Maroons split doubleheader

By Bruce Sayler of The Montana Standard - 11/05/2008

Corvallis Blue Devil Ali Bierer returns a shot into a wall of Butte Central Maroon defenders: Katie Lyons (3), Quinn Peoples (15) and Brianna Dudley during the second game Tuesday afternoon in the Maroon Activities Center. Walter Hinick / The Montana Standard

Butte Central volleyball players starred in the late show playing at the Maroon Activities Center on Election Tuesday.

The Maroons elected to play hard. The Corvallis Blue Devils and the Hamilton Broncs chose to do so, also.

So, when it was over, winners were Corvallis in the first match by 16-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 15-12, Butte Central in the second match, by 25-18, 25-19, 25-23, and Barack Obama in the Presidential race.

It was an emotional Senior Night for BC as the team ended its regular season with a celebration of the careers of Brianna Dudley, Saidee Johnston and Kelly Sandford. Butte Central's regular-season record was 5-14 and the Central A Conference mark, decided last week, is 3-7. The Maroons don't play again until next week when they play host to the Central A Divisional tournament in the MAC.

The seniors bowed out with a pretty good night. Dudley's last night of the regular season included 18 kills, a match-high 14 against Corvallis, and four digs. Johnston had six aces and 36 digs. Sandford posted 1 ace, 11 kills, 3 blocks and 15 digs.

"It was good to split, but we would have liked to have two wins today," BC head coach Kaila Minehan said. "We'll take the second-match victory and run with it.

"Our defense today was really consistent. We did a good job of blocking and getting our digs." The coach said she saw signs of the offense getting untracked, too, possibly in time for divisionals.

"Even though we lost the first match, it was exciting to see the offense clicking in the first and second games," she said.

"Against Hamilton, I saw some things clicking that I hadn't been seeing. This is the first time we've won on Senior Night in a couple of years." Minehan said Johnston moved into the conference lead in digs. The libero averages more than 4 digs a game.

Butte Central will now practice in anticipation of the divisional tourney, yet more than a week away.

"We'll work on some things and polish up See MAROONS, Page B6 Maroons ...

some things," Minehan said. "We had a good regular season playing against some good teams.

"Today, the team got better and it's nice to be able to say that is exciting." Corvallis 3, Butte Central 2 Corvallis nailed down the momentum with good serving that kept Butte Central off balanced late in the match. Consequently, the Blue Devils scored a 16-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 15-12 comeback win.

The Maroons had come out hitting well and playing good defense, putting up a nice block at the net, to win the first two games. Corvallis had led parts of the second game, but the Maroons were able to overtake the opponent. It was a 20-all tie after Saidee Johnston shot an ace for BC to give Butte Central the lead for good.

Game point arrived at 24-22 on a Brianna Dudley tip. Kim Gilder tipped back for the Blue Devils, but then Dudley buried a killed for the game winner after Kelly Sandford saved the chance by roaming way out of bounds to bump a pass back toward the court.

Corvallis went ahead early in both the third and fourth games and stayed there. The Blue Devils hit game point in the third game when a Lindsy Wood kill made it a 24-21 game. A shot then sailed wide before the winner was delivered by Gilder on a kill.

The Blue Devils ran out to a 7-1 lead in the fourth game behind Amy Warren's serving. The biggest margin was 20-9 on a Maroons hitting error. A dump kill by Corvallis setter Whitney Henderson brought game point at 24-15 and then Gilder belted an ace serve for the win.

Corvallis got the tie-breaker set lead at 4-3 on the first of two straight ace serves by Amber Bradshaw. A Gilder kill made it game and match point at 14-9 later. The BC girls fought off defeat on a tip by Quinn Peoples, a four-hit call against the Bue Devils and a kill by Sandford that made the score 14-12.

Then, a Corvallis try traveled deep and the Maroons got the save, but the attempted return vaulted high and bounced off the ceiling, bringing an out-of-bounds ruling, which chalked the point up for the Blue Devils.

Corvallis def. Butte Central 16-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 15-12.

Kills — Corvallis 44 (Kim Gilder 15). Butte Central 45 (Brianna Dudley 14, Kelly Sandford 8, Kourtney Kambich 8, Lexie Murphy 6, Quinn Peoples 6, Katie Lyons 2, Breanne Krzan 1). Assists — Corvallis 34 (Whitney Henderson 34), Butte Central 38 (Lyons 38). Aces — Corvalis 11 (Amber Bradshaw 4), Butte Central 13 (Lyons 5, Ashley Kasperick 3, Saidee Johnston 2, Peoples 2, Sandford 1). Digs — Corvallis 76 (Gilder 21), Butte Central 88 (Johnston 23, Kambich 12, Sandford 11, Lyons 10, Krzan 10, Peoples 8, Dudley 4, Murphy 3, Kasperick 2). Blocks — Corvallis 13 (W. Henderson 4, Ali Bierer 4), Butte Central 10 (Sandford 3, Murphy 3, Kambich 2, Peoples 2).

Butte Central 3, Hamilton 0 Butte Central was in control most of the way in the 25-18, 25-19, 25-23 sweep.

The Maroons jumped out for good in the first game at 5-4 on an ace serve by Ashley Kasperick. The lead was four to six points most of the way and game point was reached at 24-18 when a Hamilton player hit a return into the net.

Another Broncs hitting error, this time a four-hit call, ended the game.

Saidee Johnston and Kourtney Kambich both had strong serving runs in the game.

The BC girls never trailed in the second game. A Hamilton hit traveled too long at the start of the match for a 1-0 Butte Central lead. The difference swelled to eight points, 13-5, on a four-hit call against the Broncs, and the Maroons then had to weather a couple of mini-surges by the Broncs.

A Johnston ace scored game point at 24-17 and then the BC hitters committed two consecutive miscues. However, Quinn Peoples finished the game with a kill.

Hamilton jumped ahead in the third game, using an Ashley Albert serving run to build a 6-1 advantage.

Butte Central was behind by 9-6 when Johnston went to the serving line. Her hot hand resulted in seven straight Maroons points and BC owned a 13-9 lead at side-out.

The Broncs lurked near, however, and closed to within 21-20 with Wood serving and a Butte Central shot veering wide. A Lexie Murphy kill warded off the tie. A block by Katie Lyons for the Maroons tallied game point at 24-20, but Hamilton then ran off the next three points, getting to 24-23 on a block by Vanessa Fiore.

Again, Peoples snuffed a rally, this time with a block-and-tip move that fell out of reach of the Broncs.

Butte Central def. Hamilton 25-18, 25-19, 25-23 Kills — Hamilton 13 (Ashley Albert 6, Vanessa Fiore 2), Butte Central 30 (Kourtney Kambich 6, Lexie Murphy 6, Brianna Dudley 4, Quinn Peoples 4, Kelly Sandford 3, Katie Lyons 2). Assists — Hamilton 13 (Tiffani Keinig 8, Mary Conwell 5), Butte Central 26 (Lyons 26). Aces — Hamilton 8 (T. Keinig 2, Albert 2, Conwell 2), Butte Central 6 (Saidee Johnston 4, Lyons 1, Ashley Kasperick 1). Digs — Hamilton 33 (Brittany Keinig 8, Samantha Wood 6), Butte Central 45 (Johnston 13, Kasperick 9, Kambich 8, Breanne Krzan 5, Lyons 4, Sandford 4, Peoples 2). Blocks — Hamilton 5 (Albert 2, Kyla Grimes 2), Butte Central 6 (Murphy 3, Peoples 2, Lyons 1).