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NOXON – Everyone wins in wars like this – the players, the fans, the sport itself.

Volleyball teams from District 14C waged post-season war in the conference tournament in Noxon Thursday and Friday, and the net battles ended up going into extra matches as Charlo and Hot Springs faced off three separate times Friday before finally settling the issue.

After falling to the upstart Hot Springs Savage Heat, who entered the tourney as the No. 2 seed, in the undefeated match Friday morning, the top-seeded Charlo Lady Vikings came back to defeat Noxon in three sets in the loser-third match and then battle past Hot Springs in two tough end-to-end matches to claim the 14C crown.

The final match of the tourney, an epic five-setter to decide it all which fell in Charlo's favor 12-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-9, 15-11, was a match the players and coaches from both teams will likely never forget.

Charlo forced that second championship bout by defeating the Savage Heat 25-22, 25-14, 26-24 in the first championship match.

Those two revenge wins helped ease the sting of Hot Springs' 28-26, 25-22, 20-25, 25-19 win over Charlo earlier Friday. The match represented Charlo's first loss to a Class C foe this season, and only their second loss overall.

The Savage Heat now know they can play with and defeat the talented Lady Vikes. Coach Alisha Pablo said the Charlo girls were inside the Heat players' heads, but not any longer.

"I am just so proud of how they overcame the mental block they seemed to have with a few of the other teams," she said. "Now that they have cruised past that struggle, I hope to see a whole new team at divisionals."

The old Hot Springs team did not look bad in Noxon.

The tournament opened with host Noxon knocking off St. Regis 25-16, 25-8, 25-17, followed by Hot Springs spiking Plains 25-19, 25-20, 25-15 in the first semifinal, and Charlo stopping Noxon 25-18, 25-23, 25-12 in the second semi, which set up Hot Springs' huge win over Charlo in the undefeated match.

Senior hitter McKennzie Cannon led the Heat at the net in that win with 13 kills and eight blocks, Sydney Jackson directed the Savage net attack with 27 set assists, Sage Jackson hit up 23 digs and Brianna Gray and Lily Winn hit two service aces each.

Carlee Fryberger hit 13 kills for Charlo, Kira McPhail hit five blocks, Connor Fryberger 31 assists, Bella Hawk five aces and Destiny Manuel 27 digs.

Charlo came back after the loss to Hot Springs by defeating Noxon in three sets as described earlier.

Riley Richter led the Lady Devils in that match with five kills, nine assists and 17 digs, Avery Burgess blocked four shots and Jenna Freeman hit three service aces.

Carlee Fryberger crushed 12 kills to lead Charlo, Connor Fryberger hit 26 assist, Kass Cox two aces, Manuel 31 digs and McPhail two blocks.

John Hamilton

SETTING ONE UP for a teammate, Noxon freshman Emily Brown in action.

Noxon had clinched no worse than third place by defeating Plains 25-17, 15-25, 11-25, 25-22, 15-13 in the loser-fourth match earlier Friday.

Emily Brown nailed seven kills, Burgess blocked four shots, Richter dished out 16 assists and Arianna Wood had 15 digs to lead coach Teri Wilkinson's Devils to the win. Kylee Altmiller crushed 18 kills and two blocks to lead coach Jesse Butcher's Trotter netters, Izzy Butcher had 18 assists, Dakota Butcher six digs and Audrey Brown three digs.

The Lady Devils finished third after the loss to Charlo in the consolation bracket final. Richter tallied five kills, nine assists and 17 digs to lead Noxon, Freeman hit three aces and Burgess blocked four shots.

Carlee Fryberger (14 kills), Connor Fryberger (26 assists) and Destiny Manuel (31 digs) led Charlo.