By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
With only two weeks remaining before the all-important district volleyball tournaments, local volleyball teams spend the past weekend jockeying for position in their respective conference standings.
Even with two weeks remaining, the Chester Coyotes have basically cemented themselves as the District 6C regular season champions with three wins in four days to move to a perfect 11-0 in conference.
Chester opened its run of wins with a 25-13, 25-17, 25-22 win over the KG KouGars Thursday night in Gildford.
The Coyotes were led by Shawnee Norick's seven kills and JoAnna LaSorte's 14 assists in the win. Brianne Wolfe added five blocks and two digs for Chester
KG was led by a solid all-around performance from Natasha Dyrland, who racked up five kills, seven blocks and three aces.
On Saturday, Chester knocked off a pesky Big Sandy Pioneers squad 25-14, 25-23, 25-15.
Norick had another monster game with 12 kills, 21 digs and five aces to pace the Coyotes
Big Sandy got a solid match from Shalayna Pearson with five kills and a block.
Chester all but wrapped up its regular season title with a key 26-24, 20-25, 25-10, 25-23 win over the Blue Sky/J-I Eagles, who were sitting in second place in 6C.
Norick once again led the way with 12 kills and four blocks. Keyla Wendland dished out 14 assists while Wolfe picked up 18 digs. Amanda Violett added nine aces in the win.
Blue Sky/J-I got a match-high 16 kills and seven digs from Hannah Pimley. Kim Patrick added 10 kills while, Megan Warren and Jourdon Han combined for 33 assists.
The weekend was not a total loss for Big Sandy, which picked up a big 25-15, 25-21, 25-23 win over Blue Sky/J-I on Thursday in Big Sandy.
Raynee Pearson led the Pioneers with seven kills, 11 digs and two blocks. Mikki Hammons and Kacy Herron combined to hand out 21 assists.
The Eagles got 10 kills and 10 digs from Kaila Warren and nine kills from Pimley in the loss.
Big Sandy picked up another win on Monday with a 25-14, 25-16, 25-20 win over KG in Big Sandy. Shalayna Pearson had seven kills and Herron dished out 12 assists in the win. Hammons added 11 digs for the Pioneers.
KG was led by Shea Haugen's eight kills, nine assists and five aces, and Jodi Norman's 18 digs.
Blue Sky/J-I did not go winless on the weekend. The Eagles scored a 25-12, 26-24, 25-22 over KG on Friday night in Gildford. Pimley ripped 12 kills and Kaila Warren added seven kills and two aces in the win. Megan Warren and Han combined to hand out 27 assists.
KG got another solid effort Dyrland, who had eight kills, four blocks and three aces in the loss. Kendra Donoven added six kills and 15 digs for the KouGars.
Elsewhere in District 6C action, the Rocky Boy Morning Stars outlasted rival Box Elder in a 22-25, 25-17, 25-15, 22-25, 15-7 marathon Monday night in Box Elder.
As a team, Rocky Boy served up an amazing 31 aces in the match, led by Loni Belcourt's eight. Belcourt added 13 digs in the match. Her twin sister, Tori banged out 12 kills and had four blocks, while Jackie Rock dished out 24 assists.
Box Elder was led by Ashley and Tasha Parisian. Ashley Parisian had six kills, 10 assists and nine digs. Tasha Parisian picked up six kills, eight digs and two blocks. Codi Raining Bird served up 11 of Box Elder's 18 aces.
Saturday night was not as kind to the Stars, as they fell to Sunburst, 25-18, 25-23, 25-20. Rachel Kleinert paced the Refiners with seven kills and five aces.
Rocky Boy got five kills, eight digs and five blocks from Tori Belcourt, and 10 assists from Rainbow Stump in the loss.
In District 1B, the Harlem Wildcats had a tough weekend dropping matches to Poplar and Wolf Point.
On Friday, the Wildcats fell to Poplar 25-11, 27-25, 25-14. Leandra Thomas had four kills and six aces in the loss. Wolf Point handed a 25-17, 25-18, 25-9 loss to Harlem on Saturday night in Wolf Point. Marty Rae Stiffarm paced the Wildcats with 10 aces and three blocks. Melinda Cochran added two kills and five assists.
The conference leading Chinook Sugarbeeters, took a step out of District 1B to hand former 2B rival, Glasgow, a 25-8, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22 loss in Glasgow.
The Beeter were paced by the duo of Whitney Lybeck and Morgan Obie, who combined for 30 kills and 12 aces. Monica Thackeray had a solid game defensively with 21 digs.
THURSDAY
Chester def. KG
25-13, 25-17, 25-22
Chester - Kills 16 (Shawnee Norick 7); Assists 19 (JoAnna LaSorte 14); Aces 6 (Brianne Wolfe 2); Digs 7 (Wolfe, Keyla Wendland 2); Blocks 14 (Wolfe 5).
KG - Kills 19 (Jodi Norman 5, Natasha Dyrland 5); Assists 16 (Janine Jorgenson 7); Aces 10 (Whitney Hanson, Dyrland 3); Digs 7 (Kendra Donoven 7); Blocks 7 (Dyrland 7).
Big Sandy def. Blue Sky/J-I
25-15, 25-21, 25-23
Blue Sky/J-I - Kills 24 (Kaila Warren 10, Hannah Pimley 9); Assists 23 (Jourdon Han 11, Megan Warren 9); Digs 53 (Kaila Warren 10, Kim Patrick 9)
Big Sandy - Kills 26 (Raynee Pearson 7, Naomi Williams 7); Assists 21 (Mikki Hammons 11, Kacy Herron 10); Digs 46 (Pearson 11); Blocks 5 (Pearson 2); Aces 11 (Shersteen Cline 6).
