Lady Vikes head to state with second seed

TWIN BRIDGES — The Charlo Lady Vikings did pretty well at the Western C Divisional Tournament, scoring wins against Sheridan, Noxon and Twin Bridges to send them to state this weekend.

However, a knee injury took out one of their key players from the championship game, resulting in their only loss of the week.

First against Sheridan, District 8's fourth place finisher, the Lady Vikes had a relatively easy win, defeating them in three games 25-15, 25-14, 25-20.

With 12 team aces, Hayley Carr, Amanda Murphy and Stephanie Maughan scored three each. Out of 31 team digs, Ma'Rya Hungerford put 16. Carr had nine kills out of 21 while Murphy had eight. Megan Harriman had five blocks out of a team score of nine, while Maughan had 21 assists.

"This was a great win for us to get right at the start of the tournament," said head coach Bonnie Perry. "I think it helped to calm the girls' nerves and get them ready for what they needed to do throughout the tournament. Everyone played well and we moved when we needed to, making few mistakes."

Next the girls took down Noxon in four games. First ousting the second place finisher 25-23, but then dropped their second game 20-25. The girls claimed their next two games 25-16, 25-23.

Murphy had three of seven team aces. Out of 53 team digs, Hungerford scored 20. Carr accounted for 20 of 30 team kills. With 12 team blocks, Murphy had five. Stephanie Murphy earned 25 assists while Justine Morigeau had five.

"This is always a tough game for us, I think that they are always holding our only loss to them in the back of their minds, but they always step up the pace and really focus on what needs to be done. We dropped the second game to them but kicked it up again in the third and came out on top," Perry said.

With two wins under their belts, the team made it into the semifinals, facing off against Twin Bridges, the first seed from District 8.

"We were able to watch some of their match against Shields Valley so we knew what they had and what we needed to do to beat them," said Perry.

Charlo took their hard-fought win in four, claiming the first two in their favor 25-21, 25-23. They narrowly lost their third game 25-27, but came back to win the tie breaker 25-17.

The team had 17 aces, with Amanda Murphy accounting for seven and Carr with six. Hungerford eared 22 digs out of 42 while Sammons had 10. Carr also put up 13 kills and Amanda Murphy earned nine out of team total of 21. For blocks it was Megan Harriman with six and Samijo Kain with five. Maughan once again had 21 assists.

"We came out onto the floor kind of somber, but kicked into high gear when it was time to play. This was one of the toughest teams we have faced this season and we matched up pretty well with them," said Perry. "They had #3 Katie Degel and she can hit! Their blockers didn't miss many balls but we just kept swinging and trying to put the ball in any holes we could find. Amanda Murphy and Ma'rya Hungerford really came through this game, getting some really tough plays when we needed them. We had far more serving errors than we can afford to see, and this is something we will have to correct before next weekend."

That win put the team in the fast track to state.

Again Charlo faced Twin Bridges for the final game of the tournament, but this time a knee injury took out Hungerford from the game.

"Ma'Rya Hungerford was out due to a possible serious knee injury…this was a safety precaution taken for her safety and we expect a full recovery in time for Thursday in Bozeman," Perry said.

Things were off to a slow start as the Lady Vikes dropped their first two games 13-25, 21-25. They picked up the third for a win 25-16, but fell short in the fourth 21-25.

Amanda Murphy had two of five team aces. Sammons had 21 digs while Staci Stipe had 16 out of 57 team digs. Out of 18 team kills, Carr had 10. Kain and Harriman each had two blocks out of a team total of six. Maughan had 18 assists.

"Finishing the tournament in second place was not what we came here to do, but they have nothing to hang their heads about. They beat Twin when it really mattered and we earned a spot in the State Tournament. That is what we need to focus on this week at practice," Perry said. "We know what we need to work on this week and look forward to putting our best foot forward this week in Bozeman."