'Beeters, Lady Cats fall in conference clashes, look to rebound as regular season concludes
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The Chinook Sugarbeeters and Harlem Lady Cats volleyball teams had a bit of an unexpected week on the hardwood as both lost to conference foes in tough matches.
Tuesday in Chester the Sugarbeeters were stunned by the Hawks in a grueling five set match that saw Chester/J-I overcome a 2-0 deficit to win the final three sets to bounce the Sugarbeeters 3-2 and hand them their first conference loss.
The Harlem Lady Cats began the week innocently enough with a 3-0 home sweep over the Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds. Friday afternoon, the Lady Cats hosted the Wolf Point Wolves for a match pitting the second place Cats against the third place Wolves with the visitors winning the match 3-0.
The Sugarbeeters have dominated the District 6C-East , but last Tuesday in Chester it was a different story.
The match started out as many expected. The ‘Beeters took an early lead and comfortably moved through the set picking up a 25-19 win in the opener.
Set number two had the ‘Beeters firmly in control start to finish and Chinook turned in a 25-16 win in set number two to go up 2-0.
The ‘Beeters were looking to close out the Hawks and complete the sweep but Chester/J-I wasn’t on board with the plan.
The ‘Beeters have had a consistently effective attack all season long and solid defensive play behind them. The ‘Beeters suddenly found themselves out of sync with each other both offensively and defensively. The ‘Beeters committed an abnormal amount of hitting errors and dropped the third set 25-20.
Chinook looked to regain the momentum in set number four and at times they did just that. The attack was still in a bit of disarray and Chester/J-I held their own to even the match at two sets a piece with a 26-24 fourth set win.
Chinook was never able to regain the momentum and the Hawks carried it through a fifth set that saw the home team defeat the ‘Beeters 15-9 to hand them their first conference loss.
Junior Delaney Kellam powered home 11 kills in the contest while junior Ginger Hauer recorded 29 assists.
The ‘Beeters will lay it all on the line this Friday when they travel to Gildford to take on the North Star Knights. The winner of the match will win the regular season District 6C-East crown and earn the top seed at the District 6C-East Tournament in Chinook October 31 and November 1.
Both teams enter the contest with identical 6-1 records. Chinook won the first match between the two teams earlier this season.
The Sugarbeeters will honor their lone senior in their final home contest Saturday against the Box Elder Bears.
The Lady Cats began the week with a 3-0 win over the Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds. The Lady Cats won the match 25-11, 25-5 and 25-16. Senior Aspen Baker led the attack with 10 kills and senior Aria Owens recorded 12 Assists
The District 2B Tournament is right around the corner and both the Wolves and the Lady Cats are jockeying for post season position.
Harlem welcomed the Wolves to town and were looking to lock up the number two seed in the upcoming District 2B tournament.
The Lady Cats and the Wolves matched each other point for point for the entire match but the visitors managed to squeak out an extra point in each set to earn a hard-fought 25-23 win in three straight sets to win the match 3-0.
The Lady Cats were led offensively by senior Aspen Baker and her five Kills. Owens set up the hitters with seven Assists. Owens and senior Sarah Billmayer each served eight Aces in the contest.
The Lady Cats will look to lock up a top seed at the District 2B Tournament in Glasgow November 1-2.
They close out the regular season on the road Thursday at North Country and at home Saturday when they will honor their seniors prior to their match with Poplar.
Chester/J-I 3 Chinook 2
Chinook 25 25 20 24 9 - 2
Chester/J-I 19 16 25 26 15 - 3
Team Stats: Chinook - Kills 34 (Delaney Kellam 11); Assists 32 (Ginger Hauer 29); Digs 106 (Lily Surber 23, Crystal Hofer 23); Blocks 12 (Bree Swanson 6); Aces 10 (Crystal Hofer 4).
Chester/J-I - Kills 29 (Sam May 8, Tatum Hull 8); Assists 27 (Courtney Ally 11, Averie Mattson 11); Digs 104 (Molly Nelson 25); Blocks 10 (Tatum Hull 5); Aces 21 (Sam May 8, Tatum Hull 7).
Harlem 3 Hays/L.P. 0
Hays/L.P. 11 5 16 - 0
Harlem 25 25 25 - 3
Team Stats: Hays/L.P. - No Stats Available.
Harlem - Kills 28 (Aspen Baker 10); Assists 27 (Aria Owens 12); Digs 70 (Neveah Spotted Eagle 17); Blocks 4 (Layla skidmore,Shyan Krass, Taeshon Schaeffer, Alaynee Hawley); Aces 10 (Aria Owens 4).
Wolf Point 3 Harlem 0
Wolf Point 25 25 25 - 3
Harlem 23 23 23 - 0
Team Stats: Wolf Point - Kills 26 (Tori Nygard 7); Assists 20 (Lindsay Nefzger 20); Digs 36 (Demi Kegley 8); Blocks 1 (Mikaya Smoker-Dewitt); Aces 13 (Hailey Nelson 3, J’elle Garfield 3, Demi Kegley 3).
Harlem - Kills 19 (Aspen Baker 5); Assists 17 (Aria Owens 7); Digs 23 (Neveah Spotted Eagle 6); Blocks 1 (Layla skidmore); Aces 22 (Aria Owens 8, Sarah Billmayer 8).
