'Beeters Headed Back to State After 2nd Place Finish at Northern C Divisional
Share
Tweet
Senior Bree Swanson slams home one of her 16 Kills against the Belt Huskies Friday night.
The Chinook Sugarbeeters are headed back to the Montana State Class C Volleyball Tournament for the first time since 2016. The 'Beeters punched their ticket to the state tournament following an outstanding performance at the Northern C Divisional.
Playing in front of their hometown fans the 'Beeters began the tournament with a 3-0 sweep of the Cascade Badgers in the first round. Chinook quickly dispatched the Fort Benton Longhorns with a sweep in the Quarterfinals to advance to the undefeated Semi-final against the Belt Huskies. The 'Beeters and Huskies played one of the best matches of the season at any level in the state, unfortunately the final point went to the Huskies as they got by Chinook 3-2.
Saturday morning the Sugarbeeters again faced the Fort Benton Longhorns coming away with a sweep in three tightly contested sets to secure their spot in this week's state tournament. Saturday night the 'Beeters fell in three sets to a well rested Husky team in the championship match.
The Sugarbeeters opened the tournament in the first match of the day Thursday morning taking on the 7C No. 4 Seed Cascade Badgers. Chinook started a little slow but had plenty in the tank to dispatch the Badgers in straight sets 25-18, 25-18, 25-11. Junior Hallie Neibauer led the attack with 11 Kills while senior Bree Swanson added seven. Junior Mya Berreth tallied 13 assists in the win while sophomore Rilee Molyneaux served up three Aces and dug up a team high 12 balls for the 'Beeters.
The win sent the 'Beeters into a quarterfinal match Thursday night against the Fort Benton Longhorns. The two District 7C teams faced off for the third time this season with each owning a win. At the Northern C it was all Chinook. The 'Beeters won the opening set 25-17, ran away from the Longhorns in set number two with a 25-13 win and finished the match with another 25-17 win to advance to the undefeated semi-final on Friday night. Swanson led the way with eight Kills while Molyneaux and Neibauer each added seven. Neibauer recorded four Aces and Berreth totalled 12 Assists.
In the undefeated semi-final Friday night fans packed the Floyd Bowen gymnasium and witnessed one of the best displays of high school volleyball anyone could ever hope to see. The entire gym was on the edge of a seat, start to finish as both teams matched each other rally for rally all night long, in what would turn out to be an epic five set thriller.
Swanson brought Chinook within one at 20-19 with a well-placed ball in set one. Moments later senior Belle Elliot tied the score at 22-22 with a huge block. Senior Lexi Pitkanen gave the 'Beeters the lead, 26-25 with a Kill Neibauer closed out the 27-25 first set win with Kill to the back corner.
The Huskies responded in a big way in set number two, racing out to an early lead and not looking back in a 25-16 set win to even the match. The 'Beeters took control early in set number three jumping out to a 6-1 lead after Neibauer drilled a Kill of the hands of the Belt Libero. Belt stormed back and took a 25-19 set three win to go up 2-1 in the match.
Chinook had plenty of fight left in them as they again went toe to toe with the Husky attack. Senior Torin Cecrle was huge in the back row, keeping rallies alive with a number of spectacular digs. Pitkanen again came up big with a well-timed Kill to bring Chinook close at 19-20. Sophomore Addison Olsen served up an Ace to even the score at 21-21. Elliot netted another huge block and Neibauer again finished off the Huskies with a big swing and a well-timed block, giving the 'Beeters a 27-25 fourth set win.
Chinook gave every bit of energy they had in the fifth and deciding set. After falling behind 10-5, Swanson started the 'Beeters on the comeback trail with a huge slam. Olsen followed with a well-placed set to Swanson for another Kill to trim the Belt lead to 10-7. Swanson placed a tip perfectly to keep Chinook within three at 13-10. The 'Beeters then forced the Huskies into a trio of errors to even the set at 13-13. Belt scored the final two points following a timeout, to defeat the 'Beeters 3-2.
Neibauer hammered home a team high 21 Kills in the match while Swanson slammed home 16. As a team the 'Beeter attack notched 56 Kills in the match. Berreth served up 30 assists, Olsen dished out 18 Assists and served up three Aces. Cecrle ans Swanson each dug up 26 balls for the 'Beeter defence.
Saturday morning the 'Beeters met a familiar foe, the Fort Benton Longhorns in the third-place match with the winner punching their ticket to the State Tournament. The Longhorns put together a much better effort than the previous meeting, but the Sugarbeeters still won the match in straight sets 25-20, 25-21, 25-21. Swanson led the way with 15 Kills while Berreth served up 16 assists and Olsen 14 in the win.
In the Northern C Championship match Saturday night with the Belt Huskies, the 'Beeters just couldn't get the ball to bounce their way in a tough three set loss 25-21, 25-18, 25-21. Swanson again led the attack with 10 Kills, sophomore Rilee Molyneaux slammed 10 Kills of her own down as well. Berreth recorded 22 Assists in the match and Cecrle dug up 31 balls in just three sets.
Head Coach Paula Molyneaux is certainly happy with her teams' accomplishments, "We are feeling great about our divisional tourney. We knew that it would be a tough road, but I really felt the team rose to the occasion, stayed focused and left all that they had on the floor."
Junior Hallie Neibauer pounded out a team high 59 Kills at the Northern C Divisional including a team high 21 in the undefeated semifinal.
Molyneaux was impressed with her team's resilience, "Of course it was hard to lose such a close battle to Belt in the semi, but I felt that they bounced back well and refocused to beat Fort Benton, a team who was on a roll, to get themselves back into the Championship."
The championship match was tough, but it doesn't lessen what the team accomplished, "Unfortunately, it was Belt's night on Saturday, but it was still exciting to claim the second-place trophy and punch our ticket to state. I think that we caught a glimpse of our true potential in that semi-final match, and we will work this week to get even better and take our best game to state where we open against Circle.
The Montana Class C State volleyball tournament will be held on the campus of Montana State University Bozeman and will be played in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. The 'Beeters will take on the Circle Wildcats in the very first match of the tournament. The Wildcats enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed out of the Eastern C. Good luck to the Chinook Sugarbeeters as they embark on their state tournament journey.
