George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
Chester was the site of some exciting volleyball this weekend on the Hi-Line, as the undefeated Hawks played host to North Star on Thursday night and the C/J-I Showcase on Saturday. On Thursday night in Chester, the Hawks picked up an important Northern C win over the District 6C East leader, North Star. C/J-I opened the match with resounding wins in games one and two by scores of 25-15 and 25-13 to take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Knights, who have played excellent volleyball as of late, fought back in the third game with a 25-22 victory, but the Hawks proved to be too much at home, winning game four by the score of 25-22 to finish the match. Jessica VanDyke had 26 kills to lead all players, and Lexi Lybeck served up five aces for the Hawks. North Star got 11 kills from Natasha Dyrland, as well as four blocks. Brittni Dyrland added seven aces and four blocks in the fourgame loss. On Friday night, the Knights couldn’t rebound form their loss to C/J-I as they found themselves on the losing end of a three-game sweep at Big Sandy. The Pioneers, who trailed the Knights in the 6C East standings, trounced the Knights by scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-20, avenging a loss to North Star last week. Shersteen Cline had a huge allaround match for Big Sandy, racking up 14 kills, five aces and three blocks, while Natasha Dyrland led the Knights with nine kills, four blocks and two aces. Friday night also saw Harlem continue to struggle in Class B play, as the Wildcats fell to Shelby by scores of 25-7, 25-10 and 25-10. Harlem had trouble getting anything going offensively, but the Wildcats did get three kills from Shelby McCann and seven assists from Erika Longknife in the loss. Saturday’s main even was back in Chester where the Hawks host their annual volleyball showcase. Besides the host Hawks, the tournament featured two other Hi-Line powers in Chinook and Big Sandy, as well as Northern C contenders Highwood, Simms and Sunburst. The tourney started with two-game pool play where the Hawks went 4-0, while Chinook and Big Sandy both went 3-1. All three teams had good enough records to join undefeated Highwood in the semifinals. The first semifinal matched rivals C/J-I and Chinook together, and it was the Sugarbeeters who bested the Hawks 2-1. Chinook got three kills and two blocks from Kayla Dugan while Cheyanne Hamilton helped the Beeters advance to the championship match with six digs. Jessica VanDyke paced C/J-I 12 kills, two blocks and two aces in the loss. In the other semifinal, Northern C frontrunner Highwood took care of Big Sandy in two quick games to move into the final match. The Pioneers were led by Courtney Danreuther who had three aces, while Shertseen Cline added four kills, six digs and two blocks. And Highwood continued to roll in the title match, beating Chinook by the scores of 25-21 and 25-17 to take the showcase title. In the loss, the Beeters got three kills and three assists form Brittany MacLean, and Krista Johnson added 11 digs. Saturday also saw Hays-Lodge Pole lose a pair of nonconference matches to Whitewater. All of the Hi-Line teams in the District 6C will get back to conference play this week.
