Hi-Line Volleyball Roundup: Chinook, North Star shine at home

The second week of high school volleyball on the Hi-Line was certainly a busy one. And for several area teams, it was a big one.

While preseason tournaments at Chinook and North Star took center stage this weekend, the action really got started Thursday night.

In Harlem, the Harlem Wildcats earned their first win of 2014, defeating Class C rival Hays-Lodge Pole in straight sets. The Wildcats beat the Thunderbirds by scores of 25-8, 25-11 and 25-11. Erin LaMere paced Harlem with four kills and four assists, while Alexa LongKnife had seven of the Wildcat's 18 service aces. Ticia Cliff also had three stuff blocks. Tia Zander totaled two kills for the T-Birds in the loss.

Thursday wasn't so kind to the Rocky Boy Morning Stars or Chester/J-I Hawks however.

In Choteau, the Morning Stars were crushed by the host Bulldogs in three games in a District 1B matchup. Choteau won by scores of 25-10, 25-10 and 25-16. Jurnee LaForge and Ariana Patacsil had two kills each for Rocky Boy.

Meanwhile, C/J-I was bounced by Dutton-Brady in Chester Thursday night, by scores of 25-17, 25-22 and 25-11. It was the second straight loss for the Hawks, who got six kills from Allix Goldhahn and 11 digs and a block by Erin Wolfe.

Friday and Saturday, many local teams turned their attention to tournament in Chinook and Rudyard/Gildford.

At the Chinook Invitational Friday, the host Sugarbeeters went 3-1 in pool play, losing only to 8C power Highwood. The Chinook Invite featured a bevy of Class B powers, like Malta, Conrad and Cut Bank, as well as Class C stalwarts like the Mountaineers, Simms and C/J-I.

Also in pool play Friday, the Hawks were defeated four times, losing to Malta, Simms, Cut Bank and Conrad.

The Hawks did rebound to beat Conrad in three games in Saturday's bracket play. C/J-I lost its opening match to Glasgow, but bounced back against the Cowgirls by scores of 19-25, 25-22 and 15-19. And the Hawks stayed on the winning track, also defeating arch rival Simms by scores of 20-25, 25-24 and 7-6. In the consolation semifinal, the run came to an end for C/J-I, which lost in two games to the Class B M-Ettes.

But as good as C/J-I played Saturday, Chinook was even better. The Beeters beat Cut Bank to start Saturday's action, then took down former 2B rival Malta in the semifinals. And in the championship match of their own tournament, the Beeters weren't going to be denied as they beat the Shelby Coyotes by scores of 25-22 and 25-19 to take the Chinook Invitational title. Malta wound up third after defeating Cut Bank in the consolation match.

The volleyball action was just as good west of Havre this weekend as well.

The North Star Showcase, which featured local teams Box Elder, Big Sandy, HLP and the host Knights, got underway with pool play Friday. In the Rudyard Pool, Big Sandy and HLP each won one of four matches Friday, while in the loaded Gildford pool, North Star went 3-1, and Box Elder was 1-3. Roy-Winifred emerged unscathed from the Gildford Pool, with a 4-0 record, while Sunburst was also 2-2. Dutton Brady was 4-0 in the Rudyard Pool, and Power was 3-1 Friday.

Teams returned to both sites Saturday for bracket play. The consolation bracket was held in Gildford, where Box Elder beat HLP and Heart Butte, while HLP defeated the North Star junior varsity team.

And in the exciting championship bracket Saturday in Rudyard, the Knights started things off with a win over Big Sandy, then won a three-setter over Dutton-Brady to advance to the championship match. The Pioneers meanwhile, lost to Sunburst in the fifth-place match, while the Diamondbacks bounced back to knock out Power in the third-place match.

In Saturday's finale, the Knights' strong run came to an end as they were beaten by powerful Roy-Winifred, which didn't drop a single set on the weekend. The Outlaws beat the Knights by scores of 25-23 and 25-15 in the championship tilt.

With most preseason tournaments out of the way, area teams will turn their attention to conference matches this weekend, and for much of the remainder of the fall.

Thursday

Choteau def. Rocky Boy

25-10, 25-10, 25-16

Rocky Boy: Ariana Patacsil 2 kills, Jurnee Laforge 2 kills.

