Hornets sting way through Western C divisional

By The Standard Staff - 11/15/2008

Walter Hinick / The Montana Standard White Sulphur Springs Hornet Becky Townsend tries to get her shot over Philipsburg's Shanna Johnson and Kristen Butler on Friday night during their semifinal match at the Class C Western Divisional volleyball tournament being played at Montana Tech.

White Sulphur Springs gained what coaches believe is the first Hornet trip to a state volleyball tourney with an emotional come-from-behind five-game win over Philipsburg Friday at the Western C divisional volleyball tournament at Montana Tech's HPER Complex.

"Our first goal was a trophy, and our second goal was to qualify for state," said coach Mandy Keaster. "Now we have nothing to lose."

The Hornets will take on the

winner of the Gardiner-Philipsburg match, which is set for 11 a.m. Saturday. The first championship game is slated for 1 p.m., and if necessary, the second will be at 3 p.m.

Semifinal

White Sulphur Springs 3,

Philipsburg 2

The Hornets came in as the third seed from the 8-C district tourney and surprised almost

every team they played.

Every team except for Philipsburg, which was also an underdog before the tourney began on Thursday.

The Prospectors didn't match up well with the Hornets size-wise, which was reflected in the lack of blocks for Philipsburg in the final stats.

"We don't have anyone tall enough to block so we've got to play floor defense," said veteran Prospector coach Bill Dirkes.

It worked for the first two sets, as the deceptively athletic Philipsburg squad utilized a quick defense and an opportunistic offense in winning 26-24 and 25-23. Melanie Graham, who was a team leader in digs and kills, finished off both of the first two sets with a finesse shot to the floor in one and a power ball in the other.

White Sulphur, however, began to utilize its taller players in finding the undefended areas on the floor, and took little time in running to a 25-12 third-set victory. Becky Townsend, who led the Hornets in kills, blocks and digs, found a groove at the center of the net, and Amy Bergan also sent the ball straight to the floor her share of times.

With the wind out of their sails, the Prospectors were playing on their heels in the fourth game, and though Philipsburg grabbed a 22-20 edge late in the game, a Townsend kill backed by an ace from Shelby Buckingham knotted the sets at two each.

The expectations of a guaranteed state tourney berth brought fans of both teams to their feet, but the fifth set to 15 points seemed a bit one-sided, as the momentum of the match was solidly in the Hornets' court.

"It's all momentum," Dirkes said. "And then we didn't pass very well. I've said the team that passes the best is going to win this thing."

Keaster agreed that play at the net was key, but she explained that was dependent on the balls coming from the defense.

"Good passes from the back row made it all possible," she said. "And (setter) Shelby had a hand on every one of them. Every girl on the team stepped up today."

Dirkes also had praise for the Hornets.

"It would have been easy for them to roll over after the first two," he said. "Hats off to them. Their fans should be damn proud."

White Sulphur Springs def. Philipsburg 24-26, 23-25, 25-12, 26-24, 15-5

Kills n Philipsburg 31 (Melanie Graham 8, Kirsten Butler 8), White Sulphur Springs 36 (Becky Townsend 17). Blocks n Philipsburg 0, White Sulphur Springs 17 (Townsend 10). Aces n Philipsburg 15 (Carly Johnson 6, Addie Lepley 5), White Sulphur Springs 10 (Kayla Paulsen 5). Assists n Philipsburg 28 (Carly Johnson 28), White Sulphur Springs 24 (Shelby Buckingham 22). Digs n Philipsburg 64 (Graham 12), White Sulphur Springs 37 (Townsend 9).

— By Pat Ryan

Loser out

Gardiner 3, Charlo 1

The Bruins stayed alive for another day, and one more shot at a trip to the state tourney with a gritty win over a talented Charlo team.

The Vikings racked up seven aces in their first-set 25-17 win, though Gardiner rallied back from a big early deficit before losing.

The hot serve from the Vikings cooled in the final three sets, as Charlo began rolling up service errors instead of aces. The Bruins took the cue and senior middle hitter Dana Brennan began putting away nearly every ball that came her way. She finished with 24 kills, three aces and a block.

