Lady Trojans best Lady Prospectors in Philipsburg

PHILIPSBURG - In what may very well be a preview of the District 13C championship match, Drummond beat Granite 3-1 Thursday night in Philipsburg.

The victory keeps Drummond unbeaten in district play at 4-0, while Granite falls to 1-1.

As it is any time the schools play, both clubs put on a show. Each came out of the box determined to take the opener, with Drummond eventually edging out a 25-21 win. That did little to deter Granite as they roared back with a decisive 25-15 victory in set two to even the match at 1-1.

“That’s the team that I know,” said GHS Head Coach Kaley Hansen.

But the Lady Trojans weren’t done, not by a long shot.

The two-time defending D13C champs used a rally of their own in the third set, winning 25-12 to put the home team on its heels and take a 2-1 match lead. Much of that momentum carried over into the fourth set where Drummond sealed the victory with a 25-19 score.

When asked what needed to be fix to correct their loss, Hansen was at a loss.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe it's the fact that we don’t have subs and we get tired. I’m just not sure. We just stop momentum.”

For the Lady Trojans, they have had momentum on their side since the start of the season, racking up four straight wins after Thursday’s victory.

“This was an even better check(point) because we had to play more rigorous defense,” said DHS Head Coach Sam Larson. “And I found some holes in our defense that I need to shore up in practice. It was a really great learning experience because we have Manhattan Christian on Tuesday at home and I really want to bring my best team to that game.”

The Lady Eagles are perennial state tournament participants and champions and will give Larson and the rest of her Drummond squad a good indication of where they really are Tuesday evening. But before getting there the Lady Trojans will travel to Alberton Saturday for a varsity only match.

Granite will get some time to lick its wounds before playing again next Thursday (Sept. 14) against Seeley Swan in its Homecoming match.

Granite’s Montannah Piar was the top attacker in the match with 14 kills, with Drummond’s Kimber Parsons finishing with nine. Piar and Ramsay Smith combined for eight blocks.

Ella Tallon of the Lady Prospectors led everyone in assists with 20, while the Lady Trojans split that chore between Anna Kate Sawfer (12) and Lexi Nelson (7). Sawfer and teammate Bailey Parke were tops on defense with 15 digs each and Delaney Wagner led everyone at the service line with six aces for the winners.

SCORING

Drummond - 25/15/25/25 - 3

Granite - 21/25/12/19 - 1

STATISTICS

Kills - (D) Parke 1, Wagner 6, RCline 1, CCline 2, Parsons 9 (G) Smith 3, Benson 2, Spehar 1, Piar 14, Lilyquist 5

Blocks - (D) Parke 2, Wagner 1, RCline 1 (G) Smith 4.5, Piar 3.5, Lilyquist 1

Assists - (D) Nelson 7, ASawfer 12 (G) Smith 1, Tallon 20, Lilyquist 1

Digs - (D) Hicks 10, Parke 15, Wagner 8, Nelson 10, RCline 3, CCline 1, ASawfer 15, Parsons 1, HSawfer 1 (G) Smith 14, Benson 16, Flores 1, Spehar 15, Tallon 14, Piar 12, Lilyquist 13

Aces - (D) Wagner 6, Nelson 2, RCline 1, CCline 1, Parsons 1 (G) Smith 3, Tallon 1, Lilyquist 1