George Ferguson
Havre Daily News Sports Editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
The Chester/J-I Hawks and the Chinook Sugarbeeters have had some great volleyball matches in 2005. But Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Northern C divisional volleyball tournament in Chinook, the two teams waged a battle for the ages.
For the Beeters, Thursday's five-game win over the Hawks was a comeback for the ages. The Beeters fell behind the Hawks two games to none before rallying to win the final three games of the match by scores of 25-23, 25-20 and 15-5. The Hawks took the first two games by scores of 25-19 and 25-17.
Morgan Obie paced the Beeters' comeback efforts with a season-high 11 kills and added five of the Beeters' 17 aces.
Brianne Wolfe did all she could to help the Hawks' cause in the match, totaling 11 kills and five blocks. Hannah Pimley added 20 digs and five aces.
The Beeters' win over the Hawks moved them within one win of securing a berth in the Class C state tournament. They will square off against top-seed Great Falls Central tonight at 6 p.m. in the winner's bracket semifinal.
The Mustangs had little trouble with Big Sandy in the first quarterfinal match Thursday night. GFC dispatched the Pioneers in three games, by scores of 25-21, 25-18 and 25-18.
Both teams had to survive first-round scares in the morning. The Pioneers outlasted Dutton-Brady in five games, by scores of 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 19-25 and 15-9.
In the win, the Pioneers got eight kills apiece from Jessica Amsbaugh and Shersteen Cline. Amsbaugh added five aces and Cline had three blocks. Meanwhile, the top-ranked Mustangs had to win a fifth game in order to knock off Valier in the tournament's opening round. GFC downed the surprising Panthers by scores of 16-25, 25-17, 25-5, 23-25 and 15-13.
In other first-round matches, Chester/J-I swept Highwood, by scores of 25-16, 25-13 and 25-21, while the Beeters took care of Belt, by scores of 25-20, 25-15 and 25-23.
The Hawks were aided in their opening-round win by Wolfe's nine kills and six blocks. The Beeters got nine kills from Georgia Barber and 25 assists from Crystal Roseberry in their easy victory over the Huskies.
Chester/J-I and Big Sandy both drop into the loser-out bracket this afternoon. the Hawks will await the winner of this morning's loser-out match between Valier and Dutton-Brady. Big Sandy will face the winner of the Belt/Highwood loser-out match.
The Northern C divisional tournament will continue through Saturday afternoon in Chinook.
Northern C Divisional
at Chinook
First Round
Great Falls Central def. Valier
16-25, 25-17, 25-5, 23-25, 15-13
GFC - Kills 44 (Carolyn Gerschwell 20), Aces 18 (Gerschwell 9), Digs 103 (Reanne Heavy Runner 22), Blocks 15 (Gerschwell 10), Assists 36 (Heavy Runner 36).
Valier - Kills 32 (Aisha Snyder 16), Aces 2 (Maranda Laverdure 1), Digs 67 (Laverdure 15), Blocks 13 (Snyder 4), Assists 29 (Laverdure 23).
Big Sandy def. Dutton-Brady
25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-9
Dutton-Brady - Kills 32 (Ashlee johnson 9), Aces 10 (Ashton Gondiero 3, Carissa Storle 3), Digs 49 (Kayla Bokma 12), Blocks 21 (Johnson 11), assists 26 (Mandy Dutton 13).
Big Sandy - Kills 34 (Jessica Amsbaugh 8, Shersteen Cline 8), Aces 16 (amsbaugh 5), Digs 54 (Kacy Herron 12), Blocks 4 (Cline 3), Assists 28 (Herron 28).
Chester/J-I def. Highwood
25-16, 25-13, 25-21
Chester/J-I - Kills 21 (Brianne Wolfe 9), Aces 12 (Keyla Briese 7), Digs 31 (Chelsie Stokes 10), Blocks (Wolfe 6), Assists 27 (Amanda Violett 9, Briese 9).
Highwood - Kills 18 (Whitney Baum 11), Aces 2 (Jamie Hartman 1), Digs 25 (Baum 13), Blocks 1 (Rachel Semansky 1), Assists 18 (Hartman 9).
Chinook def. Belt
25-20, 25-14, 25-23
Belt - Kills 22 (Aliece Wichman 6), Aces 11 (wichman 4), Digs 35 (Jessica Golden 9), Blocks 6 (Wichman 6), assists 14 (Golden 9).
Chinook - Kills 33 (Georgia Barber 9), Aces 10 (Morgan Obie 3), Digs 52 (Gen Burkhartsmeyer 14), Blocks 7 (Dawn Kellam 2), Assists 30 (Crystal Roseberry 25).
Quarterfinals
Chinook def. Chester/J-I
19-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-5
Chinook - Kills 43 (Morgan Obie 11), Aces 17 (Obie 5), Digs 64 (Crystal Roseberry 14), Blocks 11 (Georgia Barber 5), Assists 37 (Roseberry 34).
Chester/J-I - Kills 33 (Brianne Wolfe 11), Aces 15 (Hannah Pimley 5), Digs 59 (Pimley 20), Blocks 11 (Wolfe 5), Assists 26 (Keyla Briese 10).
Great Falls Central def. Big Sandy
25-21, 25-18, 25-18
GFC - Kills 29 (Carolyn Gerschwell 14), Aces 16 (Kathleen Gerschwell 8), Digs 62 (Carolyn Gerschwell 20), Blocks (Carolyn Gerschwell 11), Assists 21 (Raenne Heavy Runner 19).
Big Sandy - Kills 24 (Jessica Amsbaugh 7, Shersteen Cline 7), Aces 6 (Kacy Herron 2), Digs 29 (Sarah Yirsa 7), Blocks 2 (Naomi Williams 1, Cline 1), Assists 21 (Herron 20).
