Beeters pulled off a critical District 6C East win. Chinook defeated Chester-Joplin-Inverness by scores of 25-12, 23-25, 20-25, 26-24 and 15-11 in a marathon match that saw the Beeters erase a 2-1 deficit.

Swank paced Chinook with 11 kills and Megan Molyneaux had 17 assists. Gabby Mangold had 14 kills and 24 digs for CJI, while Samantha May served three aces.

Rocky Boy was also in action Thursday night, but the Morning Stars were no match for the Shelby Coyotes. In a District 1B matchup, the Coytoes beat the Morning Stars by scores of 25-11, 25-12 and 25-16.

In what would turn out to be a huge weekend for Box Elder, the Bears got it started Friday night, with a quick sweep of the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds. The Bears took care of HLP by scores of 25-11, 25-12 and 25-10, with Tallen Oats earning three kills and five digs.

But the big win for the Bears came Saturday night when they knocked off CJI in a huge district win. In a wild five-setter, the Bears beat the Hawks by scores of 25-19, 25-20, 24-26, 17-25 and 15-12. Lilly Gopher blasted 19 kills to go along with 12 digs and two blocks for the Bears. Kim Ghekiere had 14 kills and Khole Kamerzell finished with eight digs for CJI.

North Star, which is in first place in the 6C East, stepped out of conference Saturday night, and made quick work of rival Sunburst. The Knights swept the Refiners by scores of 25-7, 25-5 and 25-8. Peytan King had seven kills and she and Lily Pedersen each served five aces. Chelsea Donaldson had 11 digs on defense for the surging Knights.

In Class B action Saturday night, a tough season continued for Harlem, as the Wildcats lost a close match to Wolf Point. Harlem battled throughout, but the Wolves prevailed 25-16, 25-18, 26-28 and 25-14. Eleesha Bell and Skylee Dirden each had five kills, while Aria Owens served up for aces for the Wildcats.

Tuesday

Box Elder def. Harlem

22-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-10

Box Elder: Kills 55 (Lilly Gopher 17, Eve The Boy 16), Blocks 1 (Lilly Gopher), Digs 25 (Lilly Gopher 26), Assists 36 (Eve The Boy 13), Aces 19 (Eve The Boy 7)

Harlem: Kills 17 (Skylee Dirden 4, Eleesha Bell 4), Blocks (1 Aria Owens 1), Digs 70 (Raegan Conlan 12), Taeshon Scheaffer 12, Taylor Stiffarm 12) Assists 13 (Taylor Stiffarm 6), Aces 7 (Eleesha Bell 5)

Malta def. Chinook

25-14, 19-25, 19-25, 25-16, 15-8

Malta: Digs 86 (Janessa Malmend 18), Aces 9 (Sam Mitchell 3), Assists 39 (Kyleigh Schipman 17), Kills 48 (Ella Schye 21), Blocks 7 (Ella Schye 4)

Chinook: Digs 75 (Carrie Hofer 20), Aces 10 (Rachel Gunderson 4), Assists 25 (Sierra Swank 16), Kills 26 (Kourtney Hansen 8), Blocks 10 (Kourtney Hanson 4)

Thursday

Chinook d. Chester-Joplin-Inverness

25-12, 23-25, 20-25, 26-24, 15-11

Chinook -- Kills 33 (Sierra Swank 11), aces 14 (Rachel Gunderson 6), digs 107 (Lincy Johnson 37), blocks 10 (Kourtney Hanson 6), assists 33 (Megan Molyneaux 17).

Chester-Joplin-Inverness – Kills 37 (Gabby Mangold 14), Assists 29 (Peyton Hawks 25), Aces 10 (Samantha May 3), Digs 77 (Mangold 24), Blocks 4 (Kim Ghekiere 3).

Shelby d. Rocky Boy

25-11, 25-12, 25-16

Shelby – Aces 17 (Johnson 5, Luly 3, Brusven 3); Kills 25 (Brusven 6, Martin 5, Johnson 5, Salveson 5); Digs 33 (Salveson 7, Brusven 5); Assists 16 (Martin 10, Brusven 5); Blocks 4 (Luly 2, Robison 2).

Rocky Boy – Aces 6 (Gopher 3); Kills 6 (Big Knife 4); Digs 11 (Henry 4); Assists 5 (Gopher 3); Blocks 5 (Mitchell 2).

Fort Benton d. Geraldine-Highwood

25-20, 27-25, 25-15

Fort Benton – Kills 16 (Nicole Axtman 5); Assists 13 (McKenna Hanford 7, Alia Evans 6); Aces 12 (Kenzie Clark 5); Digs 24 (Maddie Thompson 6); Blocks 4 (Clark 2, Hanford 2).

GH – Kills 18 (Jackie Long 8); Assists 15 (Bentley McCullough 14); Aces 2 (Ellie Meeks, McCullough); Digs 43 (McCullough 14, Meeks 13); Blocks 0.

Friday

Box Elder d. Hays-Lodge Pole

25-11, 25-12, 25-10

Hays-Lodge Pole – no stats available

Box Elder -- Aces 39 (Trystan Abieta 17), Kills 10 (Tallen Oats 3), Assists 7 (Oats 5), Digs 4 (Abieta 3), Blocks 0

Saturday

Box Elder def. CJI

25-19, 25-20, 24-26, 17-25, 15-12

CJI: Aces 8 (Peyton Hawks 3), Assists 27 (Hawks 20), Kills 40 (Kim Ghekiere 14), Blocks 4 (four with 1), Digs 35 (Khloe Kammerzell 8, Kayona Fraser 7)

Box Elder: Aces 12 (Eve The Boy 7), Kills 43 (Lilly Gopher 19), Assists 45 (Tallen Oats 14), Digs 36 (Lilly Gopher 12), Blocks 6 (Lilly Gopher 2)

Wolf Point def. Harlem

25-16, 25-18, 26-28, 25-14

Wolf Point: Kills 26 (Abby Juve 6), Assists 24 (Lindsay Netzger 13), Aces 27 (Netzger 7), Blocks 2 (Juve 2), Digs 26 (Madison Kinzie 8)

Harlem: Kills 14 (Eleesha Bell 5, Skylee Dirden 5), Assists 12 (Taeshon Scheaffer 8), Aces 15 (Aria Owens 4), Blocks 4 (Eleesha Bell 2), Digs 47 (Skylee Dirden 12)

North Star def. Sunburst

25-7, 25-5, 25-8

Sunburst – Assists 1 (Audrey Nice); Kills 1 (Gena Johnson); Blocks 0; Digs 17 (Joki Hout 17); Aces 2 (Maria Becker, Jeena Alherons).

North Star – Assists 24 (Paij Peterson 13); Kills 26 (Peytan King 7); Blocks 1 (Grace Farinas); Digs 39 (Chelsea Donaldson 11); Aces 18 (Peytan King 5, Lily Pedersen 5).