The high school volleyball season officially came to an end for a pair of area schools Friday night in Rudyard.

    Both the District 6C East Chester/J-I

North Star's Melissa Pester (right) reaches out to make a dig during a first-round Northern C volleyball match Thursday afternoon at the North Star Gym in Rudyard. The Knights lost to Fort Benton on Thursday and Simms on Friday, while Chester/J-I was alos knocked out of the tournament by Simms on Friday night.

    Simms first took out the host Knights in a loser-out match Friday afternoon. The Tigers ended the Knights’ season by scores of 26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 22-25 and  15-11 in a five-set thriller. Behind a huge home crowd, North Star rallied from a 2-0 deficit, but the Tigers had just enough left in the tank to pull ahead in the fifth set.

    North Star senior Shelby Lipp had a huge final match, totaling 10 kills, 10 digs and five blocks. Bettie Carlon had 15 assists and Brandi Crittenden added four aces.

    And the Tigers were just getting started. In the next loser-out match, Simms took out rival Chester/J-I by scores of 25-12, 25-16 and 25-21. Simms and C/J-I had a long-standing rivalry in the 6C West, before the Hawks moved this season.

    In their last match of the year, the Hawks got three kills from Megan Han, while Jenni Ghekiere had six digs and two blocks.

    C/J-I’s Northern C run started off strong as the Hawks took care of Augusta in a three-game sweep in Thursday’s first round. The Hawks beat the Elks by scores of 25-20, 25-11 and 25-18. Ghekiere six kills and a block in the win while Jocelyn Woods added five digs and Sadie Brown had 11 assists.

    In the winner’s bracket however, the Hawks ran into perhaps the top team in all of Class C volleyball, the Belt Huskies. On Thursday night, the Huskies downed the Hawks by scores of 25-14, 25-11 and 25-13. In the loss, C/J-I got seven kills and 11 digs from Ghekiere, as well as 10 assists by Nikole Wolfe and four blocks from Kate Graff.

    North Star’s tournament began with a tough, four-game loss to Fort Benton on Thursday afternoon. The Longhorns beat the Knights by scores of 25-19, 23-26, 30-28 and 25-18, as the Knights really played well in the second and third sets.

    Lipp totaled 10 kills and both Lisa and Bettie Carlon dished out 11 assists. Whitney Wendland added 11 digs in the loss.

    Belt went on to beat rival Geraldine in Saturday night’s championship match in Rudyard. Fort Benton placed third after losing to Geraldine on Saturday afternoon. That made the top three spots filled by all teams from District 8C. Belt and Geraldine will now move on to this week’s Class C state tournament in Bozeman.

Thursday

Chester/J-I def Augusta

25-20, 25-11, 25-18

C/J-I — Kills 21 (Jenni Ghekiere 6), Assists 16 (Sadie Brown 11), Aces 18 (Nikole Wolfe 6), Digs 17 (Jocelyn Woods 5), Blocks 2 (Gherkiere).

Augusta — Kills 8 (Lydia Pitnam 5), Assists 8 (Makala McDonough 7), Digs 17 (Putnam 6), Blocks 1 (Kendall Patch).

Fort Benton def. North Star

25-19, 23-26, 30-28, 25-18

North Star — Kills 28 (Shelby Lipp 10), Assists 23 (Lisa Carlon 11, Bette Carlon 11), Aces 9 (Brandi Crittenden 3), Digs 38 (Whitney Wendland 11), Blocks 5 (Melissa Pester 3).

Fort Benton — Kills 30 (Miranda Evans 13), Assists 27 (Molly Bailey 19), Aces 10 (Bailey 3, Kinsey Claassen 3), Digs 30 ( Bailey Hulme 6), Blocks 9 (Evans 4).

Belt def. Chester/J-I

25-14, 25-11, 25-13

Belt — Kills 27 (Katie Fertterer 9), Assists 21 (Josie Stinson 20), Aces 5 (Hannah Croff 3), Digs 16 (Fertterer 5), Blocks 4.

C/J-I — Kills 15 (Jenni Gherkiere 7), Assists 14 (Nikole Wolfe 10), Aces 4 (Kate Graff 2), Digs 37 (Ghekiere 11), Blocks 7 Graff 4).

Friday

Simms def. North Star

26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 22-25, 15-11 (lo)

North Star — Killls 29 (Shelby Lipp 10); assists 26 (Bettie Carlon 15); aces 14 (Brandi Crittenden 4); digs 37 (Shelby Lipp 10); blocks 11 (Shelby Lipp5).

Simms  — Kills 29 (Cheyenne Lapke 10); assists 29 (Katelyn Lapke 29); aces 9 (Hollee Meek 2, Kendrah Sodergren 2, Cheyenne Lapke 2, Bridgette Olsen 2); digs 11 (Kendrah Sodergren 4); blocks 5 (Cheyenne Lapke 2).

Simms def. Chester/J-I (lo)

25-12, 25-16, 25-21

C/J-I  — Kills 13 (Megan Han 3); assists 12 (Sadie Brown 6, Nikole Wolfe 6); aces 6 (Brittnee Theel 2, Kate Graff 2); digs 16 (Jenni Ghekiere 6); blocks 3 (Jenni Ghekiere 2).

Simms — Kills 22 (Bailee Lapke 11); assists 21 (Katelyn Lapke 20); aces 17 (Hollee Meek 6, Cheyenne Lapke 5); digs 31 (Hollee Meek 6, Kendrah Sodergren 6); blocks 8 (Hollee Meek 3, Bailee Lapke 3).

Saturday

Geraldine def. Fort Benton (3rd)

25-17, 25-15, 25-16

Fort Benton — Kills 14 (Miranda Evans 5); assists 7 (Molly Bailey 5); aces 3 (Molly Bailey 2); digs 17 (Molly Bailey 4, Katy Allen 4); blocks 8 (Molly Bailey 2, Miranda Evans 2, Bailey Hulme 2).

Geraldine — Kills 32 (Alexandra Rowland 14); assists 26 (Raymie Burtchett 16); aces 13 (Korbin Duvall 4); digs 56 (Heather Wishman 20); blocks 18 (Heather Wishman 12).

Belt def. Geraldine (Championship)

26-24, 25-21, 20-25, 25-17

Geraldine — Kills 50 (Alexandra Rowland 18): assists 37 (Tayler Duvall 19); aces 9 (Elaina Juedeman 2, Raymi Burtchett 2, Heather Wishman 2); digs 40 (Brielle McKinlay 10); blocks 24 (Heather Wishman 13).

Belt — Kills 34 (Katie Fertterer 9); assists 33 (Josie Stinson 32); aces 17 (Katie Fertterer 8); digs 48 (Katie Fertterer 11); blocks 3 (Kelsey Permann 3).