Sports

Stars take district title

By Tyler OHmann

11/01/2011

The Bottineau Stars captured their second straight District 11 tournament title when they downed Rugby yesterday in Dunseith.

The Stars breezed through the District 11 tournament sweeping all three opponents including Rugby in the tournament title game last night.

The Stars began the championship match with a run that gave them a comfortable lead which they used to win 25-14.
They used their game one win as momentum for a game two 25-19 win.
After falling behind 16-13 in game three, the Stars rallied to get another 25-19 win and become district champions.

Sophomore Danielle McDonald was the team leader in kills with eight. Whitney Page had seven kills and three blocks, and Heidi Artz led the Stars with 19 digs.

“To be regular season champs, and then follow that up and win the tournament shows a lot of maturity in the girls,” said Stars Head Coach Sienna Bullinger. “It is a nice confidence boost going into regions.”

“We played well, and I was happy with the way we played,” Bullinger added. “But Rugby was tough and hats off to them.”

The tournament began as the top-seeded Stars demolished the eighth-seeded Dunseith Dragons in the first round in three straight sets.
Thanks to solid service games from the Stars they beat down the Dragons 25-8, 25-5 and 25-3. Sophomore Bailey Neubauer had six aces.

The Stars once again advanced when they breezed past four-seed Drake-Anamoose on Friday in Dunseith.
A 25-5 rout in game one set the tone for the Stars, who then won 25-11 and 25-16 to sweep the Lady Raiders.
Seniors Page, Artz, Trista Bjerk and Ashleigh Aufforth played a big part in the win.
Page had 13 kills and three blocks, Bjerk four aces, Artz 19 digs and Aufforth 29 set-assists.

Page concluded the tourney with 28 kills and six blocks, Artz had 47 digs in the tournament, Aufforth had 75 set-assists as the trio was named to the All-District team.

Page was also named the District 11 Athlete of the Year, and Bullinger, the Stars second-year coach, was coach of the year.

The Stars tripped entering the tournament, as they lost in five sets on Monday night in their final regular season game.
They did so to the Langdon Cardinals, who came in and upset the Stars taking games two and three 25-9 and 25-20. The Stars won game one 25-19 and game four 25-20. The Cardinals proved too much for the stars in the deciding game five, as they won 15-10.
Artz, Aufforth and Page each posted 18 digs. Page also had 15 kills and five blocks. Aufforth had 32 set-assists.

McKenzie Hart was the driving force for Langdon in the win. She had 26 kills, four aces, 33 digs and three blocks, all team highs.

The Stars improved to 27-9 on the season after the 3-1 week. They will move on as the top seed from District 11 in the Region 6 tournament beginning on Nov. 7 at the Minot Auditorium. The Stars will play the fourth-seed team from District 12 in the first round.

The Stars finished as runner-up’s to Kenmare last season at the Region 6 tournament, falling one win short of the State tournament.
The State tournament will be held in Fargo from Nov. 17-19.