Bravettes fall short versus Helena High
The Flathead Bravettes are a volleyball team in search of answers.
The Bravettes (2-2, 6-4) won every statistical category but one against defending state champion Helena on Saturday, but were defeated 25-17, 19-25, 25-14, 25-15.
The Bravettes outhit the Bengals 35-34, had 34 assists to 33 for Helena, had eight blocks while the Bengals had six and outdug the Bengals 52-42.
Flathead's Kwyn Johnson knocked down 11 kills, followed by Hannah Sackett with 10 kills and 11 digs. Emily Russell had 19 assists and Kylee Schoepf served two aces. Timi Severson, Emma Andrews and Kylie Schlegel had three blocks each.
But Helena was able to remain consistent in its effort, while the Bravettes went on a bit of a roller coaster ride.
"Offensively, we were stronger," said Flathead coach Leon Wilcox.
"But ... as seems to happen when we lose matches and sets, we beat ourselves," he added.
"We give up momentum. We give up energy. I think they collectively hang their heads on mistakes so much. Their body language says they are getting beat," Wilcox said.
Saturday's match had the makings early of an epic contest - nip and tuck, the teams going kill for kill.
But Helena 6-foot-3 junior middle Kaitlyn Oliver got her first kill to give the Bengals an 18-16 lead. The next point also came out in Helena's favor. One Flathead hitting error and one bad pass later, what was a tight set was suddenly decidedly in favor of Helena.
Flathead bounced back in the second set, busting out to a 10-1 lead on the serve of senior libero Kylee Schoepf.
The kills and the smiles piled up as Flathead operated on all cylinders.
Johnson had three kills in that set, Sackett, Severson and Krueger all had two. Schlegel threw in a couple stuff blocks.
But the third set was all Oliver. She scored the first five points for the Bengals. The set had barely started and the Bravettes were down 5-1.
They came back to knot the set at 9-all, but by then Oliver seemed unstoppable. She finished the set with eight kills and three blocks. She had 18 kills in the match.
The fourth set also started out close. But one bad Flathead pass seemed to lead to a service error, which led to a ball dropping on a miscommunication and a rotation violation - and Helena rolled.
"When we start giving up strings of points, it seems to be a combination of bad passes and missed serves," Wilcox said.
"They make mistakes and they hang onto it. It automatically gives the energy to the other team and we have a hard time getting it back - especially against good teams," he said.
"You can't do that against good teams ... they will keep the momentum.
"We need to learn how to not defeat ourselves with negative thought ... with the defeatist crud," he added.
"In our meeting after the match, the girls came up with a couple ideas. We'll see if those things work. I think they recognize the problem ... it's not the other team. It's themselves," he said.
"I still believe in these girls," he hastened to add. "They've got the stuff.
"We have a few mental lessons to learn. If we get that stuff ironed out, we'll be OK," he said.
The Bravettes have a busy week ahead. Missoula Hellgate will be at Flathead on Tuesday. On Thursday, the Bravettes are at Glacier.
Kills - Helena 34 (Kaitlyn Oliver 18, Tatum Teegarden 6), Flathead 35 (Kwyn Johnson 11, Hannah Sackett 10); Assists - Helena 33 (Kyndal Williams 31), Flathead 34 (Emily Russell 19); Blocks - Helena 6 (Oliver 4), Flathead 8 (Emma Andrews 3, Timi Severson 3, Kylie Schlegel 3); Digs - Helena 46 (Aris Frost 18), Flathead 52 (Andrews 12, Sackett 11); Aces - Helena 11 (Sydne Simanton 4, Frost 3), Flathead 4 (Kylee Schoepf 2).