The Lady Pioneers came agonizing close to their first league win Tuesday, Sept. 10, in Box Elder with a narrow fifth-set loss.
The host Bears edged Big Sandy 25-23, (19-25), 25-(score unreported), (23-25) and 15-11, as the Pioneers fell to 0-2 in the 6C East (1-2 overall). Box Elder improved to 2-0 in league and overall play.
Amiya Griffith and Stacey Allderdice led Big Sandy with 3 kills each. Alicia Bjornestad and Amanda Cline tied for a team-high 3 digs. Allderdice led the team with 3 blocks. Bjornestad and Lainey Gregory shared a team high of 4 assists.
"Hopefully, we can beat them at home," Lady Pioneers coach Brittany McKenney said, as Big Sandy will host a rematch with their nearest rival in the Oct. 25 regular season finale. "We missed 10 serves and our communication was lacking at certain points. However, the hustle was definitely there. We just need to focus on doing the little things right."
Big Sandy returns to action Thursday night with a visit to North Star. The Rudyard matches begin with junior high at 4:30, junior varsity at 6 p.m. and the varsity match 20 minutes after completion of the JV game.
The junior high Lady Pioneers hosted a tournament Saturday in which they pushed a strong Chinook squad to 4 sets in the afternoon after dropping a 2-0 decision to North Star in the morning.
The Sugarbeeters prevailed 21-14, 25-16, (19-21) and 15-13.
In the third set, Big Sandy trailed 14-8 before gaining the lead with a 7-0 run powered by Kodi-Jo Phillips' serving. The two teams remained neck and neck for the fourth set but Chinook prevented the extension of the match to a fifth-set decision by the narrowest of margins.
"It's a hard transition for some of the sixth graders" to the junior high game, coach Shersteen Cline said. "But as long as they're improving every game, it's good."
Cline said she hopes to work particularly with the eighth graders to learn the senior high 4-2 offense this season but for now, the team's focus remains on shoring up fundamentals.
After a rough start to the latest head-to-head with Chinook, she said she told "the girls to pick up their energy. They got that set win and it carried them well into the next one."
While the junior high spikers have played four of their first six matches at home, they will play four of their last six on the road before the Oct. 4-5 district tournament in Havre and Chinook. Their final home games will be at on Thursday, Sept. 26 against Highwood and Friday, Sept. 27 hosting Hays-Lodge Pole.
The senior high Lady Pioneers have faced much the opposite with four road games and two away tournaments preceding the Sept. 26 home opener against Highwood. They remain at home for the Sept. 27 matchup against Hays-Lodge Pole.
"I'm definitely looking forward to some home games," McKenney said.
