Chester hands Blue Sky first conference loss; Chinook upset by Glasgow

CHESTER - The District 6C volleyball race just got a little more interesting. Behind strong serving, the Chester Coyotes knocked-off the conference-leading Blue Sky Eagles, 25-20, 25-17, 25-23, to move into a tie atop the 6C standings with 11-1 conference records.

After falling to the Eagles in five games on Sept. 23, the Coyotes came out, on senior night, hungry for a win.

"The girls really wanted this win," said Chester head coach Kristie Pulst. "Ever since we got beat by them earlier, we've kind of looked toward this match."

The match was eerily similar to the first matchup in Rudyard.

Like the previous match, Chester won the first two games and was up comfortably in game three looking for the sweep. And also like the first match, Blue Sky fought back to make things interesting. Down 10-2, the Eagles tied up game three at 10 on two kills from Kaila Warren and a stuff block from Lindsay Anderson.

The two teams battled for the remainder of the game with Chester taking a 23-18 lead on an ace by Courtney Fraser. An Eagle miscomunication on the ensuing serve gave Chester match point at 24-18.

But the Coyotes couldn't put Blue Sky away. Chester made a few mistakes and the Eagles got a kill from Anderson, an ace from Katie Hauser and a block from Jourdon Han pull within one at 24-23. However, Hauser's subsequent serve was wide, giving Chester the match.

"I was just a little nervous at the end there," Pulst said. "We had the chance to win in three in Blue Sky and didn't and had them come back and beat us in five. We wanted to win it in three."

While Chester played with intensity and emotion from the opening serve, Blue Sky picked the wrong game and wrong place to have a sub-par performance.

"We were flat the whole time," said Blue Sky head coach Jen Dahlke. "There really isn't any excuse for it. We were letting balls drop that we shouldn't, setting them more than ourselves and not getting our serves in. Chester was ready to play from the very get go."

In a matchup of two good teams, something as simple as serving can easily make the difference. Chester served a perfect 100 percent along with 10 aces, while Blue Sky's serve percentage was at best in mid 80s.

"This is the first time we've served 100 percent all year," Pulst said. "Normally, we make too many serving mistakes. Normally, we'll miss 15 to 25 points in match because our serving. Against a team like Blue Sky you can't do that, we stressed it big time. It kind of took their offense out of sync and they made some mistakes that helped us."

Said Dahlke: "We're usually right around 90 percent. We can't make those kind of mistakes against any team. You really can't do that against teams like Chester."

Shawnee Norick led Chester with seven kills and seven blocks while Keyla Wendland dished out 13 assists and had three aces. Courtney Fraser also chipped in with six kills and three aces.

Blue Sky was paced by the duo of Anderson and Warren, who combined for 21 kills. Anderson added eight digs and a block while Megan Warren and Holly Haas combined for 12 assists.

Because Chester beat Blue Sky in three games instead of five, the Coyotes would take the 6C title via tiebreaker, if both teams finish with identical records.

Both teams will wrap up their regular seasons with matches against J-I and Sunburst. While both should win out, there are no guarantees and no room for letdowns.

"We can't afford to overlook our other two opponents," Pulst said.

Dahlke and the Eagles need to win out and hope for a Chester slip-up to win the conference.

"The girls want a conference title," Dahlke said. "Blue Sky hasn't had in one in a few years. This isn't a bad loss for us. We won't be going into the tournament thinking we have it made. The losses mean less during the season. We've told them not to worry so much about the season losses and worry more about tournament losses."

In other Hi-Line action, the Chinook Sugarbeeters were upset by the Glasgow Scotties on Saturday. It is Chinook's first loss in District 2B action.

Chester def. Blue Sky

25-20, 25-19, 25-23

Blue Sky - Kills 24 (Lindsay Anderson 13, Kaila Warren), Assists 16 (Megan Warren 6, Holly Haas 6), Digs 21 (Anderson 8, M. Warren 7), Blocks 9 (Jourdon Han 3, Anderson 1).

Chester - Kills 24 (Shawnee Norick 7, Courtney Fraser 6), Assists 23 (Keyla Wendland 13, JoAnna LaSorte 10), Aces 10 (Wendland 3, Fraser 3, Mary DeVries 3), Digs 21 (Brianne Wolfe), Blocks 30 (Shawnee Norick 7, Shyann Norick 4).

THURSDAY

Blue Sky def. Kremlin-Gildford

25-17, 25-16, 25-20

Blue Sky - Kills 22 (Kaila Warren 12), Aces 10 (Katie Hauser 3), Assists 17 (Megan Warren 4), Blocks 4 (Lindsay Anderson 2), Digs 19 (Megan Warren 7).

KG - Kills 10 (Cady Arifin 6), Aces 6 (Whitney Hanson 3), Assists 30 (Janine Jorgenson 14), Blocks 7 (Arifin 3), Digs 26 (Casie Toner 7).

Box Elder def. Joplin-Inverness

15-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 19-17

Box Elder - Kills 34 (Tasha Parisian 15), Aces 7 (Codi Raining Bird 3), Assists 14 (Connie Menard 17), Blocks 3 (Tori Belcourt 2), Digs 58 (Raining Bird 18).

