Sugarbeeters reign supreme, win 34th Annual Chinook Invitational Tournament
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Keri Hanson
The Sugarbeeters captured the 34th Annual Chinook Invitational Tournament in grand fashion defeating the Glasgow Scotties in the championship 25-21, 25-24. They are L-R: Senior Nicole McCracken, senior Kelsey Mathon, senior Taylor Neibauer, junior Sierra Swank, junior Carrie Hofer, sophomore Kourtney Hanson, sophomore Rachel Gunderson, sophomore Lincey Johnson, senior Brooke Elliot and sophomore Meagan Molyneaux.
The Chinook Sugarbeeter volleyball team turned in another outstanding performance as they won the 34th Annual Chinook Invitational volleyball tournament on their home court. The team defeated the Glasgow Scottie's in straight sets 25-21, 25-24 to take the title.
The week began with Chinook traveling to Box Elder to take on the Bears in the District 6C-East Conference opener for both teams. The 'Beeters came away with a 3-1 win to go 1-0 in conference play.
The Sugarbeeters have dominated District 6C play in recent years and were looking to get off to a fast start against the Bears. The first set though didn't go as planned as Box Elder squeaked out a 25-21 win to begin the match.
The 'Beeters however were just getting started and quickly swept the Bears the next three sets with convincing 25-16, 25-14 and 25-15 set wins to take the match three sets to one and begin conference play with a win.
The Chinook Invitational Volleyball tournament is one of the oldest and longest running volleyball tournaments in the state of Montana. The tournament consists of several teams from both the Class B and Class C ranks along the Hi-line.
Pool A consisted of the home standing Sugarbeeters, the Shelby Coyotes, the Glasgow Scotties, the Valier Panthers and the Simms Tigers. The Coyotes are from the District 1B, The Scotties are from the District 2B and the Panthers and Tigers are from The District 6C-West giving Chinook a chance to face opponents it won't see otherwise.
Pool play began with the Scotties earning a 30 - 20 set win over the 'Beeters in the morning match.
Chinook responded strongly in their second set of the day as they easily dispatched the Valier Panthers 30-13. The Beeters passed the ball extremely well and scored effectively at the net and behind the serving line to win going away.
The third set of pool play Friday afternoon came against the Shelby Coyotes in what would be one of the best matches of the day.
Both teams had the lead early on, midway through the match and both had a chance to win down the stretch. The Coyotes managed to win 33-32 as time ran out in the pool play set.
Much like Chinook did after losing their opening match the 'Beeters responded with another dominant performance taking down the Simms Tigers in a lopsided 30-11 win to finish pool play with a 2-2 mark.
Shelby won the pool going 4-0 while Chinook, Simms and Glasgow all finished with a identical 2-2 marks, Valier finished 0-4. Chinook earned the pool's number two seed due to point differential among the teams.
Pool B consisted of the Malta M-ettes the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks the Highwood/Geraldine Rivals, the Cut Bank Wolves and the Conrad cowgirls.
Saturday the teams competed in a double elimination tournament based on the seeds earned during pool play.
Chinook began Saturday's action against the Pool B number three seed and District 6C-East counterpart, Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks. The match would give both teams a good look at each other prior to facing each other in conference play.
After a slow back and forth start the 'Beeters got the ball rolling and pulled away from the rival Hawks, taking the first set 25-13 and the second set 25-15 to advance to the semifinal round.
Chinook would challenge the District 1B Conrad cowgirls for the right to play in the championship match. The opening set was a very lopsided one that Chinook easily prevailed 25 - 11.
Conrad would make things a bit more interesting in set number two, but Chinooks consistent passing, solid serving, and sound net play again earned them a 25-19 set win and a spot in the finale.
The Glasgow Scotties, the team that defeated the 'Beeters in the opening match of pool play were now the team that stood between them and a championship.
In what turned out to be a very competitive and exciting final match it was Chinook winning the first set 25-21 and narrowly earning a 25-24 second set win to claim the 34th Annual Chinook Invitational Volleyball Tournament championship.
"The team had another very successful weekend. I'm very pleased with their teamwork," stated head coach Mollie Rose.
"Defensively we didn't let anything hit the floor and read our opponents well. Offensively, our execution was excellent. As the season progresses I hope to see our communication and cohesiveness improve," added Rose.
As for this week, "Malta and North Star will both be good matches for us. They have strong net play that we will have to prepared for this week in practice. Both teams will have high energy and be ready to play. On our end we will have to execute offensively and be on our toes defensively. Our tough serving game will be key in success this week."
