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Chester wins 6C tournament title; upsets abound

JOPLIN - The District 6C volleyball tournament championship match featured the teams that were supposed to be there. The regular season co-champions - Chester Coyotes and Blue Sky Eagles - met in Saturday night's final as most people expected.

However, when the last ball was served at the J-I gymnasium, it was the remainder of the tournament results that were unexpected. They left some very good teams scratching their heads in dismay and a pair of unlikely squads preparing for next weekend's Northern C Divisional in Chester.

The Coyotes captured the District 6C title with a convincing 25-15, 25-12, 25-23 win over the Eagles.

Chester cruised to easy wins in games one and two, but found itself in a dogfight in game three.

The two teams battled early on with neither taking more than a three-point lead at any time. Blue Sky appeared to have the game in control when it took a 23-19 lead on a spike from Kaila Warren. However, Chester forced a sideout and its lone senior, Courtney Fraser, served up three consecutive aces to tie the game. Fraser served out the remainder of the points to secure the win.

"I wanted the (situation) really bad," Fraser said. "I knew we needed some aces and I tried to get them."

Chester's serving was dominant throughout the match with 23 aces. Fraser, Keyla Wendland and Wolfe each had six apiece. The Coyotes also got five kills, five blocks and 10 digs from Mary DeVries.

The Eagles got three kills, three aces and eight digs from Lindsay Anderson and eight blocks from Kaila Warren in the loss.

Chester head coach Kristi Pulst used an unusual method for the solid serving - bribery.

"I bribed them with Powerade if they served 100 percent," Pulst said. "I'll be buying more than a few of them after this weekend."

It was the second win for Chester over its closet rival on the day as it knocked off Blue Sky 11-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-19 in the semifinals to advance to the title game.

The Eagles absolutely dominated game one of the match, but Chester rebounded as Wendland had 10 kills to lead the rally.

"It was like we were still on the bus," Fraser said. "It took us a game to get going."

"I told the girls we have nothing to lose," Pulst said. "It wasn't a do-or-die situation and to just play like they're capable of. They fired right up after that first game and started playing."

Fraser had 11 digs and a pair of aces while JoAnna LaSorte had 24 assists.

Blue Sky was led by Warren with nine kills and 18 blocks.

The championship was especially sweet considering how inexperienced Chester is this year. Pulst credited Fraser for quality leadership.

"We look toward her for leadership big time," Pulst said. "Our sophomores really followed her lead and played well."

Said Fraser: "It's been tough because they haven't had a lot of varsity experience. They've gotten better with each game and they aren't sophomores anymore. We're all the same. We have six really good hitters that people have to stop."

While the Chester-Blue Sky showdown seemed evident before the tournament, it almost never happened. The Eagles were pushed to five games in the semifinals, outlasting Box Elder 24-26, 25-23, 20-25, 25-8, 15-12 to advance to the championship match.

Box Elder appeared to have some early momentum, going up 2-1. However, Lindsay Anderson opened game four with some solid serving to set the tone. Anderson served the first 13 points as Blue Sky grabbed a 13-0 lead and never looked back. Box Elder's serve-receive woes carried over to the fifth game and the Bears couldn't regain the momentum lost in game four.

However, a third-place finish was more than respectable for the seventh-seeded Bears. Box Elder and eighth-seeded Big Sandy will join Chester and Blue Sky at the divisional tournament next weekend.

Box Elder defeated Big Sandy 25-20, 25-14, 17-25, 25-11 to advance to the semifinal match as Codi Rainingbird had 11 kills, eight digs and five aces in the win.

The unlikely duo of Box Elder and Big Sandy capped a stunning weekend of upsets.

The Bears fell to Blue Sky in the opening round, but rebounded to defeat Rocky Boy and J-I in loser-out action. Rainingbird had nine kills and 10 digs and Connie Menard added 13 assists, 10 digs and four assists in the win over Rocky Boy. Tasha Parisian had nine kills and two blocks to lead the Bears against J-I.

Big Sandy fell to Chester in the opening round, but rallied for three-game wins over KG and Sunburst. The Pearsons, Raynee and Shalayna, put in dominant performances, combining for 32 kills, 25 blocks and seven aces in the two matches. Mikki Hammons dished out 46 assists in the two matches.