J-I - Kills 42 (Katie O'Neil 15), Aces 16 (Hannah Pimley 5), Assists 24 (Amanda Miller 9), Blocks 6 (O'Neil 3), Digs 79 (Miller 18).

J-I def. Rocky Boy

25-19, 11-25, 17-25, 25-21, 15-7

J-I - Kills 25 (Katie O'Neil 14), Assists 18 (Herdina 11), Aces 11 (O'Neil 4), Digs 42 (Miller 16), Blocks 4 (O'Neil 3).

Rocky Boy - Kills 40, Assists 33, Aces 30, Digs 36, Blocks 7.

FRIDAY

Chinook def. Harlem

25-23, 25-19, 25-16

Chinook - Kills 28 (Whitney Lybeck 9), Assists 22 (Andrea Eslick 15), Aces 7 (Janice Wass 3), Digs 67 (Monica Thackeray 14), Blocks 6 (Kayla Erskine 2, Georgia Barber 2).

Harlem - Kills 18 (Megan Walls 8), Assists 15 (Terra Fuzesy 5, Rhawnee Gilham 5), Aces 8 (Kelly Talks Different 2, Fuzesy 2, Gilham 2), Digs 53 (Fuzesy 15), Blocks 1 (Walls 1).

Chester def. KG

25-12, 23-25, 25-14, 25-16

Chester - Kills 39 (Courtney Fraser 10), Assists 35 (JoAnna LaSorte 15, Keyla Wendland 15), Aces 14 (Brianne Wolfe 4), Digs Not reported, Blocks 14 (Fraser 5).

KG- Kills 15 (Cady Arifin 9), Assists 39 (Heidi Donoven 20), Aces 10 (Whitney Hanson 4), Digs 46 (Hanson 12), Blocks 7.

Sunburst def. Box Elder

25-15, 25-20, 25-18

Sunburst - Kills 35 (Gillund 13), Assists 34 (Amanda Nagy 24), Aces 17 (Gillund 6), Digs 13 (Rachel Kleinert 4 ), Blocks 4 (Gillund 2).

Box Elder - Kills 13 (T. Parisian 4), Assists 8 (Menard 5), Aces 11 (Rainingbird 9), Digs 45 (Rainingbird 14), Blocks 4 (Belcourt 4).

J-I def. Rocky Boy

25-19, 11-25, 17-25, 25-21, 15-7

J-I - Kills 25 (Katie O'Neil 14), Assists 18 (Herdina 11), Aces 11 (O'Neil 4), Digs 42 (Miller 16), Blocks 4 (O'Neil 3).

Rocky Boy - Kills 40, Assists 33, Aces 30, Digs 36, Blocks 7.

SATURDAY

Sunburst def. Rocky Boy

23-25, 25-19, 25-14, 25-20

Rocky Boy - Kills 15, Assists 15, Aces 11, Digs 25, Blocks 8.

Sunburst - Kills 28 (Cherry Tomscheck 8), Assists 23 (Kendra Hovland 12), Aces 21 (Brianna Gillund 12), Digs 11 (Jenna Tomscheck 5).

Wolf Point def. Harlem

25-20, 25-15, 25-16

Wolf Point - Kills 27 (Rebekah Zilkoski 12), Blocks 15 (Holly Forsness, Jaclyn Sansaver 5), Aces 2 (Forsness, Sansaver), Assists 27 (Stephanie Neubauer 24), Digs 50 (Andrea Hoversland 16).

Harlem - Kills 20 (Megan Walls 9), Blocks 0, Aces 6 (Kelly Talks Different, Terra Fuzesy 2), Assists 16 (Fuzesy 9), Digs 65 (Carly Haluszka 15).

Glasgow def. Chinook

13-25, 25-18, 25-21, 26-24

Chinook - Kills 29 (Whitney Lybeck 9), Blocks 11 (Lybeck 3), Aces 4 (Monica Thackeray 3), Digs 69 (Lybeck 18), Assists 29 (Tiffany Cuerth 18).

Glasgow - Kills 50 (Lacey Gartin 19), Blocks 6 (Tiffany Waters 3), Aces 8 (Alexa Etebart, Tawn Ball 3), Digs 72 (Kelly Hagfeldt 18), Assists 47 (Chelsie Pattison 44).

Blue Sky def. Big Sandy

25-18, 25-14, 25-20

Blue Sky - Kills 46 (K. Warren 7, Anderson 5), Assists 19 (Jourdan Han 8, Holly Haas 4), Aces 9 (K. Warren 4, Kim Patrick 2), Digs 23 (Haas 9, Anderson 5, K. Warren 5 ), Blocks 3 (Warren 2, Anderson 1).

Big Sandy - no statistics available

MONDAY

KG def. Big Sandy

25-19, 25-19, 25-20

KG - Kills 14 (Cady Arifin 7, Casie Toner 3), Assists 42 (Heidi Donoven 21, Janine Jorgenson 21), Aces 14 (Donoven 5, Whitney Hanson 4, Toner 3), Digs 25 (Arifin 8, Hanson 6, Blocks.

Big Sandy - No statistics available