FRIDAY
Poplar def. Harlem
25-11, 27-25, 25-14
Harlem - Kills 16 (Leandra Thomas 4, Diana First Raised 4); Assists 22 (Melinda Cochran 7); Digs 35 (Chelsea McCann 8); Aces 12 (Thomas 6).
Poplar - Kills 24 (Amy Strauser 7); Assists 17 (Adrian Buckles 15); Digs 21 (Buckles 8); Blocks 6 (Strauser 4); Aces 14 (Savannah Smith 4, Hilary Gourneau 4).
Blue Sky/J-I def. KG
25-12, 26-24, 25-22
Blue Sky/J-I - Kills 34 (Hannah Pimley 12, Kaila Warren 7); Assists 29 (Megan Warren 14, Jourdon Han 13); Digs 37 (Maia Aageson 6, Megan Warren 5); Blocks 3 (Tia Pester 1, Melissa Kimmet 1); Aces 8 (Kaila Warren 2, Jourdon Han 2).
KG - Kills 27 (Natasha Dyrland 8, Kendra Donoven 6); Assists 26 (Shea Haugen 12, Janine Jorgenson 10); Digs 70 (Whitney Hanson 16, Kendra Donoven 15); Blocks 11 (Jodi Norman 4, Dyrland 4); Aces 11 (Whitney Hanson 5, Dyrland 3).
SATURDAY
Wolf Point def. Harlem
25-17, 25-18, 25-9
Harlem - Kills 6 (Melinda Cochran 2); Assists 13 (Cochran 5); Digs 35 (Leandra Thomas 7); Blocks 6 (Marty Stiffarm 3); Aces 10 (Stiffarm 10).
Wolf Point - Kills 13 (Rebekah Zilkoski 6); Assists 13 (Kelcie Martin 7); Digs 23 (Tawnie Braaten 6); Blocks 3 (Zilkoski 2); Aces 4 (Jaclyn Sansaver 3).
Chester def. Big Sandy
25-14, 25-23, 25-15
Chester - Kills 22 (Shawnee Norick 12); Assists 24 (JoAnna LaSorte 13); Digs 88 (Norick 21); Blocks 7 (Brianne Wolfe 3); Aces 10 (Norick 5).
Big Sandy - Kills 11 (Shalayna Pearson 5); Assists 7 (Kacy Herron 4); Digs 33 (Jessica Amsbaugh 9); Blocks 1 (Pearson 1); Aces 9 (Mikki Hammons 4).
Chinook def. Glasgow
25-8, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22
Glasgow - Kills 29 (Tiffany Waters 11); Assists 26 (Christina Etchart 21); Digs 50 (Mary McIntyre 11); Blocks 9 (Waters 7); Aces 5 (Kelly Hagfeldt 2).
Chinook - Kills 50 (Whitney Lybeck 17, Morgan Obie 13); Assists 29 (Crystal Roseberry); Digs 63 (Monica Thackeray 21); Blocks 10 (Lybeck 5); Aces 16 (Lybeck 6, Obie 6).
Sunburst def. Rocky Boy
25-18, 25-23, 25-20
Sunburst - Kills 14 (Toni Belcourt 5); Assists 13 (Rainbow Stump 10); Digs 30 (Francis Eagleman 8, Belcourt 8); Blocks 14 (Belcourt 5); Aces 14 (Jamie Anderson 6).
Rocky Boy - Kills 23 (Rachel Kleinert 7); Assists 21 (Kendra Hovland 12); Digs 19 (Angela Tomsheck 5); Aces 13 (Kleinert 5).
Monday
Chester def. Blue Sky/J-I
26-24, 20-25, 25-10, 25-23
Chester - Kills 33 (Shawnee Norick 12); Assists 27 (Keyla Wendland 14); Digs 74 (Brianne Wolfe 18); Blocks 14 (Shawnee Norick 4); Aces 19 (Amanda Violett 9).
Blue Sky/J-I - Kills 39 (Hannah Pimley 16, Kim Patrick 10); Assists 37 (Megan Warren 20, Jourdon Han 13); Digs 39 (Maia Aageson 9, Hannah Pimley 7); Blocks 4 (Katie O'Neil): Aces 9 (Megan Warren 3, Maia Aageson 2).
Big Sandy def. KG
25-14, 25-16, 25-20
KG - Kills 25 (Shea Haugen 8); Assists 20 (Haugen 9); Digs 53 (Jodi Norman 18); Blocks 2 (Natasha Dyrland 2); Aces 10 (Haugen 5).
Big Sandy - Kills 24 (Shalayna Pearson 7); Assists 16 (Kacy Herron 12); Digs 41 (Mikki Hammons 11); Aces 9 (Raynee Pearson 3, Naomi Williams 3).
Rocky Boy def. Box Elder
22-25, 25-17, 25-15, 22-25, 15-7
Rocky Boy - Kills 41 (Tori Belcourt 12, Francis Eagleman 9); Assists 37 (Jackie Rock 24); Digs 19 (Loni Belcourt 13); Blocks 9 (Tori Belcourt 4); Aces 31 (Loni Belcourt 8).
Box Elder - Kills 24 (Ashley Parisian 6, Tasha Parisian 6); Assists 21 (Ashley Parisian 10, Ventura Campbell 10); Digs 38 (Ashley Parisian 9, Tasha Parisian 8); Blocks 3 (Tasha Parisian 2); Aces 18 (Codi Raining Bird 11).
