Winning ways help Bengals top Wolfpack

The winning attitude.

That carried the Helena Bengals (9-0) through a tough 5-game Western AA volleyball match on Saturday.

The Glacier Wolfpack (4-6), up two games to one, led the fourth game 19-15.

Wolfpack sophomore Lexy Boschee had just served her fourth ace of the match, she and teammate Rachel Cutler were putting the ball down with relative ease and all the momentum was rolling Glacier's way.

But the Bengals are used to winning. They've been down in matches before.

Helena made a couple of substitutions and then senior outside hitter Kelsey Williams took over in the back row while junior middle Monica Grimsrud ran the show up front.

"The experience (was the difference)," said Helena coach Sheila Williams.

"I threw in a couple of kids to try to at least slow the momentum. I think that helped and I thought we made some defensive plays," she said.

Grimsrud had four kills and a stuff block during an 8-point stretch and Williams served six straight points as Helena rallied to win 25-22.

With the match tied at 2-2, the Bengals dropped the hammer in the fifth game, rolling to a 15-4 victory.

The final score was 21-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 15-4.

"(They) played great defense," Williams said of the Wolfpack. "Christy's teams always do that. They were ready to go," she added.

"But in the fifth game, my kids just started wearing them down a little bit," she said.

"(The Bengals) decided they weren't going to lose. I think we decided we weren't sure," said Wolfpack coach Christy Harkins.

"Helena is a good team. You give a good team an inch ... they will win," Harkins said.

"I was proud of the way we came out. We just need to learn how to finish.

"We need to play aggressive, stay aggressive and play all the way through a match. We are still learning how to be that winning team," she said.

"But last time we played them, we barely scored enough points to win one game," she added.

"Big improvement in us," she said.

The Wolfpack led 2-1 in the fifth game, but then Kelsey Williams got hot in the front row. She had four kills to help the Bengals to a 6-2 lead. Grimsrud took over from there with five kills.

She finished the match with 21 kills and five blocks while Kelsey Williams had 15 digs.

For Glacier, Boschee had 18 kills and Rachel Cutler added 16. Leah Engebretson led the Wolfpack defense with 22 digs.

"I'm really proud of them. I thought they battled really hard - most of the time," Harkins said.

Kills: Helena 44 (Monica Grimsrud 21), Glacier 51 (Lexy Boschee 18, Rachel Cutler 16), Assists: Helena 34 (Kyndal Williams 32), Glacier 47 (Paige Latimer 42), Blocks: Helena 8 (Grimsrud 5), Glacier 6 (Tiffany Marks 2, Kendra Bouley 2, McKell Bennett 2), Digs: Helena 54 (Kelsey Williams 15), Glacier 60 (Leah Engebretson 22); Aces: Helena 14 (Shelby Long 5), Glacier 11 (Boschee 4).