While all four teams were excited to qualify for next weekend, none was more so than Chester, which will be competing on its home floor.

"We worked all season for this," Pulst said. "We're really excited to be playing at home. It definitely gives us an advantage."

Fraser expressed her joy a little differently.

"It's awesome," she said. "It's going to be a tough tournament, but it's going to be fun playing at home. It will definitely help us out a lot."

The Northern C Divisional will get under way Thursday at the Chester gymnasium.

District 6C at Joplin

Blue Sky def. Box Elder

25-19, 25-19, 25-19

Blue Sky - Kills 21 (Lindsay Anderson 11), Aces 7 (Kaila Warren, Katy Hauser 2), Assists 23 (Holly Haas 13), Blocks 17 (Kile Patrick, Kaila Warren 5), Digs 33 (Lindsay Anderson 9).

Box Elder - Kills 16 (Ashley Parisian 6), Aces 5 (Loni Belcourt 2), Assists 16 (Connie Menard 12), Blocks 5 (Tasha Parisian 3), Digs 46 (Tori Belcourt 10).

Chester def. Big Sandy

25-21, 25-19, 26-24

Chester - Kills 30 (Courtney Fraser 9), Aces 12 (Brianne Wolfe 5), Assists 30 (JoAnna LaSorte 16), Blocks 10 (Mary DeVries 4), Digs 19 (Fraser 7).

Big Sandy - Kills 18 (Raynee Pearson 5), Aces 6 (Shalayna Pearson 4), Assists 18 (Mikki Hammons 18), Blocks 14 (Pearson 9), Digs 32 (Jessica Amsbaugh 8).

Joplin-Inverness def. Kremlin-Gildford

25-12, 25-16, 25-16

J-I - Kills 23 (Hannah Pimley 7), Aces 23 (Megan Herdina 6), Assists 19 (Herdina 13), Blocks 8 (Katie O'Neil 6), Digs 42 (Amanda Miller 9).

KG - Kills 5 (Cady Arifin 2), Aces 5 (Heidi Donoven 2), Assists 40 (Donoven, Janine Jorgenson 20), Blocks 5 (Arifin, Casie Toner 2), Digs 24 (Arifin 7).

Sunburst def. Rocky Boy

20-25, 25-11, 25-16, 25-20

Sunburst - Kills 46 (Brianna Gillund 11), Aces 23 (Rachel Kleinert 9), Assists 29 (Kendra Hovland 12), Blocks 6 (Cherry Tomsheck 4), Digs 26 (Rachel Kleinert, Jenna Tomsheck, Jessica Somerville 6).

Rocky Boy - Kills 20 (Charmayne Four Colors 14), Aces 17 (Allie Sunchild 5), Assists 9 (CeCe Corcoran 5), Blocks 10 (Alden Denny 4), Digs 12 (Four Colors 4).

FRIDAY

Blue Sky def. Sunburst

26-24, 20-25, 25-27, 25-19, 15-6

Sunburst - Kills 54 (Gillund 16), Aces 10 (Hovland 5), Assists 44 (Nagy 24), Blocks 8 (Gillund 16), Digs 50 (Kleinert 19),

Blue Sky - Kills 36 (Lindsay Anderson 14), Aces 11 (Kim Patrick 3), Assists 36 (Holly Haas 15), Blocks 56 (Kaila Warren 16), Digs 72 (Megan Warren 15),

Big Sandy def. Kremlin-Gildford

25-23, 25-23, 25-17 (loser-out)

KG - Kills 30 (Cady Arifin 12), Aces 7 (Arifin 3), Assists 65 (Janine Jorgenson 40), Blocks 8 (Arifin 4), Digs 27 (Arifin 8),

Big Sandy - Kills 23 (Raynee Pearson 9), Aces 6 (Pearson 3), Assists 23 (Mikki Hammons 20), Blocks 11 (Shalayna Pearson 7), Digs 67 (Sarah Yirsa 16),

Box Elder def. Rocky Boy

22-25, 25-18, 28-16, 25-12 (loser-out)

Rocky Boy - Kills 23 (Marty Stiffarm 9), Aces 13 (Stiffarm 3), Assists 19 (Allie Sunchild 11), Blocks 7 (Charmayne Four Colors 4), Digs 6 (Cole Larsen 20),

