Glacier, Flathead win road matches
The Daily Inter Lake
HELENA - Glacier's Kayla Smart faced match point three times in Thursday night's Western AA volleyball match - and served it down each time.
Smart came into the fifth game against Helena Capital with the Wolfpack down 14-11.
"Her thought was 'I've got to put this in play,'" said Glacier coach Christy Harkins.
"She just put in some aggressive, easy serves. They were just to the middle of the court, but good contact on the ball. They had trouble with a couple of them," Harkins said.
"She had some amazing digs that saved match point as well, some one-handed out of nowhere digs.
"We were able to score some points and hang in there," the coach said.
Smart got the Wolfpack a one-point lead and a few plays later, Jolee Kampf served out the match.
Glacier (3-1, 4-4) earned a 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 22-25, 18-16 victory over the Bruins.
Emilee Hashley had 11 kills for the Wolfpack, Lindsea Vaudt added 27 assists and served five aces, and Kendra Bouley had five blocks.
Glacier had trouble in the early going of its first road trip.
The Wolfpack trailed 9-1 in the first game after making eight offensive errors.
"I thought Capital was very good tonight," Harkins said.
"They ran their middle and we struggled with it."
Glacier def. Capital
20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 22-25, 18-16
Kills: Glacier 34 (Emilee Hashley 11), Capital 41 (Sammi Bignell 14), Assists: Glacier 27 (Lindsea Vaudt 27), Capital 36 (Emily Burk 36), Blocks: Glacier 9 (Kendra Bouley 5) Capital 6 (Bignell 3, Kelsey Robertson 3), Digs : Glacier 57 (Kayla Smart 15, Rachel Cutler 11), Capital: 57 (Emily Burk 12); Aces: Glacier 13 (Lindsea Vaudt 5, Jolee Kampdf 3), Captial 9 (Burk 4).
Flathead 3, Hellgate 2
MISSOULA - Hana Burton had 19 kills and Megan Olszewski had 35 digs as the Flathead Bravettes (2-5) defeated host Missoula Hellgate in a Western AA volleyball matchup.
Chaela Liss added 38 assists, Danika Johnson had four blocks, and Laurie Swindall contributed 19 digs and three service aces to the Bravette effort.
Scores were 12-25, 25-22, 25-15, 21-25, 15-6.
"The first game was perhaps the worst game we've played this season," said Flathead coach Leon Wilcox.
"It was just one error after another. I think we were still on the bus.
"But then we played well in Games 2 and 3."
Hellgate fought back in the third game from a 23-9 deficit. It lost 25-15, but the momentum gained carried over into the fourth game, which the Knights won.
But Flathead fought back in that game - and that momentum carried into the deciding game.
"Game 5 was perhaps the cleanest game this team has played all season. We played hard, we played consistent and we played smart. We closed it out, " Wilcox said.
He complimented the efforts of Swindall, as well as Tiffany Habel and Megan Olszewski.
"Tiffany Habel did a good job and both of our two star back row players really turned it on after that first game and turned it around for us," he said.
Flathead defeat Hellgate
12-25, 25-22, 25-15, 21-25, 15-6
Kills: Flathead 51 (Hana Burton 19, Ariel Johnson 14), Hellgate 45 (Becca Braak 13), Assists: Flathead 44 (Chaela Liss 38), Hellgate 37 (Colleen Asby 20), Blocks: Flathead 6 (Danika Johnson 4), Hellgate 5 (Mary Yoder 3); Digs: Flathead 105 (Megan Olszewski 35, Laurie Swindall 19, Tiffany Habel 18), Hellgate 80 (Brooke Bryant 29); Aces: Flathead 10 (Laurie Swindall 3), Hellgate 5 (Lisa Woerlein 3).