Hi-Line Volleyball Roundup: Perfect weekend for Beeters, Knights

It’s conference time, and soon teams across the Hi-Line, and all over Montana will be battling it out for coveted berths in postseason play. And the conference season really started to heat up this last week.

Last Thursday night, the Chester/J-I Hawks picked up a huge win in the District 6C East. The Big Sandy Pioneers had yet to lose a match this season, but the Hawks went to Big Sandy and earned a four-game victory, beating the Pioneers by scores of 21-25, 25-10, 25-12 and 25-19. After dropping the first set, C/J-I roared back and was pretty dominant the rest of the way.

Madeline Woods tallied seven kills and 1.5 blocks for C/J-I, while Allix Goldhahn had 10 digs and a block. Emma Earl also served up six aces. Big Sandy got three kills from Maddy Reichelt, while Molly Kain had five aces and seven digs.

In Hays Thursday night, the North Star Knights easily defeated the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds in two district matches. Each season, the Knights and Thunderbirds will play both of their scheduled conference matches at one site, and this year, HLP hosted the matchups.

In the first match, the Knights won by scores of 25-12, 25-5 and 25-16. HLP got five digs and a block by Kiara Iron Man. In the second meeting, the Knights won by scores of 25-4, 25-12 and 25-12. Shania Doney had nine digs on the loss for HLP.

Friday night, Chinook took its turn to win an important 6C East match. In Box Elder, the Sugarbeeters defeated the host Box Elder Bears by scores of 25-6, 25-11 and 25-12. Box Elder has shown much improvement this season, but the Bears were no match for the powerful Beeters.

Katelyn Neibauer had six kills, three blocks and nine aces in the Chinook win. Hannah Weber added nine assists. Tyrah Gopher had a match-high 11 kills for the Bears, while Tia Russell had three stuff blocks.

In Class B action Friday night, the Rocky Boy Morning Stars were home to host the Fairfield Eagles, and Rocky Boy struggled. The Eagles won by scores of 25-22, 25-8 and 25-14, behind eight Liz Klinker kills. Rocky Boy got five kills from Ariana Gopher, while Jurnee LaForge totaled four aces and a block.

Things didn’t go much better for the Morning Stars on Saturday. In another 1B match, Cut Bank swept the Morning Stars by scores of 25-7, 25-18 and 25-16. Rocky Boy played better as the match went on, but could never catch the Wolves. Ariana Gopher again totaled four kills, while Rainey Singer had nine digs in the Morning Star loss.

Back in the Class C ranks Saturday, North Star made it a perfect weekend. In Rudyard, the Knights beat Dutton-Brady in a tough three-setter. North Star beat the Diamondbacks by scores of 25-23, 25-17 and 29-27. Sheridan O’Neil tallied 10 kills for the Knights, while Mackenzie Hansen dug up 25 balls and Graysen Spicher had 34 assists. As a team, the Knights were efficient, putting down 36 kills and 14 blocks.

In another big Northern C matchup Saturday night, Chinook proved its prowess. On the road, the Beeters dominated the Fort Benton Longhorns from start to finish. Chinook won the nonconference road match by scores of 25-18, 25-23 and 25-20 as the Beeters remained undefeated on the season. Hannah Weber had 14 of Chinook’s 35 kills. She also served up for aces, while Mariah Swank had 15 assists.

Saturday’s nonconference matches weren’t as easy for Big Sandy or Chester/J-I.

In Big Sandy, the Pioneers were swept by the Highwood Mountaineers by scores of 25-13, 25-5 and 25-19. Highwood is a Northern C favorite this season and the Mountaineers showed why Saturday. In the loss, Big Sandy was paced by Abby Gregory with four kills, while Cheyenne Pegar had four digs.

In Sunburst Saturday night, another Northern C favorite swept the C/J-I Hawks. The host Refiners, who are a 6C West power and a traditional rival of C/J-I’s, beat the Hawks by scores of 25-18, 25-7 and 25-20. Allix Goldhahn tallied three kills, nine digs and two blocks in the match. Erin Wolfe added three service aces.

Thursday

North Star def. Hays-Lodge Pole

25-12, 25-5, 25-16

HLP leaders – Kills 3 (Thomeya Doney 1, Tia Zander 1, Shania Doney 1); assists 3 (Thomeya Doney 3); aces 4 (Tia Zander 1, Thomeya Doney 1, Kiara Iron Man 1, Darrellyn Blackwolf 1); digs 16 (Kiara Iron Man 5); blocks 1 (Kiara Iron Man 1).

North Star leaders – no stats available.

