SPORTS

VOLLEYBALL: Bison fall to West in five; CMR thumped

Lee Vernoy
lvernoy@greatfallstribune.com

Hearts break easily in volleyball. All you need is to be on the wrong end of a five-set match.

The girls from Great Falls High can relate, after falling in five to Billings West Saturday afternoon at Swarthout Fieldhouse.

Katherine Sunwall, head coach of the Bison, has been on both ends of those type of games, both as a player and as a coach, and it doesn’t get any easier.

“I’m proud of the way we competed and how we handled those runs,” she said. “We just couldn’t get it done in the fifth set.”

The Bison started out strong, winning the first two sets by straight scores of 25-22, but West battled back to take the third game 27-25, then the fourth 25-18, and the fifth set 15-7.

“It was a match of runs,” Sunwall added, “and West went on the most important run in the fifth set.”

Sarah Dutro was a force up front for the Bison, with 19 kills and four blocks. Stephaney Fellows had 26 assists, and Dani Devlin served a half-dozen aces. In fact, the Bison out-served West 15-11.

“We did serve aggressively, but it’s our hitting that needs to get better. And smarter.”

Karlie Cleveland led the Bears with nine kills, six assists and four aces as they improved to 3-1 in Eastern AA, 7-8 overall. The Bison fell to 1-4 and 6-6.

Over at the C.M. Russell Fieldhouse, it was a much different scenario as defending state champion Bozeman had their way with the Rustlers with scores of 25-11, 25-18 and 25-9.

“Bozeman is a good team,” coach Theresa Besich said. “They are a smart team, and they have experience at winning. They’re good athletes … and big.

“We need to capitalize when we can, and – I say this a lot – getting past the string of consecutive points. Quick side outs. Quick resets. Not forgetting about it, but learning from it and trying to make adjustments quicker.”

Lindsey Anderson led the offense with seven assists, and the defense with 11 digs as the Rustlers fell to 1-4 and 3-8. The Hawks remain undefeated in league play at 4-0 and improved to 11-2.

The first of two crosstown matches between the Bison and the Rustlers is set for Tuesday at Swarthout Fieldhouse. Tip off is at 7.

Billings West d. Great Falls 22-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-18, 15-7

Billings West (3-1, 7-8) – Kills 40 (Carlie Cleveland 9), Assists 35 (Cleveland 6, Lexi Rogge 6), Aces 11 (Cleveland 4), Digs 60 (Lily Wault 18), Blocks 16 (Maddy Bergthold 6).

Great Falls (1-4, 6-6) – Kills 50 (Sarah Dutro 19), Assists 43 (Stephaney Fellows 26), Aces 15 (Danielle Devlin 6), Digs 101 (Hailey Little 35), Blocks 4 (Dutro 4).

Bozeman d. C.M. Russell 25-11, 25-18, 25-9

Bozeman (4-0, 11-2) – Kills 33 (Camille Landon 7, Molley Green 7, Oakley Stricker 7), Assists 27 (Allie Lynch 26), Aces 5 (Amber Taraboonia 2, Lynch 2), Digs 38 (Green 10), Blocks 8 (Stricker 4).

C.M. Russell (1-4, 3-8) – Kills 16 (Tristin Achenbach 3, Kyra Willis 3, Gabriella Hagen 3), Assists 12 (Lindsey Anderson 7), Aces 2 (Willis 1, Zuzu Rudio 1), Digs 27 (Anderson 11), Blocks 5 (Kaylee Beer 3)