Granite fends off challenge from Valley Christian

MISSOULA – For the second time in as many weeks, the Granite Lady Prospectors were pushed to the brink on the volleyball court. And for the second straight time they walked away a winner.

Granite survived a five-set match at Valley Christian Thursday night, winning 3-2 to remain unbeaten in district play.

The Lady Prospectors opened with a 25-11 win in Set 1, only to watch the Lady Eagles claw their way to a 1-1 tie after winning Set 2 26-24. The two squads swapped wins in Sets 3 and 4 to force a race to 15 in the final stanza.

Valley took an early lead of 8-6 before Granite rallied to tie the score at 9-9. The Lady Prospectors then edged away until claiming a 15-12 victory.

“Sometimes you have to persevere through tough games,” said Granite’s Allison Benson. “It might get weird out on the court, but we just have to keep pushing though.”

Montannah Piar continued to hammer away at the net, recording 17 kills to go along with nine blocks and three aces. Ramsey Smith collected 10 blocks and a trio of kills while serving up six aces. Ella Tallon fed Piar, Smith, and Lilyquist (15 kills) with her match best 35 assists.

The Lady Prospectors continue their District 13C/14C schedule Saturday at St. Regis.

SCORING

Granite – 25/24/25/22/15 – 3

Valley – 11/26/15/25/12 – 2

GHS STATISTICS

KILLS – Smith 3, Benson 2, Spehar 7, Piar 17, Lilyquist 15

BLOCKS – Smith 10, Benson 3, Tallon 1, Piar 9, Lilyquist 2

ASSISTS – Smith 2, Benson 1, Tallon 35, Piar 1, Lilyquist 1

DIGS – Smith 7, Benson 4, Spehar 5, Tallon 3, Piar 6, Lilyquist 6

ACES – Smith 6, Spehar 1, Tallon 2, Piar 3