Habel able to go for Bravettes

Junior outside hitter totals 13 kills on sprained ankle in sweep of Bulldogs

The casual observer might just wonder after watching the Flathead Bravette volleyball team Saturday afternoon … maybe Kendalyn Habel should roll her ankle more often.

Not that anyone would wish pain on Flathead's 5-foot-7 junior outside hitter, but she did have 13 kills and three aces on a sprained right ankle to help the Bravettes (5-3, 3-1) to a 25-22, 25-19, 25-7 win over the visiting Helena High Bengals.

Habel's accident happened at the end of practice Friday.

"I went up and hit a quick (set), and came down wrong," she explained.

"I killed the ball, but I also hurt myself."

She iced the ankle all night, but the outlook wasn't good when she talked to head coach Christy Harkins on Saturday.

According to Harkins, Habel's first inclination was she could play, but only in the back row.

But she got to the gym early, ran the stairs and the ankle loosened up.

"She's a tough kid," Harkins said.

"It hurt, but I stuck it out," Habel said.

It looked early on like she might have to 'stick it out' for a long time.

Flathead started "super slow," Habel said.

"We were passing well, but we weren't in (the match)," she said. "Mentally, we weren't very prepared. We were playing down to (the Bengals') level."

"I think we didn't play to win, we just played to be there, to be in the game," agreed senior middle hitter Chelsea Vaudt.

"Our passing was good, but our front row just didn't put it together until our last game," Vaudt added.

That first game took awhile.

Every good move the Bravettes made seemed to be followed with an unforced error.

The teams meandered through, with neither gaining more than a 3-point advantage.

Flathead finally gained the advantage when Habel tooled a kill off the Bengal block at 18-all.

Junior Ashlea Vaudt finished off a long rally for the next Bravette point, and when a Helena kill attempt landed wide, Flathead led 21-18.

That was just enough separation.

From there, the Bravettes traded sideouts for the win.

The second game wasn't much better. Flathead led 8-2 in the early going, but Helena fought back to take a 9-8 lead.

The Vaudt sisters teamed up for a block on the next point to tie the game and Flathead pulled slowly away.

"We were just really slow out of the gates today, a little sluggish," Harkins said.

"I don't have any excuses. We just didn't come out with that fire.

"But we recognized it. I think that's a good thing. We were working on it," she added.

"By the third game, we were clicking."

Flathead ran away with the third game.

It gave up the first point of the game, but then claimed the next nine. At one point, the Bravettes were up 20-4.

"It was so much fun," Habel said of that game.

The Bravettes appeared relaxed and confident in that game.

The kills came from everyone - Habel had five, Shaina Evans had three, Chelsea Vaudt two and Kaylyn Heaton had two - and the mistakes melted into the past.

"We just went aggressive … nothing to lose. They were struggling with passing," Habel added.

Stats

Kills - Helena 18 (Ann Bugni 9), Flathead 37 (Kendalyn Habel 13); Assists - Helena 15 (Tawni Loraas 9), Flathead 22 (Lindsay Ingram 16); Digs - Helena 36 (Sarah Conn 17), Flathead 30 (Ashley Robinson 10); Blocks - Helena 4 (Bugni 2), Flathead 6 (Ashlea Vaudt 3, Chelsea Vaudt 3); Aces - Helena 2 (No leader), Flathead 9 (Kendalyn Habel 3).