AA volleyball: Glacier hosts Big Sky for shot at state

The Glacier volleyball team will take the court today looking to secure a state tournament berth in a play-in match against Missoula Big Sky.

The Wolfpack finished the regular season third in the Western AA conference with an 8-4 record, but battled inconsistency throughout the campaign. At times, it competed with the best teams in the state. Glacier topped Flathead — Western AA’s top finisher — in the championship match at the Missoula Invitational and swept Helena High in a regular season contest, but also lost straight-set matches to the Bengals and Bravettes.

With a postseason berth on the line, junior middle hitter Cassi Hashley insisted Glacier’s “winning team” will show up against Big Sky.

“We know if we lose we’re done,” Hashley said.

Big Sky (1-11) finished sixth out of seven teams in Western AA and lost both of its regular season meetings with Glacier in straight sets. It ranks sixth in the conference in kills per set, assists per set and aces per set and last in blocks per set, while Glacier finished in the top three in those four categories. While the matchup looks uneven on paper, Glacier players said they expect to get Big Sky’s best shot.

“They’re going to want to win really bad, because they only have to win this one game to get to state, same as us,” Hashley said. “So they’re not going to leave anything on the court.”

Added senior middle hitter Tiffany Marks: “They have nothing to lose, so they’re going to go all out.”

Glacier coach Christy Harkins said Big Sky’s strength is its tall front row. Hitters Ellen Wolferman, Kelsey Donnelly and Hana Feilzer are all listed at 6-foot or taller.

“They have some good blockers and they have some aggressive hitters,” Harkins said. “Their front line is 6-foot tall across almost every rotation, so they have some height, and when they put it all together they can cause a lot of damage, with blocking especially.”

Glacier ended the regular season with a 25-8, 25-17, 25-19 win over Big Sky Oct. 25 at Glacier High School, but the Eagles were without setter Jesse Schafer, who is expected to be back for today’s match. Even though Big Sky’s lineup will have a different look, Marks said playing the same team seven days later should benefit the Glacier defense.

“We know who their strong hitters are, so we know who to key on,” she said.

Glacier’s strength is in the middle where the 6-foot-2, Marks and 6-foot-1 Hashley have the height to match up with Big Sky’s hitters. Marks ranks third in Western AA with 0.98 blocks per set and fifth with 3.0 kills per set. Hashley ranks third with 3.1 kills per set.

Setter Hannah Liss is second in the conference with 8.6 assists per set and 0.90 aces per set.

Big Sky’s only offensive player among the conference leaders is Haley Zetterberg, who ranks fifth with 0.5 aces per set, but Glacier isn’t concerned with the numbers.

“We just have to come with a mindset of wanting to win and not underestimating them,” Liss said.

Today’s match begins at 6 p.m. at Glacier High School. The winner will advance to the Class AA state tournament Nov. 8-10 in Bozeman.