Hi-Line Volleyball Roundup: Knights win 6C East title

North Star's Lisa Carlon, left, tips a ball over a Chinook blocker during a District 6C East volleyball tournament match last Thursday in Chinook. The Knights beat Big Sandy for the 6C East crown.

North Star's Melissa Pester (left) goes for a block during a District 6C East tournament match last Thursday in Chinook.

Big Sandy's Shayna Gilead (left) smashes a ball during a 6C East tournament match in Chinook last Thursday.

Big Sandy junior Kaylie Gilman, middle, looks to smash a ball during a District 6C East tournament match between the Pioneers and Chester/J-I Hawks last Thursday in Chinook.

Chester/J-I's Denerey Haaland (right) tries to smash a ball over a pair of Big Sandy blockers during a 6C East match in Chinook last Thursday.

As far as district volleyball tournaments go, the District 6C East tourney is, year-in-and-year-out the toughest tournament in Class C. And the 2012 edition was no different.

The 6C East tournament was held Thursday and Friday in Chinook, and it took everything the North Star Knights had to emerge as district champions.

On Friday night, North Star squared off against Big Sandy, and having already beaten the Pioneers on Thursday night, Big Sandy

Chinook's Paige Moxley passes the ball during a District 6C East tournament match Thursday afternoon in Chinook.

would have to win twice in order to claim the district title.

And the Pioneers, who swept North Star during the regular season, accomplished the first step in that mission, beating the Knights by scores of 25-16, 25-18, 17-25 and 27-25 in another thriller between the two rivals.

Molly Herron had 14 kills, three digs and five aces to lead the Pioneers, who forced a second and final title match with the win. Melissa Pester had seven kills and two blocks for North Star.

And while the two best teams in the 6C duked it out for a second time on Friday night, it was only fitting that it would go the distance. In the championship title, Big Sandy won the first set 25-19, but North Star forged ahead, winning the next two by scores of 25-22 and 25-23. Big Sandy rallied though, and forced a fifth set by winning the fourth 25-22. North Star, a veteran team, then clinched the district title with a hard-fought 15-10 win in the finale.

Lisa Carlon totaled 13 kills and 13 digs, while Pester had five solo blocks. Bettie Carlon added 11 assists and five aces for the victorious Knights. Big Sandy, though disappointed, still advanced to the Northern C tournament, and the Pioneers got 14 kills from Herron, nine digs from Kaylie Gilman and four aces by Shayna Gilead.

It was a tough road to the title match for the Pioneers. After beating Chester/J-I in four sets on Thursday afternoon, the Knights emphatically swept the Pioneers in the winner's bracket semifinal on Thursday night. North Star won the first of three matches against Big Sandy by scores of 25-21, 25-14 and 25-22. Pester had seven kills and three blocks, while Tylynn Rettig added three aces for the Knights. Gilman totaled five digs and four blocks for Big Sandy, while Brooke Leader had 18 assists.

Big Sandy rebounded from the loss to the Knights by ousting upstart C/J-I for a second time on Friday afternoon. In the third-place match, the Pioneers turned the Hawks away by scores of 14-25, 25-23, 25-22 and 25-21 to remain alive. Herron had 12 kills in the win, while Gilman added four aces and Kiah Wilson had five digs. C/J-I got nine kills from Brittnee Theel, while Kate Graff had three blocks.

It was a good showing by the Hawks, who finished fourth in the regular season. C/J-I swept Hays-Lodge Pole in the opening round on Thursday morning, before falling to the Pioneers the first time. The Hawks then bounced back on Saturday afternoon winning perhaps the biggest match of the season, as they eliminated the host Chinook Sugarbeeters by scores of 25-14, 25-22, 18-25, 22-25 and 19-17. Chinook almost pulled off a miracle comeback in the match, but couldn't close out what was an epic fifth set between the two rivals.

