Bravettes hold off Wolfpack

"High achievement takes place in the framework of high expectations."

That quote, passed on to the Flathead Bravette volleyball team by head coach Leon Wilcox, means a lot to senior middle hitter Shaina Evans.

It has to do with the Bravettes playing better volleyball as the season has gone on o as their expectations for their play have increased and as the expectations of their coaching staff have also gone up.

Evans couldnit have picked a better moment Tuesday to show that.

Trailing the Glacier Wolfpack by a game ohalfway through a second tight game in front of a packed house at Glacier High School o Evans made the defensive play of her life, all all-out flying, flopping dig/set to set up fellow Flathead senior Kendalyn Habel perfectly.

Habel put that set away and Flathead overcame a slow start to win that game and eventually the match, 23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-16 in the second edition of Kalispellis fledgling crosstown rivalry.

Evans didnit lead the Bravettes in any statistical category Tuesday, but that dig showed how much that match meant to every player on the court.

"I haven't been playing back row lately," Evans said.

"I just saw the ball. I had to go after it. It was an impulse move. It was one of the greatest digs Iive probably ever made," she laughed.

"The crowd was very helpful. I think it was the biggest crowd weive ever played before," Evans said.

"We pretended like they were cheering for us," Evans said.

"Just hearing everybody around you, cheering you on makes you want to go harder and go further and do the best you can for your team," she added.

With that victory, the Bravettes put an exclamation point on the regular season.

The Bravettes (8-4) finished up the regular season having won seven of their last eight regular matches. If you throw in the Missoula County Invitational, theyive won 10 of their last 12.

It appears Flathead will finish the regular season as Western AAis second place team. That means the Bravettes will host a playoff game. The likely opponent is Missoula Hellgate.

The Wolfpack, meanwhile, heads to Missoula Friday to take on Big Sky.

"They're a lot like Flathead," Glacier coach Christy Harkins said. "They're very aggressive, good blockers, a lot of offensive options."

After that, Glacier will also be in a playoff game.

iIf we play hesitant and tentative, then weire in trouble and our season will be over.i

"We didnit pass well at all," Harkins said.

"We made non-aggressive mistakes all the way around. We hit non-aggressivley, even our passing errors were non-aggressive. Hesitating going for the ball," she said.

"Great crowd, great atmosphere, great for the valley.

iFlathead had great offense, Flathead passed well, Flathead served well," she said.

"Credit to Flathead. They did great. They got rolling by Game 4."

As unhappy as Harkins was, Wilcox wasnit feeling a whole lot better.

"I think we started out scared. It wasnit a conscious thing," he said.

"But every time we play them, Glacier comes out just gangbusters and we come out trying not to lose.

"Fortunately, both times we've played them, we've been able to turn it around when we've needed to."

Midway through the second game, "I think they finally loosened up and just played," he said.

Flatheadis Britta Thorderson put on the show of the night - she led all hitters with 16 kills.

"I thought she did a really good job," Wilcox said. "She was very consistent, steady for us tonight. Sierra (Olszewski) could feel that. She trusted (Thorderson) and got her the ball," he added.

Other leaders for Flathead were Olszewski with 39 assists, Kendalyn Habel with 26 digs and three aces and Kaylyn Heaton with six blocks.

Glacier was led by Emilee Hashley with five kills, 10 digs and seven blocks. Lindsea Vaudt added 16 assists and three aces and Kendra Bouley had 10 digs as well."

"We got on a roll, but I still felt like we werenit quite really going after it," he said. "W e had momentum, but we werenit pushing it to get more momentum. I donit want and my players donit want o to just do enough. We didnit push it for everything we could. But I am very proud of them," he added.

iI still feel like we haven't peaked yet," he said.

Harkins complimented the play of the Glacier bench and the play of freshman Kendra Bouley.

"As a freshman starting in a game like this o this was huge. It was her third varsity start of the year. Tons of pressure, stress, she did a great job," the coach said.

Flathead defeat Glacier 23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-16

Kills - Flathead 45 (Britta Thorderson 16), Glacier 19 (Emilee Hashley 5), Assists - Flathead 40 (Sierra Olszewski 39), Glacier 16 (Lindsea Vaudt 16), Digs - Flathead 84 (Kendalyn Habel 26), Glacier 55 (Hashley 10, Kendra Bouley 10), Blocks - Flathead 11 (Kaylyn Heaton 6), Glacier 11 (Hashley 7), Aces - Flathead 7 (Habel 3), Glacier 6 (Vaudt 3).