Sports
Stars have rough week, play in tourney along with Eagles
Mike Manston
10/15/2014
Pictured: Jocelyn Jahner has a look of urgency as she goes up to block a shot during the Rolla Volleyball Tournament Saturday.
The Bottineau Stars volleyball team experienced their worst week of the regular season with District 11 losses to Sawyer and Rugby and made a mediocre showing during the Rolla Invitational tournament.
Coach Steve Dunrud’s club suffered its first district loss of the season on Oct. 7 to the Flashes 3-2. Sawyer posted wins of 25-13, 25-2 and 15-9 while Bottineau won games two and three 25-17 and 25-18, respectively. Senior Steph Brenden led the way with 18 kills and was followed by Jocelyn Jahner with 12 kills and Paige Vad with eight kills. Setter Baylee Grenier handed out 39 assists, Shelby Grenier added four aces and Megan Fix led three Stars in double-digit digs with 30. Brenden added 15 and Shelby Grenier finished with 12 saves.
After winning the opening game of the match, the Stars never got on track against the Panthers last Thursday in Bottineau. Rugby posted wins of 25-12, 25-22 and 25-11. Brenden again led the charge with 15 kills and Jahner finished with 10 kills. Baylee Grenier was charted for 30 assists and also finished with three aces and 10 digs. Fix led the defense with 21 digs and Shelby Grenier recorded three aces.
The Stars finished with a 3-2 match record and 6-5 game record this past Saturday at the Rolla Invitational, losing in pool play to Rolla-Rock Lake and Newburg-Westhope and defeated Minto, Surrey and St. John.
Baylee Grenier handed out 68 assists on the day and finished with nine service aces. Brenden finished with a team-high 22 kills, 36 digs and 11 aces. Vad added 20 kills, seven digs and Jahner was charted for 19 kills. Senior Kennedy Olson chipped in with 12 kills and eight digs in the tournament. North Star topped Rolette-Wolford 2-0 to claim the tournament championship and Rolla-Rock Lake stopped Newburg-Westhope 25-13 and 25-19 to claim third place.
Bottineau, 13-15 overall in match play, hosted Velva Tuesday night but results weren’t available at press time. The Stars will play host to Rolla-Rock Lake on Oct. 23 and close the regular season on Oct. 27 on the road for a non-district matchup with Rolette-Wolford in Rolette.