Choteau: Kills 13 (Celie Salmond 4, Tristin Achenbach 4), Blocks 9 (Hannah Bowers 5), Digs 63 (Bowers 17), Assists 12 (Sarah Hodgskiss 7), Aces 8 (Bowers 3).

Harlem def. Hays-Lodge Pole

25-8, 25-11, 25-11

Hays-Lodge Pole: Kills 4 (Tia Zander 2), Assists 23 (Kaylin Doney 3), Aces 5 (Cory Carrywater 3), Digs 10 (Shelby Denny 5).

Harlem: Kills 11 (Erin LaMere 4), Assists 8 (LaMere 4, Alexa LongKnife 4), Aces 18 (LongKnife 7), Digs 37 (LaMere 8), Blocks 8 (Ticia Cliff 3)

Dutton-Brady def. Chester/J-I

25-17, 25-22, 25-11

Dutton-Brady – Aces 14 (Taylor Reeve 4), Kills 26 (Reeve 9), Blocks 4 (Reeve 3), Digs 45 (Aubree Hitchcock 13), Assists 21 (Reeve (18).

C/J-I – Aces 9 (Kylee Vinson 4), Assists 18 (Madeline Wood 9), Kills 13 (Allix Goldhahn 6), Blocks 2 (Erin Wolfe 1.5), Digs 40 (Erin Wolfe 11).

Friday

Chinook Invitational

Pool A: Chinook def. Glasgow; Shelby def. Valier; Highwood def. Glasgow; Chinook def. Shelby; Highwood def. Chinook; Glasgow def. Valier; Shelby def. Highwood; Chinook def. Valier

Pool B: Malta def. C/J-I; Simms def. Conrad; Malta def. Cut Bank; Conrad def. C/J-I; Simms def. Cut Bank; Conrad def. Malta; Cut Bank def. C/J-I; Malta def. Simms; Cut Bank def. Conrad; Simms def. C/J-I

North Star Showcase

Pool Play

Rudyard Pool: Dutton-Brady 4-0, Power 3-1, Big Sandy 1-3, North Star JV 1-3, Hays-Lodge Pole 1-3.

Gildford Pool: Roy-Winifred 4-0, North Star 3-1, Sunburst 2-2, Box Elder 1-3, Heart Butte 0-4

Saturday

North Star Showcase

Rudyard championship bracket

Power def. Sunburst 24-26, 25-18, 15-13 (2-1)

North Star V def. Big Sandy 25-15, 25-16 (2-0)

North Star V def. Dutton-Brady 20-25, 25-18, 15-12 (2-1)

Roy-Winifred def. Power 25-18, 25-22 (2-0)

Sunburst def. Big Sandy 25-8, 25-18 (2-0) fifth place

Dutton-Brady def. Power 26-24, 25-13 (2-0) third place

Roy-Winifred def. North Star V 25-23, 25-15 (2-0) champion

Gildford consolation games

Heart Butte def. North Star JV 18-25, 25-9, 15-9 (2-1)

Box Elder def. Hays-Lodge Pole 25-13, 25-13 (2-0)

Box Elder def. Heart Butte 20-25, 25-16, 15-9 (2-1)

Hays-Lodge Pole def. North Star JV 25-17, 25-21 (2-0)

Chinook Invitational

Glasgow def. C/J-I 25-13, 25-20

Conrad def. Valier 25-24, 25-18

Chinook def. Cut Bank 25-21, 25-15

Highwood def. Simms 25-18, 19-25, 11-6

Malta def. Glasgow 25-11, 25-12

Shelby def. Conrad 25-22, 25-19

Glasgow def. Valier 24-25, 25-10, 15-9

C/J-I def. Conrad 19-25, 25-22, 15-9

Cut Bank def. Glasgow 25-21, 25-16

C/J-I def. Simms 20-25, 25-24, 7-6

Chinook def. Malta 25-19, 25-12

Shelby def. Highwood 22-25, 25-16, 9-5

Cut Bank def. Highwood 25-22, 25-24

Malta def. C/J-I 25-19, 25-22

Consolation

Malta def. Cut Bank 25-21, 25-16

Championship

Chinook def. Shelby 25-22, 25-19