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

The 'Beeters have been on an incredible run the past eight weeks and this past Saturday in Fort Benton they came away with District 7C Championship. The 'Beeters began the tournament with a 3-0 sweep of North star Thursday afternoon and concluded the day with a 3-0 sweep of Centerville in the final match of the night.

Friday the 'Beeters topped the tournament No. 1 seed Highwood Mountaineers in the undefeated semifinal. Saturday, they turned the trick again, defeating the Mountaineers in another epic five set thriller to win the tournament.

The Sugarbeeters were 1-3 in district 7C play following a pair of losses to Fort Benton and Highwood in early September. Head Coach, Paula Molyneaux said afterwards, "Sometimes you need a break or two and we couldn't seem to make that happen for ourselves. But adversity makes one stronger and we are going to recover and move on to work hard in practice next week and continue to better ourselves both individually and as a team."

In the weeks since, Chinook has won 16 straight matches, including the four at the District 7C Tournament. I would say her message got through to the team.

Chinook began the tournament Thursday afternoon with a 3-0 sweep of the North Star Knights. The 'Beeters took the first set 25-22 then went on to win set number two 25-27 and completed the sweep with a 25-18 third set win. Junior Hallie Neibauer led the attack with a team high 12 Kills while senior Bree Swanson slammed home 10. Junior Mya Berreth set the hitters up with 21 of the teams 34 Assists.

Thursday night Chinook faced the Centerville Miners and again came away with a three set sweep winning by scores of 25-16, 25-5 and 25-16. The offense was again paced by the efforts of Neibauer with 10 Kills while sophomore Rilee Molyneaux recorded six Kills in the win. Berreth had 16 Assists in the match.

Friday nights undefeated semifinal with the No. 1 Seed Highwood Mountaineers was memorable. Highwood took the opening set 25-21. The 'Beeters battled back in set number two matching the Mountaineers point for point for much of the set. Neibauer made an impressive one handed save on a blistering attack to keep the volley alive and eventually secure a 'Beeter point to even the match at 9-9.

The teams would continue to go toe to toe until Highwood had set point in hand with a 24-22 lead. Sophomore Addison Olsen delivered a perfect set to junior Teagan Richman for a gentle tip to cut the Mountaineer lead to one. Swanson served up an Ace to even the set at 24-24.

The Mountaineers called a timeout but then hit their attack long to give Chinook a chance to win. Olsen made a great save behind the hitters and senior, Belle Elliot scored a huge block to give the 'Beeters a 26-24 set win and even the match at 1-1.

Highwood blazed their way to a 25-16 win in set number three to go up 2-1 in the match. Chinook answered right back, winning the fourth set to force a deciding fifth set.

The Mountaineers jumped out to a 7-2 lead early. Following a timeout by the 'Beeters, Berreth made back to back perfect sets to help get the offense back on track with Kills from Neibauer and senior Lexi Pitkanen. Chinook would use that momentum shift to storm their way to a 15-9 fifth set win and a spot in the Championship match Saturday night.

Neibauer led the way with 17 Kills in the win, Swanson added 11 and Richman nine. Berreth recorded 23 Assists and Olsen 12 for the 'Beeters. Molyneaux and senior Torin Cecrle led the way with 21 Digs each.

In the District Championship the 'Beeters once again faced the Highwood Mountaineers and again another five set thriller took place.

Chinook took the opening set 25-16, Highwood evened the match with a 25-18 win in set number two. Volleyball can be crazy with momentum swings and the third set proved just that as Chinook scored the final 16 points to win 25-7.

Set number four was a back and forth thriller that saw outstanding play on both sides of the net. The defences were making diving saves, ferocious attacks and some volley's seemed to go on forever in a well-played set.

Neibauer connected with a big swing to even the set at 16-16 and Richman added a Kill off the Mountaineer block for a 17-16 'Beeter lead. Highwood would claw their way back to take the lead at 24-21. Swanson slammed home a Kill, followed that with a Block and Neibauer served up an ace to even the set at 24-24. Highwood closed out the set with two points to win 26-24 and force a fifth set.

In another back and forth set Chinook gained a 13-12 lead after Berreth made a great set to Neibauer for a Kill Cecrle served an Ace setting the 'Beeters up with a 14-12 lead. Highwood scored three straight to take a 15-14 lead, but Chinook again proved to be clutch down the stretch.

Coming out of a 'Beeter timeout Neibauer scored a Kill off the Mountaineer block to even the score at 15-15. Neibauer then set Molyneaux for a Kill of the Mountaineer block as well and Swanson ended the match with a well-timed block from Mountaineer back row to win the set 17-15 and the match 3-2.

Molyneaux was thrilled to talk about her team's performance over the weekend, "One of the many great moments of the weekend was watching Bree block that final ball, that won the match and gave us our 1st place finish. Bree had an outstanding weekend. She is so fun to watch and to coach. In fact, they are all fun to watch and coach."

Chinook senior, Bree Swanson, left and junior Hallie Neibauer, middle, slammed home plenty of Kills at the District 7C Tournament, helping the 'Beeters with championship Saturday night.

Molyneaux was happy for the entire team, "Each and every one of them contributed to our success for this weekend and our first place finish. It was not just the starting nine, who definitely earned their trophy with solid, consistent play in the face of some extremely tough opponents, tense moments and immense pressure, but also the other five team members, who, every day at practice push their teammates to improve. They are a pretty amazing group."

Molyneaux reflected on some of the moments the team experienced, "As I look back, another of my favorite moments was in the final time-out toward the end of the 5th set in that championship match, I told them that we could not play it safe, that we had to stick with our game and be aggressive. From that moment, they walked back on the court and did just that, finishing the match with some huge plays."

Looking to this week's tournament, Molyneaux said, "We look forward to hosting the divisional tourney this next week, but we will have to continue to improve our game at practice this week, as they are all top quality teams."

The 'Beeters open the Northern C Divisional at 9:00 am Thursday morning against the District 6C No. 4 Seed Cascade Badgers.