The real key to Gardiner's offense, though, was setter Austin Smith, who took good and bad passes alike and put her hitters in position to finish the volleys.

"Austin is the best setter I've ever coached," said Gardiner coach Carmen Harbach. "She's got great skills and she's a great kid."

Gardiner def. Charlo 17-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-21

Kills n Charlo 47 (Stephanie Murphy 15), Gardiner 53 (Dana Brennan 24, Maddie Hoeninghausen 11). Blocks n Charlo 3 (Murphy 2), Gardiner 3 (Brennan, Hoeninghausen, Short). Aces n Charlo 14 (Kinley Pope 4), Gardiner 7 (Brennan 3). Assists n Charlo 29 (Stephanie Maughan 29), Gardiner 46 (Austin Smith 45). Digs n Charlo 68 (Maughan 11), Gardiner 82 (Melissa Rees 15, Haley Love 21).

— By Pat Ryan

Gardiner 3, Hot Springs 1

A tired Gardiner stayed alive through a brutal loser-out bracket with a four-set victory against a late-surging Savage Heat team.

"We hit-hit-hit and they dug-dug-dug," said Gardiner coach Carmen Harbach. "I'm glad we didn't have to play a fifth game. They're scrappy. Hot Springs is a good team."

The Bruins cruised through the first set before a dogfight at the end of the second, where Gardiner hung on for a 29-27 win.

"We started slow and we were playing scared," said Hot Springs coach Bonnie Franklin. "It wasn't until we were into the second game that we realized we could play with them."

Dana Brennan and Maddie Hoeninghausen were solid at the net with 21 and 16 kills, while Brennan had four of the team's eight blocks. Eva Stone was effective from the service stripe with four aces, while Haley Love and Melissa Rees combined for 42 digs.

Savage Heat hitter Matea DePoe was all over the court with 21 digs, 12 kills and a pair of aces, while Mackenzie Wood had 20 digs, 32 assists and five blocks.

Gardiner def. Hot Springs 25-12, 29-27, 23-25, 25-23

Kills n Gardiner 54 (Dana Brennan 21, Maddie Hoeninghausen 16), Hot Springs 52 (Randi Arnold 21, Matea DePoe 12). Blocks n Gardiner 8 (Brennan 4, Austin Smith 2), Hot Springs 11 (Mackenzie Wood 5). Aces n Gardiner 8 (Eva Stone 4, Smith 2), Hot Springs 6 (DePoe 2, Wood 2). Assists n Gardiner 43 (Smith 43), Hot Springs 37 (Wood 32). Digs n Gardiner 98 (Haley Love 25, Melissa Rees 17).

— By Pat Ryan

Sheridan 3, Shields Valley 0

The Sheridan Panthers finished fourth in the 8-C District Tournament, but that didn't have any meaning in the Western C Divisional where the Panthers took out the No. 2 seed from the district tournament in a morning loser out match with a sweep.

Sheridan's Anika Ward led the charge with 15 kills and a pair of aces.

The first game was 27-25, where the Panthers clawed out the win with hustle and a little luck. From there, the Panthers used a scrappy style to get two more games in the upset.

Shields Valley's Susanne Grobler was stellar in the loss, stacking up nine kills, three blocks, and 11 digs.

Sheridan's Erika Kitto was another standout senior, with 11 digs and two aces.

Sheridan seemed to get over the serving problems that had plagued the Panthers in the tournament season, including a team total eight aces. Instead, Shields Valley had trouble setting up the offense and also made a large amount of communication errors that saw the ball either fall in between two players of get hit by both and go sputtering off out of bounds as a result.

The Panthers advanced to another loser out match with Charlo, while the Rebels ended their season with the loss.

