George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
It was a busy weekend in volleyball action on the Hi-Line as area teams got in plenty of court time prior to the volleyball break for MEA Week in Montana. The action started on Thursday night with the North Stars Knights easily defeating the Box Elder Bears in a District 6C-East match in Box Elder. The Knights beat the Bears by scores of 25-12, 25-10 and 25-16 to win going away. Mariana Jochim had a big match for the Knights, recording nine assists and three service aces. Meanwhile, in 6C-West action, the Chester/J-I Hawks earned a four-game win over Dutton-Brady on Thursday night by scores of 25-18, 25-22, 22-25 and 25-18 to keep pace with Simms in the league standings. Lyndsey Oraw paced the Hawks with 16 digs and nine aces, and as a team, the Hawks racked up a remarkable 22 aces. On Friday night, the Big Sandy Pioneers picked up their first of two wins over the weekend. In Big Sandy, the Pioneers rolled over HLP by scores of 25-21, 25-16 and 25-16 in an important 6C-East match. Suzy Faber had seven kills and four digs in the win for Big Sandy, and Quartnee Owen added 10 aces. Friday night in Chinook, the Chinook Sugarbeeters dropped their second straight match, having already lost to Class B Malta on Thursday night. On Friday, the Beeters fell to Valier by scores of 25-20, 20-25, 25-23 and 26-24 in a hard-fought match. Chinook got five kills and five assists form Kelsie Hanson in the loss. Alyssa Brown chipped in with 30 digs. In nonconference Northern C action on Friday night, the North Star Knights and Chester/J-I Hawks renewed an old rivalry in Rudyard with C/J-I coming out on top by scores of 26-24, 17-25, 25-20 and 25-22. Lyndsey Oraw paced C/J-I with a match-high 14 kills and Lexi Lybeck added 24 assists and eight aces. North Star was led by Jordan Spicher with five aces and five digs. Saturday's action saw Chinook rebound after two tough losses by taking it to Box Elder in three quick games. The Beeters beat the Bears by scores of 25-18, 25-11 and 25-10. Kelsey Buhmann had 12 kills to lead the Beeters, while Arielle Wolf Chief had six aces, two kills and five digs for the Bears. Big Sandy stayed hot on Saturday. The Pioneers were at home again, and this time, they beat Rocky Boy by scores of 25-23, 25-10 and 25-22. Josi Herron had 23 assists and Mariah Gullickson added four digs for the Pioneers. DaiShawn Whitford paced Rocky Boy with 11 digs and five kills. Meanwhile, Saturday also saw Harlem fall to Plentywood by scores of 25-16, 25-6 and 25-19 in Harlem. The Wildcats were coming in off a win over Rocky Boy on Thursday night. Harlem beat the Morning Stars by scores of 16-25, 25-8, 25-10 and 25-17 on Thursday night, and the Wildcats got five aces and 17 digs form Jessica Horn in the victory. Rocky Boy was paced in the loss by Apryl Webster's five aces and three digs. Because of the short week, the volleyball action continued on Monday night with several matches on the Hi- Line. Playing its fourth match in four days, Chinook went to HLP and beat the Thunderbirds by scores of 25-6, 25-11 and 25-16. In Rocky Boy Monday night, North Star beat the Morning Stars by scores of 25-22, 26-24 and 25-18, and in Sunburst, the host Re- finers downed C/J-I in an important 6C-West match by scores of 25-12, 25-9 and 25-7. Big Sandy and Chinook lead in the 6C-East standings heading into the break. North Star and Rocky Boy are in the middle of the pack and Box Elder and HLP are at the bottom of the conference standings. In the 6C-West, Simms and Sunburst are on top, followed by C/J-I. There are more matches on the Hi-Line tonight, and then teams will take the weekend off for MEA week in Montana. There are just four weeks left in the regular season.
