By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
When you have the best player on the floor, you shouldn't feel guilty about setting her the ball every time.
Chester rode the shoulders of spindly senior Shawnee Norick to the District 6C tournament title Saturday night in Rudyard.
The Coyotes, who went undefeated in the 6C regular season, needed five games in the championship match to defeat a pesky Blue Sky/J-I squad.
Chester also needed every ounce of effort from Norick, who tallied a whopping 36 kills in the match.
"I demanded that every set needs to go to her," said Chester head coach Joanie Gordon. "She is as much of a sure thing as there is in volleyball. She gets the job done."
Norick left her finger prints all over the win, particularly in the match-deciding fifth game. Chester jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to two Norick kills and two tips. The Coyotes never looked back en route to a 15-8 win.
"Nobody wants to go to a game five," Gordon said. "But the team that gets up early usually is going to win. We were able to get up early and it allowed us to relax a little."
Blue Sky/J-I looked anything but relaxed in Game 5. The Eagles hurt themselves with some mistakes early and never really got on track.
"I think we were nervous in that fifth game," said Blue Sky/J-I head coach Jen Dahlke. "We have that mindset that it's Chester and we shouldn't be that close."
Still, the Eagles were that close thanks to some solid play earlier in the match.
After Chester took the opening game 25-21, Blue Sky/J-I rallied in Game 2, going point-for-point with the Coyotes, before pushing the lead to five at 21-16 on a Kaila Warren kill. But the Coyotes roared back behind six Norick kills to tie the match at 24. But a Chester service error and a Hannah Pimley kill gave the Eagles the game.
Game 3 wasn't quite as exciting. Chester got up early on a pair of tip kills from Keyla Wendland and never looked back in a 25-15 win.
But all the Coyote's momentum disappeared immediately in Game 4, as Blue Sky/J-I jumped out to a 9-5 lead. Chester rallied to tie the match at 15 on a Wendland kill and took the lead on a Brianne Wolfe block. But a net touch and three straight hitting errors gave the Eagles back the lead. It was a lead they would not give up, winning 25-21.
"We're like any other team," Gordon said. "We go through slumps and we make mistakes. But I think we did a good job of overcoming them."
Indeed, not even a packed home cheering section and a defense set up to stop Norick, could stop the Coyotes, who won their second-straight 6C title. If they would have handed out an MVP award, there is little doubt who the winner would have been. Besides her 36 kills, Norick added 18 digs, four blocks and an ace.
"We tried to adjust to Shawnee and put a double block on her," Dahlke said. "But we were late getting there several times, and when we did have the block, our coverage broke down. You're not going to completely shut her down. She's an amazing hitter."
Still, all the sets and the attention were a little much for Norick, who sounded a little guilty about the number of kills.
"Sometimes I feel bad when everyone else doesn't get to hit," Norick said. "It gets tiring hitting so many times, but that's the fun part of playing volleyball."
Winning is a little fun, too.
"We played pretty well," Norick said. "We made some mistakes and have played better before, but we did what we had to to win."
But it wasn't just Norick contributing. Chester got a brilliant all-around game from JoAnna LaSorte, who racked up 28 assists, 21 digs and two aces. Wendland had 16 assists and 10 digs, while Brianne Wolfe had 10 kills and 8 blocks.
Blue Sky/J-I as led by Pimley and Warren, who combined for 23 kills, 28 digs, nine blocks and four aces. Jourdon Han dished out 14 assists and seven digs for the Eagles, who finished runner-up for the second year in a row.
Both Chester and Blue Sky/J-I advance to next week's Northern C Divisional in Butte. Joining them will be the Sunburst Refiners and Big Sandy Pioneers.
The Refiners outlasted Big Sandy early Saturday morning in an 18-25, 25-16, 25-16, 20-25, 15-12 marathon to stay alive. Sunburst got 16 kills and eight digs from Rachel Kleinert and nine kills and four blocks from Cherry Tomsheck in the win. Big Sandy was led by Raynee Pearson, who had nine digs. Shalayna Pearson added nine kills and 14 digs and Mikki Hammons had 10 assists and 16 digs in the loss.
Sunburst's run finished in the consolation semifinal with a 25-22, 25-20, 25-13 loss to Blue Sky/J-I. Warren had a solid match with six digs, three blocks, and three aces, while Kim Patrick chipped in with nine kills.
The Refiners got 10 kills and eight digs from Kleinert.
THURSDAY
Big Sandy def. Rocky Boy
25-22, 23-25, 25-9, 26-24
Big Sandy - Kills 10 (Raynee Pearson 2, Jessica Amsbaugh 2, Kacy Herron 2); Assists 7 (Herron 4); Aces 6 (Mikki Hammons 2, Shalayna Pearson 2); Digs 7 (Hammons 3); Blocks 3.
