Seasons come to end for Hi-Line volleyball teams

The season came to a close for several local Hi-Line volleyball teams as divisional tournament play wrapped up this weekend.

At the Northern C Divisional tournament in Belt, the Sunburst Refiners captured first place by defeating the host Belt Huskies in a dramatic five game match Saturday night. The Refiners dropped the first two games of the match by scores of 23-25 and 26-28 before rallying to win the next three by scores of 25-19, 25-11 and 15-9.

Standout hitter Carly Kleinert racked up 40 kills and five blocks in the championship match for the Refiners. Desiree Overcast had 30 assists and Amanda Nagy chipped in with 21 assists in the victory. As a team the Refiners had 62 kills in the final tilt.

Sunburst reached the final round by defeating Dutton-Brady earlier in the day by scores of 25-14, 25-22, 16-25 and 25-14. Belt had previously defeated Dutton-Brady in the third-place match. The Refiners and Huskies now advance to this weekends Class C state tournament in Lewistown.

Saturday marked the end of the season for the Chester Coyotes as they fell to Belt in loser-out play by scores of 25-20, 23-25, 26-24 and 25-14. Courtney Fraser had 10 kills and nine digs in the loss for the Coyotes. Amanda Schlepp had two aces and four blocks.

The Coyotes opened the tournament on Thursday with a first-round victory over Valier by scores of 25-15, 25-14 and 25-12. That victory moved Chester into Friday morning's quarterfinal match against Dutton-Brady. The Coyotes fell in three straight games in that match by scores of 25-19, 25-18 and 25-22. Meaghan Kraft and Fraser led the way for the Coyotes with three kills a piece.

Following that match the Coyotes moved into loser-out play and faced off against district rival Big Sandy. The Coyotes downed the Pioneers ending Big Sandy's season. Amanda Schlepp had five kills and five digs in the victory. The Pioneers were led by Shana Davis's eight kills and four service aces. Morgan Louvar added eight blocks in the loss.

Before being knocked out of the tournament by Chester, the Pioneers opened play on Thursday with a loss to Belt by scores of 25-12, 25-15 and 27-25. That moved the Pioneers into a Friday morning loser-out match with Highwood. In that match, Big Sandy prevailed in five games by scores of 25-17, 16-25, 25-17, 15-25 and 16-14. Louvar led the Pioneers in the victory with 14 kills and eight blocks.

The KG KouGars season also ended this weekend as they dropped a pair of games in the tournament. On Thursday, the KouGars fell in the opening round to Dutton-Brady by scores of 25-17, 25-15 and 27-25. KG was led by Emily Stewart with eight kills, six blocks and six aces.

In loser-out play on Friday morning, the KouGars were knocked out of the tournament by the Valier Panthers by scores of 25-20, 25-20 and 25-17. KG was paced by Stewart's nine blocks and four aces. Cady Arifin also had six kills and seven digs in the loss.