The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The Chinook Sugarbeeters will head to the Northern C Volleyball Divisional Tournament this weekend following a third place finish at the District 7C Tournament in Chinook this past weekend. The 'Beeters went 3-2 in five matches, taking down Big Sandy 3-0 in the first round, falling to Fort Benton 3-0 later in the day. Friday morning they bounced back with a 3-0 sweep of the North Star Knights punching their ticket to the Northern C Divisional.

Saturday the girls took on Chester/Joplin-Inverness in the 3rd place match, defeating the Hawks 3-1 to move on in the tournament. With a chance to play in the Championship match, the 'Beeters once again faced the Fort Benton Longhorns. After taking the opening set, Fort Benton stormed to win in the next three to end the 'Beeters tournament run with a 3-1 set back.

In the tournament opener for the 'Beeters Thursday morning, the girls were very efficient in taking down the Big Sandy Pioneers. They began the match with a 25-17 first set win, controlling the tempo start to finish. In set number two the 'Beeters were in high gear attacking the Pioneers with force, passing and serving well in a lopsided 25-9 set win.

The 'Beeters weren't going to let Big Sandy mount any type of comeback, and were able to hold off a valiant effort by the Pioneers for a 25-22 third set win to sweep the match. Sophomore Hallie Neibauer was on fire for the 'Beeters with 14 Kills and five blocks in the win. Senior Shay Hauer served up seven Aces and dug up nine balls for the 'Beeters. Sophomore Mya Berreth recorded 12 Assists.

The win set the 'Beeters up with a match against the Fort Benton Longhorns, a team they split their regular season matches with. Chinook matched the Longhorn effort in the first set, but fell just short in the end 26-24.

Looking to bounce back in the second set the 'Beeters were unable to sustain any momentum and fell 25-19. Chinook did all they could to extend the match but the Longhorns won set number three to win the match 3-0.

Neibauer again led the attack with nine Kills and four Blocks. Senior Tylie Richman led the team with three Aces. Junior Bree Swanson dug up 11 Balls while Berreth set the hitters up with eight assists.

In Loser Out action Chinook faced the North Star Knights. The 'Beeters had plenty of success against the Knights this season and have proven they could bounce back all season long. A win here would punch the 'Beeters' ticket to the Northern C Divisional.

In what could be the 'Beeters most dominate performance against the Knights in many years, Chinook rolled to a 3-0 match win. In the first set the 'Beeters did everything right - serving, hitting, passing in the form of a 25-7 set win.

Sets two and three weren't much different either. Chinook took control early and never looked back in a 25-11 second set win. The 'Beeters ended the Knights season with a lopsided 25-24 set score. Neibauer paved the way with nine Kills, 11 Digs and eight Blocks. Swanson had five Aces and Richman 14 Assists.

The 'Beeters then took on the Chester/Joplin-Inverness Hawks in the third place match. The 'Beeters took the opening set 25-21 only to see the Hawks return the favor in set number two with their own 25-21 set win.

Sets three and four were all Chinook as they were led by a dominate effort from Neibauer. The 'Beeters won both sets by identical 25-13 scores to win the match 3-1. Neibauer powered down 22 Kills and recorded six Blocks in the match. Berreth had 18 Assists while Richman recorded 17.

Sophomore setter Mya Berreth did a good job getting the ball to the hitters in good position, leading the team in Assists.

The second meeting with the Longhorns in the tournament started off way better than the first. The 'Beeters this time around won the back and forth first set 27-25. Fort Benton then answered with strong performances in sets two (15-25), three (17-25) and four (17-25) to win the match 3-1.

Neibauer had a fine performance again, slamming home 11 Kills, digging up a team high 18 balls and recording four blocks. Richman served up five Aces for the 'Beeters.

Chinook will begin play at the Northern C Divisional in Belt this Thursday, November fourth when they face the District 7C No. 2 Seed Belt Huskies in the fourth match of the day. This match will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of Match 3 which has a 12:00 p.m. start time.

The top two teams at the Northern C Divisional Tournament will advance onto the Class C State Volleyball Tournament in Bozeman, November 11-13. The tournament will be played on the campus of Montana State University in the Brick Breedan Fieldhouse.