Bravettes take out Butte

| October 20, 2006 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

BUTTE - Call it the Clash of the Western AA Titans - Flathead versus Butte … And the Flathead High School volleyball team proved its worth.

Kendalyn Habel, Chaeney Latimer and Kelsey Kottraba combined to serve 11 points Thursday in the final game of a five-game match victory for the Bravettes.

The 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 16-25, 15-7 victory pulled the Bravettes into a first-place tie with Butte in the Western AA standings. The top two teams earn byes into the state tournament.

"It was very exciting," FHS coach Christy Harkins said. "There was a great crowd there for them. There was a big student body. There was great support from the parents. That gym was rocking. It was an amazing match."

Habel and Chelsea Vaudt combined for 36 of Flathead's 61 kills. Butte had just 29 kills.

Ahead 2-1 in the final game, Habel's jump serve put the Bravettes ahead 6-1. The Bulldogs got back to within 6-4 before Latimer took the line for three more points. After a couple of sideouts, the left-handed serve of Kottraba - a senior defensive specialist - got FHS to victory. She finished with three aces.

"Butte is a great team," Harkins said. "They are amazing on defense. They dig everything you throw at them. We just had to keep pounding the ball."

While Flathead served more aces than the Bulldogs, its other strength of blocking was really present. In fact, Butte more than doubled it up in blocks, 14-6.

"We didn't get as many blocks and that's a credit to Butte," Harkins said. "They were able to move their kills around our blocks."

The Bravettes did, however, out-dig the Bulldogs, 62-59. Ashley Robinson and Habel led the way on defense with 15 and 13 digs, respectively.

"Our defense did great," Harkins said. "They all worked very hard to dig the ball.

"It was just an all-around team effort. There is no way I could single out one player."

Kills - Flathead 61 (Kendalyn Habel 19, Chelsea Vaudt 17), Butte 29 (Sarah McGree 8, Joey O'Neill 8, Katie Waterman 7). Blocks - Flathead 6 (No leader), Butte 14 (O'Neill 5, Janney 4, McClafferty 4). Assists - Flathead 53 (Lindsay Ingram 27, Chaeney Latimer 23). Butte 25 (Ali Stosich 14, McGree 7). Digs - Flathead 62 (Ashley Robinson 15, Habel 13), Butte 59 (Rebecca Loberg 16, Waterman 11, McGree 11). Aces - Flathead 11 (Kelsey Kottraba 3), Butte 8 (O'Neill 3, Waterman 2).