Scarlets roll through Districts, get ready for Divisionals
ARLEE SCARLET Mikayla Rieken attacks the Plains defense in the championship game of the Class 14-C District volleyball tournament at Charlo High School. This is third season Arlee advanced to Divisional. (Jason Blasco/Lake County Leader)
THE ARLEE Scarlets volleyball team celebrates after qualifying for divisionals with crucial victories over Charlo and Plains the District volelyball tournament Thursday and Friday at Charlo High School. (Jason Blasco/Lake County Leader)
For the third-consecutive season, the Arlee Scarlets volleyball team qualified for the Class C Divisional Tournament after they captured their second-consecutive District Title with a victory over Plains in the District championship Friday night at Charlo High School.
Scarlets’ volleyball coach Lonie Morin said she felt her team played well en route to capturing the District crown. The Scarlets defeated Charlo and Plains and stayed in the winner’s bracket throughout the duration of a closely contested tournament in which three teams had to flip a coin to decide who got the No. 1 seed because their records were so close.
“We had some really good games against tough teams this season, as well as in Districts,” Morin said. “I think that we’ve played solid volleyball all-around and should be competitive this weekend at Divisionals.”
The Divisional berth marks the third consecutive season the Scarlets have qualified for the Divisional tournament as they look to become the first Scarlets’ volleyball team since the 1970s to qualify for a state tournament bid.
“Having experience at Divisionals is a huge plus for us because the older girls are coming into it with some experience playing at that level,” Morin said. “If we continue to play together and for each other, we will advance to state. Teamwork makes the dream work.”
The Scarlets will play Clark Fork in the first round of the Divisionals at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Manhattan Christian Memorial Events Center.
“We were able to defeat them during our Spike-It Tournament here in Arlee in the championship,” Morin said. “They have a good team this year. We were short my middle hitter and our OH/DS at that time, so we are a different team than we when we beat them earlier in the season.”
The Scarlets have been focused on building team unity and it has culminated in success.
“It’s been a main focus for us this season defining why they are playing,” Morin said.”Is it for themselves or for the team? They are really responding well to the team concept this year. It has carried them far and made this year one of the most fun years I have coached here in Arlee.”
Morin knows her team’s quest to qualify for state won’t be easy.
“Getting to state in Class C is much more difficult than any other class because there are so many teams,” Morin said. “I believe that we really have a shot at it this year. The girls believe in themselves and that is half of the battle right there.”
The Scarlets are entering the tournament healthy, according to Morin.
“We are the healthiest we have been all season,” Morin said. “The girls have been diligent in getting the aches and pains taken care of by our awesome trainer, Matea. Just another sign that they are focused and ready to compete.”
The following are the scores from the Class 14-C volleyball tournament:
District 14-C tourney
Plains def. Hot Springs, 25-21, 25-16, 25-19
Hot Springs: Kills 24 (Mackenzie Cannon 9). Blocks 4 (Cannon 3). Digs 45 (Sage Jackson 15). Assists 22 (Sidney Jackson 18). Aces 6 (Cannon 4).
Plains: Kills 32 (Jessica Thompson 11, Rachel Huenink 8). Blocks 7 (Huenink 7). Digs 49 (Lindsay Laws 12, Thompson 11). Assists 30 (Hayley Josephson 15, Laws 13). Aces 2 (Laws 1, Emma Morgan 1).
Noxon def. St. Regis, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20
Noxon: Kills 27 (Delaney Weltz 8). Blocks 7 (Weltz 4). Digs 49 (Kristina Brown 12). Assists 21 (Anna Kaiser 12). Aces 3 (Brown 2).
St. Regis: Not available.
Arlee def. Charlo, 22-25, 21-25, 25-15, 25-16, 15-6
Charlo: Kills 25 (Kaitlin Cox 12). Blocks 7. Digs 33 (Bella Hawk 8). Assists 25 (Teaira Truman 16). Aces 8 (Truman 3, Gaustad 3).
Arlee: Not available
Plains def. Charlo, 25-16, 26-24, 16-25, 21-25, 15-6
Charlo: Kills 24 (Cox 11). Blocks 5. Digs 57 (Allie Delaney 14). Assists 27 (Teaira Truman 21). Aces 13 (Three with 3).
Plains: Not available
Arlee def. Plains, 3-1
Arlee: Kills 40 (Ashley Revis 15). Digs 86 (Eden Morrin 16, Emily Fiddler 15). Assists 27 (Sydne Rogers 12, Ashley Tanner 10). Aces 17 (Morin 7).
Plains: Kills 18 (Jessica Thompson 8). Blocks 15 (Kara Altmiller 8, Rachel Huenink 7). Digs 57 (Thompson 15, Audrey Brown 13). Assists 16 (Lindsay Laws 9). Aces 10 (Natalie Deschamps 5, Emma Morgan 4).