In the win over the Beeters, the Hawks were led by Denerey Haaland's 13 kills. Graff had a huge match with 19 digs, seven aces and three blocks, while Jimi Sangwin had 23 assists. In what was Chinook's last match of the season, the Beeters got a tournament-high 26 kills by Makhayla Farmer, who also had a career-high 12 blocks. Madison McCann had 25 digs and Paige Moxley had nine aces in the heartbreaking defeat.

It wasn't Chinook's weekend as the Beeters lost in the opening round to North Star, by scores of 25-20, 22-25, 27-25 and 25-11. Chinook did bounce back to eliminate HLP on Thursday afternoon, but the loss to C/J-I in Friday's marathon match meant the end of the line for the Beeters.

Now, with the dust settled on the 6C tourney, North Star and Big Sandy will turn their attention to the Northern C, which runs Thursday-Saturday in Belt. On the line in Belt will be two spots in the upcoming Class C state tournament.

In Class B action this weekend, both Harlem and Rocky Boy saw the season come to an end.

Harlem lost matches to Glasgow and Malta on Friday at the District 2B tourney, while Rocky Boy fell to Shelby, then was eliminated by Conrad at the 1B tourney on Friday.

Thursday

6C East

at Chinook

Chester/J-I def. Hays-Lodge Pole

25-11, 25-20, 25-11

Chester/J-I -- Kills: 29 (Deneray Haaland 11). Blocks: 0. Aces: 22 (Katelyn Graff 9). Digs: 16 (Madeline Woods 7). Assists; 25 (Jimi Sangwin 11).

Hays-Lodge Pole -- no stats reported.

North Star def. Chinook

25-20, 22-25, 27-25, 25-11

North Star -- Kills: 29 (Lisa Carlon 10). Blocks; 4 (Melissa Pester 3). Aces: 21 (Bertie Carlon 5). Digs: 32 (Mackenzie Hanson 7). Assists; 21 (B. Carlon n/a).

Chinook -- Kills: 38 (MaKhayla Farmer 19). Blocks: 14 (Katelyn Neibauer 4). Aces: 7 (Paige Morley 2). Digs: 62 (Emily Dennis 12). Assists: 29 (Hannah Weber 13).

Big Sandy def. Chester/J-I

25-12, 25-22, 20-25, 25-23

Big Sandy -- Kills: 38 (Kaylie Gilman 10). Blocks: 2 (Leela Engle 2). Aces: 13 (Brooke Leader 9). Digs: 10 (Gilman 4). Assists: 32 (Leader 17).

Chester/J-I -- Kills: 15 (Brittnee Theel 5). Blocks: 3 (Madeline Woods 1). Aces: 15 (Katelyn Graff 4, Caitlin Vinsa 4). Digs: 55 (Graff 14). Assists: 13 (Jimi Sangwin 8).

North Star def. Big Sandy (SF)

25-21, 25-14, 25-22

North Star -- Kills: 20 (Melissa Pester 7). Digs: 15 (Delaney Spicher 3). Assists: 15 (Bettie Carlon 8). Aces: 10 (Tylynn Rettig 3). Blocks: 6 (Pester 3).

Big Sandy -- Kills: 30 (Shanya Gilead 8). Digs: 18 (Kaylie Gilman 5). Assists: 30 (Brooke Leader 18). Aces: 7 (Leader 4). Blocks: 6 (Gilman 4).

Chinook def. Hays-Lodge Pole

25-5, 25-10, 25-13

Hays-Lodge Pole -- No stats available.

Chinook -- Kills: 36 (Paige Moxley 12). Digs: 36 (Moxley 8). Assists: 32 (Jordan Surber 18). Aces: 28 (Moxley 8). Blocks: 0.

Friday

District 1B

Shelby def. Rocky Boy

25-8, 25-7, 25-11

Rocky Boy -- Kills: 12 (Gopher 4). Blocks: 8 (Onco 3). Aces: 12 (Patasci 3). Digs: 46 (Onco 9). Assists: 12 (Watson 8).

Shelby -- Kills: 27 (Mahr 10). Blocks: 3 (Mahr 2). Aces: 15 (Kelleher 6). Digs: 6 (Kelleher 2). Assists: 20 (Conant 14).