Rocky Boy - Kills 11 (Tori Belcourt 4); Assists 9 (Rainbow Stump 5); Aces 6 (Jackie Rock 2); Digs 22 (Rock 6); Blocks 4 (Jamie Anderson 2);
Sunburst def. Box Elder
25-12, 25-14, 25-14
Sunburst - Kills 16 (Rachel Kleinert 4, Darcey Johannsen 4); Assists 14 (Rachel Shulze 7); Aces 18 (Kleinert 4); Digs 5 (Kleinert 3); Blocks 1 (Schulze 1);
Box Elder - Kills 10 (Tasha Parisian 6); Assists 8 (Ashley Parisian); Aces 5 (Lori Lamere 2); Digs 18 (Three with four); Blocks 2 (A. Parisian 2);
Blue Sky/J-I def. KG
25-14, 25-21, 27-25
Blue Sky/J-I - Kills 30 (Hannah Pimley 13); Assists 26 (Jourdon Han 12); Aces 12 (Maia Aageson 4); Digs 14 (Aageson 5); Blocks 8 (Kaila Warren 4);
KG - Kills 16 (Jodi Norman 6); Assists 11 (Shea Haugen 9); Aces 12 (Kendra Donoven 4, Whitney Hanson 4); Digs 18 (Hanson 5); Blocks 14 (Natasha Dyrland 7, Norman 7);
FRIDAY
KG def. Rocky Boy
25-15, 22-25, 25-21, 25-16
(Loser-out)
KG - Kills 34 (Natasha Dyrland 17); Assists 22 (Shea Haugen 7); Aces 18 (Kendra Donoven 7); Digs 34 (Dyrland 11); Blocks 9 (Jodi Norman 6);
Rocky Boy - Kills 8 (Tori Belcourt 4); Assists 6 (Rainbow Stump 3); Aces 12 (Jamie Anderson 6); Digs 17 (Stump 5); Blocks 3 (Erin Broncho 2);
Chester def. Sunburst
25-12, 25-20, 25-19
(Winner's bracket)
Chester - Kills 40 (Brianne Wolfe 11, Shawnee Norick 11); Assists 28 (Joanna LaSorte 14); Aces 2 (Wolfe 1, Jackie Alisch 1); Digs 20 (Norick 7); Blocks 9 (Wolfe 9);
Sunburst - Kills 23 (Rachel Kleinert 12); Assists 17 (Kendra Hovland 10); Aces 5 (Kleinert 2, Hovland 2); Digs 15 (Kleinert 7); Blocks 2 (Cherry Tomsheck 1, Darcey Johannsen 1);
Blue Sky/J-I def. Big Sandy
25-17, 25-19, 25-15
(Winner's bracket)
Blue Sky/J-I - Kills 29 (Hannah Pimley 17); Assists 16 (Jourdon Han 9); Aces 12 (Kaila Warren 7); Digs 24 (Maia Aageson 6, Warren 6); Blocks 7 (Pimley 3);
Big Sandy - Kills 25 (Shalayna Pearson 9); Assists 17 (Kacy Herron 10); Aces 5 (Mikki Hammons 5); Digs 36 (S. Pearson 7); Blocks 9 (Raynee Pearson 5);
Sunburst def. KG
25-16, 25-20, 25-17
(Loser-out)
Sunburst - Kills 29 (Rachel Kleinert 11); Assists 25 (Rachel Schulze 13); Aces 18 (Kendra Hovland 11); Digs 28 (Jessi Wallewein 8, Kleinert 8); Blocks 3 (Wallewein 2);
KG - Kills 14 (Natasha Dyrland 8); Assists 13 (Shea Haugen 9); Aces 13 (Kendra Donoven 4); Digs 25 (Jodi Norman 10); Blocks 6 (Norman 5);
Chester def. Blue Sky/J-I
25-21, 23-25, 25-9, 25-23
(Semifinal)
Chester - Kills 38 (Shawnee Norick 16); Assists 29 (Keyla Wendland 11); Aces 13 (Chelsea Stokes 3, Joanna LaSorte 3); Digs 55 (Norick 12); Blocks 13 (Brianne Wolfe 6);
Blue Sky/J-I - Kills 38 (Hannah Pimley 18); Assists 31 (Megan Warren 16); Aces 7 (Kim Patrick 2, Warren 2); Digs 38 (Patrick 9); Blocks 13 (Pimley 4, Jourdon Han 4);
Big Sandy def. Box Elder
score unavailable
(Loser-out)
Big Sandy - Kills 23 (Raynee Pearson 7, Naomi Williams 7); Assists 21 (Kacy Herron 8); Aces 13 (Williams 5); Digs 4 (Four with 1); Blocks 1 (Shalayna Pearson 1);
Box Elder - Kills 9 (Tasha Parisian 5); Assists 6 (Ashley Parisian 3); Aces 12 (T. Parisian 5); Digs 39 (A. Parisian 11); Blocks 1 (Helen Russette 1);
SATURDAY
Sunburst def. Big Sandy
18-25, 25-16, 25-16, 20-25, 15-12
(Big Sandy finishes fourth)
Sunburst - Kills 41 (Rachel Kleinert 16); Assists 31 (Kendra Hovland 16); Aces 8 (Hovland 3); Digs 38 (Raynee Pace 11); Blocks 7 (Cherry Tomsheck 4);
Big Sandy - Kills 39 (Raynee Pearson 10); Assists 23 (Mikki Hammons 10); Aces 5 (no leader); Digs 72 (Hammons 16); Blocks 15 (Shalayna Pearson 6);
Blue Sky/J-I def. Sunburst
25-22, 25-20, 25-13
(Sunburst finshes third)
Blue Sky/J-I - Kills 27 (Kim Patrick 9); Assists 22 (Megan Warren 10); Aces 8 (Kaila Warren 3, M. Warren 3); Digs 28 (K. Warren 6, Jourdon Han 6); Blocks 6 (K. Warren 3);
Sunburst - Kills 24 (Rachel Kleinert 10); Assists 19 (Kendra Hovland 12); Aces 4 (Four with 1); Digs 29 (Kleinert 8); Blocks 5 (Jessi Wallewein 2, Kleinert 2);
Chester def. Blue Sky/J-I
25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 21-25, 15-8
(Championship)
Chester - Kills 65 (Shawnee Norick 36); Assists 49 (Joanna LaSorte 28); Aces 5 (LaSorte 2); Digs 84 (LaSorte 21); Blocks 15 (Brianne Wolfe 8);
Blue Sky/J-I - Kills 37 (Hannah Pimley 12); Assists 30 (Jourdon Han 14); Aces 7 (Kaila Warren 3); Digs 59 (Pimley 17); Blocks 15 (Pimley 7);
