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Area volleyball teams come up short at Northern C tourney

The Hi-Line won't have a team in this week's Class C state volleyball tournament in Bozeman.

But it wasn't for a lack of trying.

This past weekend at the Northern C volleyball tournament in Chester, three area teams made a push for a state tournament bid, with the North Star Knights coming the closest.

North Star captured the District 6C East championship, but the Knights opened the tournament with a four-game loss to Geraldine on Thursday afternoon.

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Knights got on the board. But Geraldine wound up putting North Star into the loser-our bracket with a four-game win by scores of 25-17, 20-25 and 25-22.

In the first-round loss, the Knights got 10 kills from Shelby Lipp and five blocks from Lisa Carlon.

The loss made reaching the state tournament tough on North Star, but the Knights put up a fight the rest of the way. In Friday's loser-out match, North Star took down conference rival Big Sandy by scores of 25-13, 25-23, 25-27 and 25-22 to stay alive.

Kali Twedt had a match-high 16 kills for the Knights, while Carlon added four aces and two blocks. The loss also eliminated the Pioneers from the tournament. Big Sandy lost in Thursday's first round to Sunburst by scores of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-21.

As loser-out play continued on Saturday morning, the Knights stayed alive with an impressive upset win over Simms. The Tigers came in as a heavy favorite to capture a second straight Northern C crown, but it was the Knights who moved on by scores of 23-25, 25-22, 25-20 and 25-17. After dropping the first set of the match, North Star took command and never let go.

Lipp had a huge match for the Knights, totaling 18 kills and five blocks, while Tande Smith dished out 19 assists and added 10 digs on defense.

Needing two more wins to reach the state tournament, North Star finally ran out of momentum following its win over Simms. Later on Saturday, the Knights were swept by Fort Benton by scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-22. In the final match of the season, the Knights got nine kills from Twedt and six blocks from Carlon.

While the Knights made a valiant run at state, Chinook's bracket proved to be too tough to overcome.

The Sugarbeeters opened the tournament with a heartbreaking five game loss to Simms by scores of 25-10, 25-21, 18-25, 11-25 and 15-6. The Beeters overcame a 2-0 deficit but ran out of gas in the fifth set.

In the tough loss, Chinook got seven kills and four blocks from Kayla Hanson, while Paige Moxley had 12 digs.

The Beeters stayed alive with a Thursday night win over Valier however. Chinook downed the Panthers by scores of 25-14, 25-15, 24-26 and 25-23 in another hard-fought match. Hanson had 13 kills and Katie Diemert dished out 18 assists in the loser-out win.

But as quickly as the Beeters rebounded on Thursday, they were out of the tournament on Friday morning as Fort Benton ousted Chinook in a three-game sweep by scores of 25-10, 25-16, 25-18.

In the difficult loss to the Longhorns, the Beeters were led by Hanson's four kills, while Taryn Norby had three blocks.

While no District 6C East or 6C West team reached the state tournament, the 8C had an outstanding weekend. Fort Benton came all the way back through the loser's bracket to beat conference rival Geraldine twice for the Northern C championship on Saturday night. Both the Longhorns and Tigers will open tournament play Thursday in Bozeman.

Thursday

Sunburst def. Big Sandy

25-15, 25-17, 25-21

Big Sandy — no stats available

Sunburst — Kills 37 (Angie Christiaens 11), Assists 21 (Hali Miller 19), Aces 8 (Christiaens 4), Digs 35 (Alex Watterud 8), Blocks 2 (Brooke Linskey 1, Miller 1).

Geraldine def. North Star

25-17, 25-22, 20-25, 25-22

Geraldine — Kills 42 (Hallie Bronec 14), Assists 32 (Tayler Duvall 20), Aces 13 (Duvall 5), Digs 53 (Kayla Wishman 13), Blocks 10.5 (Bronec 2.5, Tory Scribner 2.5).

North Star — Kills 25 (Shelby Lipp 10), Assists 19 (Tande Smith 10), Aces 5 (Kali Twedt 3), Digs 45 (Jordan Spicher 11), Blocks 15 (Kisa Carlon 5).

Simms def, Chinook

25-10, 25-21, 18-25, 11-25, 15-6

Simms — Kills 49 (Cheyenne Lapke 18), Assists 43 (Kobie Lapke 41), Aces 17 (Liz Cornell 7), Digs 33 (C. Lapke 11), Blocks 16 (C. Lapke 5).

Chinook — Kills 24 (Kayla Hanson 7), Assists 21 (Katie Diemert 14), Aces 9 (Hanson 4), Digs 35 (Paige Moxley 12), Blocks 7 (Laramie Purley 3).

Chinook def. Valier

25-14, 25-15, 24-26, 25-23 (lo)

Valier — Kills 7 (Turq Eagle Speaker 7), Assists 17 (Erin Swanson 16), Aces 2 (Abbie Bowmans 2), Digs 36 (Valerie Steele 15), Blocks 11 (Eagle Speaker 8).

Chinook — Kills 40 (Kayla Hanson 13), Assists 33 (Katie Diemert 18), Aces 9 (Laramie Pursley 3), Digs 41 (Paige Moxley 14), Blocks 9 (Hanson 3).

Friday

Fort Benton def. Chinook (lo)

25-10, 25-16, 25-18

Fort Benton — Kills: 34 (Kelsey Little 16). Assists: 30 (Nikki Fonavas 24). Digs: 36 (Shineberger 9). Blocks: 18 (Little 9). Aces: 6 (three with 2).

Chinook — Kills: 10 (Kayla Hanson 4). Assists: 8 (Katie Diemert 4, Swank 4). Digs: 9 (Taryn Norby 3). Blocks: 0. Aces: 5 (Laramie Pursley 3).

North Star def. Big Sandy (lo)

25-13, 25-23, 25-27, 25-22

Big Sandy — Stats not reported.

North Star — Kills: 38 (Kali Twedt 16). Assists: 40 (Smith 26). Digs: 31 (Jordan Spieher 9). Blocks: 11 (Lisa Carlon 4). Aces: 4 (Carlon 2).

Saturday

North Star def. Simms (lo)

23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-17

Simms — Kills: 45 (Cheyenne Lapke 16). Assists: 42 (Katie Lapke 41). Digs: 28 (T. Hoover 6, C. Lapke 6). Blocks: 16 (C. Lapke 9). Aces: 6 (C. Lapke 6).

North Star — Kills: 38 (Shelby Lipp 18). Assists: 33 (Tande Smith 19). Digs: 35 (Smith 10). Blocks: 14 (Lipp 5). Aces: 9 (Lisa Carlson 7).

Fort Benton def. North Star (lo)

25-16, 25-18, 25-22

North Star — Kills: 19 (Kali Twedt 9). Assists: 15 (Tande Smith 9). Digs: 25 (Smith 9). Blocks: 23 (lisa Carlson 6). Aces: 5 (Lipp 3).

Fort Benton — Kills: 42 (Casey Naeseth 12). Assists: 35 (Nikki Ferradas 31). Digs: 35 (Samantha Shinaberger 8). Blocks: 25 (Miranda Evans 7). Aces: 6 (Evans 3).

 

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