Granite sweeps Darby, stays in hunt for D13C fourth place

PHILIPSBURG – The Lady Prospectors pulled together to capture a 3-0 victory from the visiting Lady Tigers Thursday night, improving them to 5-5 in District 13C play.

The win puts them firmly in fourth place with their fate in their own hands. Granite needs only to win one of its final two matches of the regular season to stay put in the standings and face Victor in the first round of the district tournament later this month.

The wins came through tough battles Thursday, as their biggest margin of victory came in the opening set 25-18. Granite was trailing 14-11 when sophomore Ella Tallon stepped to the service line and reeled off a seven-point service run that included five service aces. Leading 18-14 the locals were able to play Darby even the remainder of the way for the win.

The second set played out much the same way, with the two teams playing closely until Tallon came around for her second stint in the service rotation. She had another run of seven points that included three more aces to lead the Lady Prospectors to the win.

The third set was nip and tuck all the way, with the teams knotting the score at several instances until they reached a 25-25 stalemate. Granite secured the final two scores to escape the set with the win and the match.

Tallon finished with a match-best 10 aces and seven assists. Gretchen Hill and Montannah Piar had sis kills each with Maya Flores collecting 11 digs. Lucia Lee was tops in blocks with two.

For her overall play and contribution to the team, Piar was named as the Kiko’s Mexican Restaurant Player of the Game.

Granite’s postseason fate will be determined by Tuesday as they travel to Seeley Swan Saturday before hosting Victor Tuesday. The Lady Prospectors lost a heartbreaking five-set match to the Lady Blackhawks in Philipsburg earlier this year and beat the Lady Pirates 3-0 in Victor.

They’ll host Superior October 20th in a non-district match to close out their schedule.

SCORING

Darby – 18/20/25 – 0

Granite – 25/25/27 – 3

GRANITE STATISTICS

Kills – Hill 6, Piar 6, McDonald 1, Lilyquist 1

Blocks – Lee 2, MarFlores 1, Piar 1, Lilyquist 1

Assists – Tallon 7, Reisenauer 1

Digs – Lee 1, Hill 1, MarFlores 3, Tallon 6, MayFlores 11, Piar 1, McDonald 1, Reisenauer 1, Lilyquist 3

Aces – Tallon 10, Piar 1, Reisenauer 3