— By Matt Sayler

Sheridan def. Shields Valley 27-25, 25-21, 25-22

Kills n Sheridan 41 (Anika Ward 15), SV 23 (Susanne Grobler 9). Blocks n Sheridan 5 (Juliana Bartoletti 2, Erika Kitto 2), SV 8 (Grobler 3). Aces n Sheridan 8 (Sydnee Burke 2, Ward 2, Ashley Allison 2), SV 4. Assists n Sheridan 38 (Burke 37), SV 18 (Michael Ann McInerney 14). Digs n Sheridan 42 (Kitto 11), SV 36 (Grobler 11).

Gardiner 3, Arlee 1

Gardiner's Dana Brennan and Emily Bishoff had 11 and 10 kills, respectively, and the Bruins rode a superior defense to a hard earned 3-1 victory.

The first game was a seven-point victory by the Bruins, but Arlee gave Gardiner quite a scare with a second game loss at just 25-23 loss and then a 27-25 victory over the Bruins in the third game.

The Scarlets even held a 20-19 lead in the fourth and final game of the match when the Bruins came stomping back and scored six straight to win 25-20.

Jordan Pfau was superb in the loss, leading all players in kills with an astounding 27, followed by a team-high 16 digs and four blocks.

Gardiner's Brennan added two blocks, along with Maddie Hoeninghausen.

The Bruins used the victory to advance to another loser out match, while the Scarlets end their season with the loss.

— By Matt Sayler

Gardiner def. Arlee 25-18, 25-23, 25-27, 25-20

Kills n Gardiner 39 (Dana Brennan 11, Emily Bishoff 10), Arlee 40 (Jordan Pfau 27). Blocks n Gardiner 5 (Brennan 2, Maddie Hoeninghausen 2), Arlee 7 (Pfau 4). Aces n Gardiner 17 (Eva Stone 4), arlee 14 (Cortney Dix 4). Assists n Gardiner 34 (Austin Smith 32), Arlee 31 (Dix 20). Digs n Gardiner 114 (Melissa Rees 20, Haley Love 18, Bishoff 18), Arlee 66 (Pfau 16).

Charlo 3, Sheridan 0

The Panthers swept Shields Valley in the morning, but Charlo must have found the broom and used it to take three straight from the Panthers later in the day.

Charlo's Stephanie Murphy let the charge with 16 kills. Stephanie Maughan added 24 assists, six blocks and four aces.

Sheridan 19-15 lead in the first game and a 12-6 lead in the second but the Panthers could never close the door on the Vikings, who turned around game one to win 25-23 before taking game two 26-24.

In the third game Charlo completed the sweep on a 25-20 finish. Charlo only trailed after the first serve of the third game and eventually surged to a nine-point lead.

Sheridan made a run, scoring six straight at 19-13 to pull within one. The Vikings took over, and after Maughan served two straight aces and served the third attempt into the net, the score was 24-20 and Sheridan lost on the following volley.

Anika Ward led the Panthers with 11 kills and an ace. Juliana Bartoletti added eight digs and Sydnee Burke had 25 assists and an ace in the loss.

The Vikings stayed alive in the tournament and Sheridan was forced out with the loss.

— By Matt Sayler

Charlo def. Sheridan 25-23, 26-24, 25-20

Kills n Charlo 26 (Stephanie Maughan 16), Sheridan 29 (Anika Ward 11). Blocks n Charlo 8 (Maughan 6), Sheridan 1 (Andi Hall). Aces n Charlo 15 (Naomi Knight 4, Maughan 4), Sheridan 4 (Sydnee Burke, Ward, Jennie Jensen, Ashley Allenson). Digs n Charlo 63 (Becky DuMont 17), Sheridan 26 (Juliana Bartoletti 8).

Western C Divisional

at Montana Tech

Friday's scores

Semifinal

White Sulphur Springs 3, Philipsbugr 2

Loser out

Sheridan 3, Shields Valley 0

Gardiner 3, Arlee 1

Charlo 3, Sheridan 0

Gardiner 3, Charlo 1

Gardiner 3, Hot Springs 1

Saturday's games

11 a.m. — Philipsburg vs. Gardiner

1 p.m. — 11 a.m. winner vs. White Sulphur Springs

3 p.m. — rematch of 1 p.m. game, if necessary