Glacier down, but not out

BOZEMAN - The good news is the Glacier Wolfpack volleyball still lives at the Class AA state volleyball tournament.

The bad news?

The Helena High Bengals rocked the Wolfpack in Friday's semifinal - 25-18, 25-16, 25-22.

The Wolfpack plays Billings West at 11 a.m. today. That winner moves on to play Helena in the championship. The loser goes home with the third place trophy.

The Wolfpack went over its plan before warmups - serving and passing were the biggest keys, according to coach Christy Harkins.

"We knew what we had to do. We just didn't execute," she said.

"We passed terrible. We served terrible - and Helena played great," Harkins said.

Helena's big two - Monica Grimsrud and Kyndal Williams - were awesome. Grimsrud had 18 kills and 14 digs. Williams had 30 assists, 14 digs, two blocks and two aces.

The Bengals also got a dozen kills from outside hitter Sydney Simanton.

"We were hesitant in the beginning - and they were aggressive on everything. I thought all their kids played well," Harkins said.

Helena was in contol quickly in the first two sets - up by as many as seven points in the first set and nine points in the second set.

The Wolfpack fought back in the third. It trailed 16-11 at one point, but battled to tie the game at 22.

"They picked it up and showed some fight in set three. But you can't wait," Harkins said.

Rachel Cutler had eight kills and two aces to lead Glacier.

"Rachel played hard. She always plays hard," Harkins said.

Paige Latimer added 21 assists and Kendra Bouley contributed 13 digs.

"Now we just have to get ready to play (Saturday). We've got another day to fight. But we will have to show up with a lot more intensity," the coach said.

Kills - Helena 40 (Monica Grimsrud 18, Sydney Simanton 12), Glacier 28 (Rachel Cutler 8), Assists - Helena 34 (Kyndal Williams 30), Glacier 22 (Paige Latimer 21), Blocks - Helena 5 (Williams 2), Glacier 2 (No leader), Digs - Helena 52 (Grimsrud 14, Williams 14), Glacier 50 (Kendra Bouley 13), Aces - Helena 6 (Williams 2), Glacier 4 (Cutler 2, Cami Mathison 2).