Box Elder - Kills 27 (Codi Rainingbird 9), Aces 17 (Connie Menard 4), Assists 16 (Menard 13), Blocks 2 (Tori Belcourt, Tasha Parisian 1), Digs 58 (Menard, Rainingbird, Belcourt, Parisian 10),

Chester def. Joplin-Inverness

25-20, 25-15, 25-11 (winner's bracket)

J-I - Kills 10 (Hannah Pimley 5), Aces 7 (Pimley 6), Assists 7 Megan Herdina 5), Blocks 9 (Katie O'Neil, Pimley 4), Digs 26 (Amanda Moss 8),

Chester - Kills 28 (Mary DeVries 7), Aces 18 (Brianna Wolfe, DeVries 6), Assists 29 (Keyla Wendland 19), Blocks 11 (Shawnee Norick 4), Digs 16 (Norick 6),

Box Elder def. Joplin-Inverness

25-22, 25-19, 25-20 (loser-out)

J-I - Kills 21 (Hannah Pimley 11), Aces 9 (Pimley 5), Assists 16 (Megan Herdina 12), Blocks 7 (Pimley 3), Digs 71 (Amanda Miller 13),

Box Elder - Kills 26 (Tasha Parisian 9), Aces 9 (Codi Raining Bird 5), Assists 19 (Connie Menard 10), Blocks 3 (Parisian 2), Digs 49 (Loni Belcourt 12),

Big Sandy def. Sunburst

28-26, 25-15, 25-15(loser-out)

Sunburst - Kills 27 (Tomsheck 10), Aces 4, Assists 25 (Nagy 16), Blocks 2 (Tomsheck 2), Digs 27 (Somerville 7),

Big Sandy - Kills 30 (Raynee Pearson 11), Aces 7 (Shalayna Pearson, Jessica Amsbaugh 2), Assists 30 (Nikki Hammons 26), Blocks 14 (Raynee Pearson 8), Digs 49 (Raynee Pearson 13),

SATURDAY

Chester def. Blue Sky

11-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-19 (semifinal)

Blue Sky - Kills 23 (Kaila Warren 9), Assists 20 (Jourdon Han 9), Aces 5 (Lindsay Anderson 3), Digs 32 (Kim Patrick 7), Blocks 28 (Warren 18),

Chester - Kills 38 (Keyla Wendland 10), Assists 43 (JoAnna LaSorte 24), Aces 2 (Courtney Fraser 2), Digs 28 (Fraser 11), Blocks 25 (Mary DeVries 9),

Box Elder def. Big Sandy

25-20, 25-14, 17-25, 25-11(loser-out)

Big Sandy - Kills 20 (Raynee Pearson 7, Shalayna Pearson 7), Assists 20 (Mikki Hammons 9), Aces 5 (Jessica Amsbaugh 2), Digs 52 (Amsbaugh 16), Blocks 5 ( S, Pearson 3),

Box Elder - Kills 31 (Codi Raining Bird 11), Assists 19 (Connie Menard 17), Aces 12 (Rainingbird 5), Digs 40 (Tori Belcourt 8, Ashley Parisian 8, Raining Bird 8), Blocks 1 (Belcourt 1),

Blue Sky def. Box Elder

24-26, 25-23, 20-25, 25-8, 15-1(semifinal/loser-out)

Blue Sky - Kills 29 (Kaila Warren 17), Assists 30 (Jourdon Han 17), Aces 14 (Lindsay Anderson 7), Digs 46 (Holly Haas 9), Blocks 27 (Anderson 10),

Box Elder - Kills 31 (Tasha Parisian 10), Assists 20 (Connie Menard 15), Aces 13 (Loni Belcourt 6), Digs 60 (L. Belcourt 16), Blocks 1 (L. Belcourt 1),

Chester def. Blue Sky

25-15, 25-12, 25-23 (championship)

Blue Sky - Kills 7 (Anderson 3), Assists 8 (Haas 3, Megan Warren 3), Aces 6 (Anderson 3), Digs 33 (Anderson 8), Blocks 26 (Kaila Warren 8),

Chester - Kills 18 (Shawnee Norick 5, Mary DeVries 5), Assists 20 (Keyla Wendland 12), Aces 23 (Courtney Fraser 6, Brianne Wolfe 6, Wendland 6), Digs 23 (DeVries 10), Blocks 12 (DeVries 5),

 

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