North Star def. Hays-Lodge Pole

25-4, 25-15, 25-12

HLP leaders – Kills 2 (Kiara Iron Man 2); assists 2 (Thomeya Doney 2); aces 5 (Darrellyn Blackwolf 2); digs 25 (Shania Doney 9); blocks 1 (Kiara Iron Man 1).

North Star leaders – no stats available.

Chester/J-I def. Big Sandy

21-25, 25-10, 25-12, 25-19

Big Sandy – Kills 11 (Maddy Reichelt 3), Assists 8 (Cheyenne Johnson 6), Aces 8 (Molly Kain 5), Digs 21 (Kain 7).

C/J-I – Kills 21 (Madeline Woods 7), Assists 15 (Emma Earl 6), Aces 17 (Earl 6). Digs 36 (Allix Goldhahn 10), Blocks 3 (Woods 1.5, Goldhahn 1.5).

Friday

Fairfield def. Rocky Boy

25-22, 25-8, 25-14

Fairfield: Aces 12 (Taleigh Asakson 4), Digs 16 (Asakson 4), Kills 21 (Liz Klinker 8), Assists 21 (Rachel Gibson 9), Blocks 2 (Asakson 1)

Rocky Boy: Aces 9 (Jurnee LaForge 4), Digs 16 (Raniey Singer 10), Kills 11 (Ariana Gopher 5), Assists 10 (Savannah Stump 4), Blocks 2 (LaForge 1)

Chinook def. Box Elder

25-6, 25-11, 25-12

Chinook: Kills 21 (Katelyn Niebauer 6), Blocks 3 (Niebauer 3), Aces 23 (Niebauer 9), Digs 30 (Brooke Nicholson 8), Assists 18 (Hannah Weber 9)

Box Elder: Kills 16 (Tyrah Gopher 11), Blocks 9 (Tia Russell 3), Aces 2 (Kendal Chandler 1), Digs 15 (Nikayla Anderson 3)

Saturday

North Star def. Dutton-Brady

25-33, 25-17, 29-27

Dutton-Brady leaders – Kills 19 (Taylor Reeve 8); assists 17 (Katy Miller 7); aces 8 (Sarah Human 2, Aubree Hitchcock 2); digs 66 (Sarah Human 16); blocks 8 (Davey Thom 2).

North Star leaders – Kills 36 (Sheridan O'Neal 10); assists 36 (Graysen Spicher 34); aces 6 (Sam Pester 2); digs 25 (Mackenzie Hansen 25); blocks 14 (Tylynn Tettig 4).

Sunburst def. Chester/J-I

25-18, 25-7, 25-20

C/J-I leaders – Kills 9 (Allix Goldhahn 3); assists 6 (Emma Earl 5); aces 7 (Erin Wolfe 3); digs35 (Madeline Woods 9, Allix Goldhahn 9, Kristina Dahinden 9); blocks 4 (Allix Goldhahn 2).

Sunburst leaders – Kills 16 (Krista Hauschulz 5); assists 13 (Courtney Lindskog 8); aces 11 (Justine Bye 4); digs 22 (Hannah Hauschulz 14); blocks 0.

Cut Bank def. Rocky Boy

25-7, 25-18, 25-16

Cut Bank: Kills 28 (R. Laird 6), Blocks 4 (D. Dosch 1.5), Digs 15 (M. Dodson 7), Assists 21 (M. VandenBos 10), Aces 12 (A. Kraft 8)

Rocky Boy: Kills 8 (Ariana Gopher 4), Blocks 1 (Jurnee LaForge 1), Digs 19 (Rainey Singer 9), Assists 7 (Juanaya Gamble 4), Aces 6 (Gamble 2, Sean Henry 2)

Chinook def. Fort Benton

25-18, 25-23, 25-20

Chinook leaders – Kills 35 (H. Weber 14); assists 31 (M. Swank 15); aces 11 (H. Weber 4); digs 62 (K. Mathon 15); blocks 11 (K. Neibauer 7).

Fort Benton leaders – Kills 18 (H. Pimperton 6); assists 15 (L. Giles 6, S. Judeman 6); aces 4 (K. Witt 2); digs 40 (H. Pimperton 11); blocks 2 (B. Hulme 1, M. Schumacher 1).

Highwood def. Big Sandy

25-13, 25-5, 25-19

Highwood leaders – Kills 26 (Jorganna Smith 7, Adrian Malek 7); assists 23 (Rosie O'Leary 18); aces 11 (Makae Nack 4); digs 43 (Adrian Malek 8); blocks 2 (Makae Nack 2).

Big Sandy leaders – Kills 6 (Abby Gregory 4); assists 6 (Maddy Reichelt 3); aces 3 (Cheyenna Johnson 1); digs 9 (Cheyenne Pegar 4); blocks 1 (Molly Kain 1).