Hi-Line Volleyball Roundup: Beeters, Knights pick up key 6C wins

District play is in full swing now, and the local volleyball scene saw plenty of action last week.

Things got started last Tuesday when Rocky Boy dropped a District 1B home match to Fairfield, by scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 27-25. The Morning Stars, who got five kills and four blocks from Jaylynn Mitchell, played tough in every set, but just couldn’t get over the hump.

Thursday, the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks continued their hot start to District 6C play with two wins over Hays-Lodge Pole. In the first match, the Hawks beat the Thunderbirds by scores of 25-3, 25-8 and 25-10, with Kim Ghekiere recording six kills and Payton Hawks racking up 13 aces and 11 assists. The Hawks also swept the T-Birds a second time, by scores of 25-6, 25-6 and 25-16. Ghekiere had 11 kills in the win.

It was a tough weekend for the Harlem Wildcats, as they were swept by Malta Thursday night, by scores of 25-22, 25-4 and 25-23. Taesha Schaffer had seven assists and four aces for the Wildcats. Harlem was also swept by Glasgow Saturday night in another District 2B match.

Chinook got two important 6C wins over the weekend however. The Sugarbeeters beat Big Sandy by scores of 25-12, 25-12 and 25-10 Friday night. Sierra Swank had seven assists, five aces and nine digs for Chinook, while Lainey Gregory had eight assists and Jessica Roth added two aces for the Pioneers.

The Beeters made it 2-0 on Saturday with a sweep of HLP. Chinook downed the T-Birds by scores of 25-3, 25-10 and 25-6, with Kourtney Hanson totaling four kills and two blocks, while Rachel Gunderson served 14 aces.

Big Sandy stepped out of conference play to take on Northern C powerhouse Belt Saturday night, and the Huskies were just too much as they defeated the Pioneers 25-16, 25-15 and 25-10. Jaylynn Cline had seven kills and two aces and Lainey Gregory had 11 assists in the loss for the Pioneers.

In Class B action, Rocky Boy suffered its second 1B loss of the week, when the Morning Stars were swept by Cut Bank Saturday night. The Wolves beat the Morning Stars by scores of 25-15, 25-21 and 25-16. Sean Henry totaled four kills, two aces and one block for Rocky Boy.

Finally Saturday night, rivals North Star and CJI met in a key 6C showdown in Rudyard. And while the Hawks continued their strong play early on, the Knights were too tough at home. North Star handed CJI its first conference loss, by scores of 24-26, 25-16, 25-22 and 25-15.

Tuesday

Fairfield def. Rocky Boy

25-22, 25-22, 27-25

Fairfield — Kills 18 (Chesney Rogers 4, Hailey Mills 4), Blocks 6 (Mills 3), Aces 12 (Rogers 5), Digs 35 (Taylor Simmons 8), Assists 15 (Alexis McWilliams 7)

Rocky Boy — Kills 13 (Jaylynn Mitchell 5, Sean Henry 4), Blocks 8 (Mitchell 5), Aces 5 (Tessa Big Knife 4), Digs 5 (Henry 4), Assists 12 (Kristen LaMere 4)

Thursday

CJI d. Hays-Lodge Pole

25-3, 25-8, 25-10 (Match 1)

Hays-Lodgepole – no stats available

CJI – Kills 18 (Kim Ghekiere 6), Assists 15 (Peyton Hawks 11), Aces 32 (Hawks 13), Digs 10 (Kayona Fraser 4.

CJI d. Hays-Lodge Pole

25-6, 25-6, 25-16 (Match 2)

Hays-Lodge Pole – no stats available.

CJI – Kills 26 (Ghekiere 11), Assists 19 (Hawks 18), Aces 26 (Hawks 11), Digs 9 (Fraser 3).

Malta d. Harlem

25-22, 25-4, 25-23

Harlem – Kills 14 (Eleesha Bell 5) Assists 12 (Taesha Schaeffer 7), Aces 7 (Schaeffer 4), Digs 40 (Raegan Conlan 7) Blocks 3 (Bell 3).

Malta – Kills 22 (Ella Schye 5), Assists 20 (Sam Mitchelle 15), Aces 19 (Khloe Marks 7), Digs 36 (Schye 8), Blocks 6 (Schye 2).

Friday

Chinook d. Big Sandy

25-12, 25-12, 25-10

Big Sandy – Kills 9 (four with two each), Assists 8 (Lainey Gregory 8), Aces 4 (Jessica Roth 2), Digs 1 (Stacey Allderice), Blocks 2 (Dakota Terry, Jaylyn Cline).

Chinook – Kills 8 (Megan Molyneaux 3, Kourtney Hanson 3), Assists 8 (Sierra Swank 7), Aces 12 (Swank 5), Digs 32 (Swank 9, Lincy Johnson 9), Blocks 8 (Hanson 4, Rachel Gunderson 4).

Saturday

Chinook def. Hays-Lodge Pole

25-3, 25-10, 25-6

Hays – no stats available.

Chinook – Kills 11 (Kourtney Hanson 4); Aces 29 (Rachel Gunderson 14); Digs 20 (Carrie Hofer 5); Blocks 2 (Hanson 2); Assists 10 (Megan Molyneaux 5).

Cut Bank def. Rocky Boy

25-15, 25-21, 25-16

Rocky Boy - Aces 5 (S. Henry 2); Blocks 2 (S. Henry 1); Kills 8 (S. Henry 4; T. BigKnife 4); Assists 8 (K. LaHere 4); Digs 23 (S. Henry 23).

Cut Bank – Aces 22 (K. Larson 7, B. Finstad 6); Kills 19 (M. Seifert 5, M. Barrett 4); Blocks 2 (A. Black 1, B. Finstad 1); Assists 10 (J. SpottedBear 6, M. Barrett 4); Digs 15 (T. DeZort 4, J. SpottedBear 3)

Glasgow def. Harlem

25-16, 25-7, 25-11

Glasgow – Kills 17 (B. Chappell 5); Blocks 5 (J. Kennedy 2); Aces 11 (K. Schmidt 4); Digs 7 (K. Schmidt 3); Assists 15 (R. Glaser 15).

Harlem – no stats available.

Great Falls Central def. Fort Benton

25-15, 25-12, 25-15

Central — Aces 10 (Grace Madill 3), Kills 34 (Bryn Anderson 34), Blocks 4 (Bryan Anderson 2), Digs 42 (Sara Tarum 13), Assists 32 (Grace Madill 28)

Fort Benton — 29 (McKenna Hanford 8, Laura Brinkerhoff 8), Blocks 4 (Abby Clark 2), Aces 1 (Maci Molliano), Kills 8 (McKenzie Clark 3)

Belt def. Big Sandy

25-16, 25-15, 25-10

Belt – Aces 12 (Adrian Malek 4); Kills 39 (Dani Urick 13); Assists 37 (Kolby Pimperton 36); Digs 64 (Urick 13); Blocks 2 (Urick, Swanson).

Big Sandy – Aces 6 (Jaylynn Cline 2, Georgia Wortman 2); Kills 13 (Cline 7); Assists 11 (Lainey Gregory 8); Digs 4 (Dakota Terry 2); Blocks 0.