Granite second at District, heads to Divisional Tourney next week
TWIN BRIDGES – The Lady Prospectors survived a scare from Drummond before losing to Ennis for a second time in two days to take second place at the District 12C Volleyball Tournament Friday night in Twin Bridges.
As one of the Top 2 teams from the district, Granite advances to the Divisional Tournament next week at Manhattan Christian.
“Tournaments are always fun,” said Granite Head Coach Jennifer Graham after the tournament. “I was proud of the girls for pulling out yet another thrilling match with Drummond. “We started off strong with Ennis but our errors just get the best of us. Going into divisional we really need to make teams earn points on us rather than just giving them to them. We look forward to our season continuing for one more week!”
Granite def. Drummond, 24-26, 20-25, 25-17, 25-13, 16-14
For the third time this year, Drummond pushed the Lady Prospectors to the brink in a five-game set but could not finish them off. Just as in their meeting two weeks earlier, the Lady Trojans jumped out to a 2-0 lead only to have Granite come back to win the next three. The opening pair of wins by Drummond was remarkable considering they were playing their third match of the day while the Lady Prospectors were playing their first.
Amelia Hill led Granite with 10 kills and three blocks, with Haddie Tallon giving out 21 assists. Asha Comings nailed seven aces and Audrey Radtke had a team high 11 digs.
Sydney Phillips was the top hitter for Drummond with eight and tied Holly Hauptman with three blocks each. Rounding out the leaders for the Lady Trojans were Rylee Hilmo with 14 digs, Hannah Bradshaw with six aces and Deana Parke with a dozen assists.
The win propelled the Lady Prospectors into the championship game against Ennis. For Drummond the loss ended their season with a third place finish in the tournament and unable to force a challenge game.
“I loved every moment spent with those girls,” said a reflective Brooks Phillips of her team. “They played incredibly hard .... and I am very proud of them. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with such a wonderful bunch of young ladies.
“I’m sad the season is over, but we came home with some hardware and we wish Ennis and Philipsburg good luck as they move on.”
Ennis def. Granite, 25-14, 25-15, 25-12
After a late season slump where the Mustangs had five players sitting due to rules violations, Ennis roared back to claim the District 12C title over Granite in a sweep.
The Lady Prospectors managed just nine kills in the match, with Amelia Hill collecting six. Haddie Tallon had five assists, Reece Pitcher had 1-1/2 blocks, Asha comings had 10 defensive digs and tied Tallon in aces with four each.
Drummond def. Harrison-Willow Creek, 25-13, 25-15, 25-14
Drummond started its day by beating the Wildcats, taking control early and never letting up.
Hannah Bradshaw stepped up to lead the Lady Trojans in Kills (8) and Digs (7), tying teammate Gracie Weaver in the latter stat. Rylee Hilmo lead in service aces with five, Deanna Parke had 14 assists while Sydney Phillips and Holly Hauptman each had one block.
Drummond def. Twin Bridges, 25-17, 26-24, 25-16
After beating Harrison-Willow Creek, the Lady Trojans swept through the host team in three games to advance to the consolation final against Granite.
Rylee Hilmo and Deana Parke each dished out 10 assists, nine of which went to team leader Hannah Bradshaw. Bradshaw was also the team leader in aces with six, Hilmo had a team-best 12 digs and Sydney Phillips had Drummond’s lone block.
