Ray tops Divide to win tourney title

The Ray Lady Jays cruised to a four-game win over Divide County in the championship match of the Class B District 16 volleyball tournament Thursday night at Tioga High School.

The Lady Jays won by scores of 26-24, 25-16, 13-25 and 25-17.

"They played with a lot more intensity," said Ray coach Michelle Dolan. "The errors that they made were from hitting and not mental."

The Lady Jays got a big lift from setter LeAndra Reinholdt. The Ray senior finished the match with 24 assists and nine digs.

"LeAndra Reinholdt had an awesome game in setting," Dolan said.

The nine digs Reinholdt finished with were part of the 91 the Lady Jays had as a team.

"We had a lot of digs from a lot of different people," the Ray coach said.

For Divide County, Morgan Renner finished with 29 assists and 10 digs. Ellie Gillund added 13 kills, five aces, three blocks and three digs.

Ray will go to next week's Region 8 tournament as the No. 1 seed from the district and will play Parshall. Divide County will play as the No. 2 seed and will face Trinity Christian in a match just prior to the Ray match.

"It's now do or die time," Dolan said of next week's tournament. "We better be prepare for everyone. If you get to the (regional meet), you are doing something right."

All region meets will be played in Tioga.

Ray 26 25 13 25

DC 24 16 25 17

Ray stats

Aces - Samantha Heier 2, LeAndra Reinholdt 1, Kayla Thompson 1; Kills - Samantha Heier 15, LeAndra Reinholdt 2, Chantel Tracey 1, Kendra Heier 9, Olivia Corcoran 17; Assists - LeAndra Reinholdt 24, Tricia Liesener 16; Digs - Samantha Heier 25, LeAndra Reinholdt 9, Tricia Liesener 12, Chantel Tracey 17, Kayla Thompson 7, Kendra Heier 14, Olivia Corcoran 7

Divide County stats

Kills - Allie Dhuyvetter 2, Ellie Gillund 13, Trish Sem 3, Mariah Jacobs 13; Blocks - Ellie Gillund 3, Mariah Jacobs 4; Aces - Allie Dhuyvetter 1, Ellie Gillund 5, Kayla Casteel 4, Trina Bogrett 7; Assists - Morgan Renner 29; Digs - Allie Dhuyvetter 6, Morgan Renner 10, Ellie Gillund 3, Trish Sem 8, Kayla Casteel 8, Trina Bogrett 9, Andrea Olson 2

Burke County 3, Tioga 1

In the third-place match, Burke County defeated Tioga on Thursday evening.

The Lady Titans won by scores of 21-25, 25-15, 25-17 and 25-16.

Karli Olson finished with 24 assists and 19 digs in the loss, while Shelby Carlson added 25 assists and 13 digs for Tioga.

Burke County was paced by Brittney Peterson, who finished with 29 digs and 11 kills.

Tioga will play Stanley in the Region 8 tournament on Monday at 3 p.m. Burke County will play Watford City in the final match of the day.

BC 21 25 25 25

Tioga 25 15 17 16

Burke County stats

Aces - Brittney Peterson 6, Kayla Peterson 1, Kalene Jepsen 4, Chelsey Johnson 1; Kills - Brittney Peterson 11, Kayla Peterson 2, Molly Aufforth 4, Kalene Jepsen 3, Chelsey Johnson 3, Morgan Pandolfo 4; Assists - Brittney Peterson 1, Kayla Peterson 1, Molly Aufforth 1, Kalene Jepsen 5, Chelsey Johnson 14; Blocks - Kayla Peterson 1, Molly Aufforth 2; Digs - Brittney Peterson 29, Kayla Peterson 4, Molly Aufforth 9, Kalene Jepsen 18, Chelsey Johnson 9, Morgan Pandolfo 12, Marie Jepsen 12

Tioga stats

Aces - Paige Gohrick 1, Karli Olson 1, Andrianna Puchany 1, Katrina Kutter 1; Blocks - Jordan Larson 4; Kills - Paige Gohrick 3, Karli Olson 3, Andrianna Puchany 11, Katrina Kutter 3, Jordan Larson 11, Meagan McGinnity 2, Erin Moore 1, Assists - Karli Olson 24, Shelby Carlson 25; Digs - Paige Gohrick 10, Karli Olson 19, Shelby Carlson 13, Karen Cushing, 2, Andrianna Puchany 32, Katrina Kutter 23, Jordan Larson 19, Erin Moore 2

District 16 Volleyball awards

Regular-season champions: Ray Jays

Coaches of the Year: Michelle Dolan, Ray, and Mandy Zerr, Tioga

Outstanding Senior Athlete: Samantha Heier, Ray High School

All District team: Nikita Elijah, Powers Lake; Jordan Larson, Tioga; Tricia Liesener, Ray; Brittney Peterson, Burke County; Ellie Gillund, DiviĀ-de County; Mariah Jacobs, Divide County; Morgan Renner, Divide County; Olivia Corcoran, Ray; Samantha Heier, Ray

Honorable Mention: Molly Aufforth, Burke County; Shelby Carlson, Tioga; Morgan Pandolfo, Burke County and Kendra Heier, Ray