Granite strikes gold, beats Drummond for D13C Title

PABLO – Senior Ramsey Smith had the honor of serving Granite’s final point – and ace that Drummond couldn’t handle and that gave the Lady Prospectors a straight sweep and the District 13C title.

“We struck gold this year!” said and elated Allison Benson of her Granite team after the win.

Granite draws the No. 3 seed from 11C in White Sulphur Springs. Their match is on Thursday and begins at 10 a.m. Drummond will meet a familiar foe in Seeley Swan, the No. 4 seed out of 13C. Their match is also on Thursday, but at 1:30 p.m.

You can follow all of the action from the Class C Volleyball Western Division Tournament on PrepSportsMT.com

From the opening serve it was clear which team had played three previous matches (two of them to five sets) and which had last taken the court some eight hours earlier. Granite got off to a fast start and earned a 25-10 victory. Sets two and three proved much harder, especially the final one.

The Lady Prospectors were down 22-18 when they strung together seven straight points to secure the title on Smith’s service.

Drummond played the match without sophomore hitter Remington Cline and setter Anna Kate Sawfer left the game with a knee injury in the opening set.

It was the fifth straight time this season that Granite beat Drummond.

“Winning our first few games in the tournament gave us the advantage we needed to take home the win,” said GHS Head Coach Kaley Hansen, whose Lady Prospectors snapped the three-year reign of the Lady Trojans.

For Drummond Head Coach Sam Larson, her thoughts were more introspective.

“Never have I coached a team that worked so hard and came together for the love of each other and the sport of volleyball,” said Larson. “It is an honor to coach them.”

Montannah Piar was the top hitter in the match, collecting eight kills and four blocks for Granite. Drummond’s Kimber Parsons and Hazel Sawfer each had six.

Ella Tallon had 18 assists for the Lady Prospectors while Charlee Cline dished 13 for the Lady Trojans.

Granite’s Smith had a match-best seven service aces.

SCORING

Drummond – 10/18/22 – 0

Granite – 25/25/25 – 3

STATISTICS

KILLS – (D) Parsons 6, CCline 1, HSawfer 6, Perry 4 (G) Smith 3, Benson 2, Spehar 4, Tallon 1, Piar 8, Lilyquist 4

BLOCKS – (D) Parsons 4, HSawfer 3, Langton 1 (G) Smith 1, Tallon 1, Piar 4, Lilyquist 2

ASSISTS – (D) ASawfer 3, CCline 13 (G) Benson 1, Tallon 18

DIGS – (D) Hicks 11, ASawfer 1, PWetsch 2, Parsons 9, CCline 7, HSawfer 5, Perry 2, Langton 3 (G) Smith 1, Benson 2, Flores 2, Spehar 2, Tallon 2, Piar 4, Lilyquist 2

ACES – (D) Hicks 1, CCline 1HSawfer 2, Langton 1 (G) Smith 7, Benson 2, Tallon 1, Piar 1