Cut Bank def. Rocky Boy

25-15, 25-22, 25-20

Cut Bank -- Kills: 26 (Altenburg 14). Blocks: 1 (Lane). Aces: 10 (Larson 4). Digs: 74 (Mazurkiewicz n/a). Assists: 23 (Finstand 14).

Rocky Boy -- Kills: 24 (Onco 6, Gamble 6). Blocks: 7 (Gopher 2, Parker 2). Aces: 20 (Watson 6, Onco 6). Digs:34 (Gopher 8). Assists: 14 (Watson 6).

District 2B

Glasgow def. Harlem

25-8, 25-15, 25-11

Harlem -- Kills: 10 (Lacie Snider 4). Blocks: 3 (Erin LaMere 2). Aces: 3 (three with 1). Digs: 34 (Snider 9). Assists: 9 (LaMere 5).

Glasgow -- Kills: 15 (Megan Dailey 7). Blocks: 3 (Sadie Sukut 2). Aces: 13 (Dailey 6). Digs: 16 (Dailey 4). Assists: 15 (Alex Page 10).

Malta def. Harlem

25-10, 25-22, 25-10

Harlem -- Kills: 19 (Ticia Cliff 6). Digs: 40 (Lacie Snider 11). Assists: 14 (Erin LaMere 8). Aces: 7 (LaMere 3). Blocks: 4 (Cliff 2).

Malta -- Kills: 22 (Jayla Graham 5, Larimie Scheffelmear 5). Digs: 17 (Caitlyn Chase 6). Assists: 17 (Courtney Henry 15). Aces: 13 (Graham 5). Blocks: 1 (Graham).

District 6C-East

Chester/J-I def. Chinook (lo)

25-14, 25-22, 18-25, 22-25, 19-17

C/J-I-- Kills: 42 (Deniray Haaland 13). Aces: 20 (Katelyn Graff 7). Digs: 72 (Graf 19). Blocks: 3 (Graff 3). Assists: 42 (Jimi Sangwin 23).

Chinook -- Kills: 55 (Makhayla Farmer 26). Aces: 18 (Paige Moxley 9). Digs: 101 (Madison McCann 25). Blocks: 13 (Farmer 12). Assists: 47 (Hannah Weber 23, Mariah Swank 23).

Big Sandy def. Chester/J-I (3rd)

14-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-21

C/J-I-- Kills: 27 (Brittnee Theel 9). Aces: 8 (Tamara Koos 2). Digs: 65 (Katelyn Graff 18). Blocks: 7 (Graff 3). Assists: 20 (Jimi Sangwin 13).

Big Sandy -- Kills: 31 (Molly Herron 12). Aces: 9 (Kaylie Gilman 4). Digs: 16 (Kiah Wilson 5). Blocks: 3 (Leela Engle 1). Assists: 28 (Brooke Leader 19).

1st Championship

Big Sandy def. North Star

25-16, 25-18, 17-25, 27-25

Big Sandy -- Kills: 39 (Molly Herron 14). Digs: 10 (Herron 3). Assists: 38 (Brooke Leader 26). Aces: 11 (Herron 5). Blocks: 4 (Shelby Gasvoda 2).

North Star -- Kills: 23 (Melissa Pester 7). Digs: 43 (MacKenzie Hansen 15). Assists: 15 (Bettie Carlon 11). Aces: 9 (Tylynn Rettig 3). Blocks: 2 (Pester 2).

2nd Championship

North Star def. Big Sandy

19-25, 25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 15-10

Big Sandy -- Kills: 36 (Molly Herron 14). Digs: 33 (Kaylie Gilman 9). Assists: 34 (Brooke Leader 22). Aces: 13 (Shanya Gilead 4). Blocks: 5 (Leela Engle 2).

North Star -- Kills: 37 (Lisa Carlon 13). Digs: 82 (Three with 13). Assists: 22 (Bettie Carlon 11). Aces: 5 (B. Carlon 2). Blocks: 10 (Melissa Pester 5).