Glacier at FHS for trip to state

The Daily Inter Lake

One more time.

The Flathead Bravettes and the Glacier Wolfpack will play each other one final time this volleyball season - but the stakes are a lot higher this time around.

The Bravettes and Wolfpack meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at Flathead High School with a Montana All-Class state volleyball tournament berth on the line.

Neither Flathead coach Leon Wilcox or Glacier coach Christy Harkins is too excited about the matchup.

"It's kind of like kissing your sister," Wilcox said.

"I think we should both have a chance to get to state. I'd prefer to play somebody else."

To get to state "we have to play our friends and neighbors," he said.

"That's the bad thing about a cross-town rivalry," Harkins said.

"But it'll be a great match."

The teams play one another because Flathead wound up third in Western AA with an 8-4 record. Missoula Sentinel (9-3) won the division by downing Helena Capital in four games on Saturday night.

But that left three teams - Flathead, Helena Capital and Missoula Big Sky all tied at 8-4.

The tie was broken by comparing each team's overall record against the other two teams, Harkins said.

Capital was 3-1 against Flathead and Big Sky, Flathead was 2-2 and Missoula Big Sky was 1-3. That means Capital takes the No. 2 spot and will host Missoula Hellgate (No. 7) in a playoff, Flathead is No. 3 and will host Glacier (No. 6) and Big Sky is No. 4 and will host No. 5 Helena High.

Flathead and Glacier have played three times this season - once at the Great Falls tournament and twice in regular season. Flathead won both regular season

matches - in five games at Flathead and in four games at Glacier.

Harkins and the Wolfpack are looking at the positives.

"It's going to be a great crowd and nobody has to travel. They're excited. They're ready for it," she said.