Glacier netters sweep Hellgate
<p>Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake</p> <p>Glacier senior Rachel Chery (25) celebrates with teammates after a point Thursday night during the Wolfpack's home victory over Missoula Hellgate.</p>
<p>Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake Junior Cassi Hashley makes a block at the net Thursday night during Glacier's home victory over Missoula Hellgate. Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012 in Kalispell, Montana.</p>
It was a slow start to the first conference match of the season but the Glacier volleyball team was able to regroup and sweep Missoula Hellgate in three sets.
Net violations and errors held the Wolfpack back early in the opening set, falling down 15-8 midway through after giving up eight unforced errors.
“I think maybe it was nerves to be honest,” junior middle hitter Cassi Hashley said. “Once we kind of knew what to expect we started rolling.”
On Hashley’s serve, the Wolfpack rallied off the next seven points to tie the set at 15-15, taking the lead for good just a few points later. Glacier won the set 25-22.
The next set was much cleaner for the Pack, winning 25-10, at one point scoring 15 of 18 points to take total control.
In the third, the Wolfpack struggled with long hits and a good Hellgate block. Glacier wasn’t able to get good separation on the scoreboard until late, winning five-straight points to take a 24-18 lead. Three serves later, the match was over, with a 25-20 win in the final set.
“I thought they battled through a tough start to the first game,” Glacier coach Christy Harkins said. “We got down quite a few points. I thought they battled through that very well and came back very strong in the second. We just have to learn how to finish that off.”
The Wolfpack was boosted by strong performances from Hashley and senior middle hitter Tiffany Marks, with each taking turns to power the offense. Hashley had a match-high 12 kills and four of Glacier’s five blocks.
“They do a great job in the middle,” Harkins said. “They’re really consistent players and they work really hard out there.”
Glacier was giving the Knights fits all day on the serve, marking 11 aces, including four each from Kailea Vaudt and Jessica Stenberg.
“I thought we did a good job (serving),” Harkins said. “That’s something we can keep working on but I thought Jessica Stenberg did a very nice job mixing up the short serves and long serves.”
This was the first conference win for Glacier (1-0 in Western AA, 3-0 overall), which is off until Thursday. The Wolfpack will play Billings Senior at C.M. Russell in Great Falls as a tuneup for the Great Falls Invitational the following two days.
GLACIER — Kills - 40 (Cassi Hashley 12), Assists - 29 (Hannah Liss 29), Digs - 47 (Kayla Russell 13), Blocks - 5 (Hashley 4), Aces 11 (Kailee Vaudt 4, Jessica Stenberg 4).
HELLGATE — Kills - 17 (Jaiden Nisbet 6, Melody McDaniels 5), Assists - 12 (Morgan Lutz 7), Digs 36 (Megan Lutz 13), Blocks - 4 (Nisbet 2), Aces - 3.