by Ryan Divish
The District 6C's bid to have two teams represented at the Class C State Volleyball Tournament ended early at the Northern C divisional in Belt as all four representatives were eliminated from the tournament.
The Big Sandy Pioneers, who placed fourth at the district tournament, had the best showing, also finishing fourth at the divisional tournament.
The first round was extremely unkind to all four 6C teams, with each one losing to a District 7C counterpart.
Dutton-Brady opened the day with a 25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 25-18 upset of 6C regular season and tournament champion Chester.
Ashlee Johnson had 14 kills and 15 blocks in the win. Chester was led by Shawnee Norick's 13 kills and three blocks. Keyla Wendland and JoAnna LaSorte combined for 30 assists, while Jackie Alisch added 20 digs in the loss.
Belt continued the 7C's winning ways with a 21-25, 25-13, 25-19, 25-21 win over Sunburst, while regular season and 7C tourney champ Valier cruised past Big Sandy 25-16, 25-7, 25-10.
Blue Sky/J-I also fell victim to an upset as the Great Fall Central Mustangs downed the Eagles in 25-12, 19-25, 25-19, 19-25, 18-16 marathon match. Kaila Warren and Katie O'Neil banged out 11 kills each.
Friday's loser-out action had the four 6C teams squaring off with surprising results.
Big Sandy upset Blue Sky/J-I 18-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-15 in the opening match. Naomi Williams had 15 kills, while Mikki Hammons and Kacy Herron combined for 24 assists in the win. Jessica Amsbaugh chipped in with 14 digs.
Blue Sky/J-I was led by Hannah Pimley's eight kills, seven digs and three blocks. Jourdon Han added 15 assists.
In the other loser-out action, Sunburst became the first District 6C team to defeat Chester this season with a 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 17-25, 15-12 win.
Rachel Kleinert had 13 kills to lead the Refiners. No individual stats were reported for the Coyotes.
While Sunburst would go on to lose its next match to Great Falls Central, Big Sandy knocked off Dutton-Brady 25-21, 25-15, 25-22 to stay alive.
Williams had nine kills, while Raynee Pearson picked up 11 digs. Herron and Hammons had eight assists each for the Pioneers.
Big Sandy's tournament run would come to an end on Saturday morning with a 25-11, 25-11, 25-16 loss to Great Fall Central.
