Crosstown volleyball: Bravettes whip Wolfpack

The Flathead Bravettes maintained their spot atop the Western AA volleyball standings Saturday, powering past crosstown rival Glacier, 25-20, 25-23, 25-19, at Glacier High School.

“I felt like Glacier was one of the top teams in the state, so to beat them, especially in three, gives us a lot of confidence,” Flathead coach Leon Wilcox said.

Second-ranked Flathead (9-2 overall, 5-0 Western AA) won both of last year’s crosstown matches, but No. 4 Glacier (8-4, 3-2) entered this year’s contest one spot behind Flathead in the conference standings, making the straight-sets victory a statement win for the Bravettes.

“It makes us more of a target,” Flathead outside hitter Cassie Krueger said. “But I think our entire team is ready to go out and fight against any team we go up and play against.”

Glacier’s blockers did little to slow down the Flathead offense, which spread the ball to both sides of the court to avoid Glacier’s Cassi Hashley, who entered the match second in Western AA with 1.3 blocks per set.

Flathead setter Emily Russell, who had 26 of the Bravettes’ 28 assists, said she wanted to get her sets off quickly to isolate her hitters on the outside.

“I tried to make quicker sets,” Russell said.

“If it’s an outside quick set, the middle wouldn’t get to it and the outside hitter on my right side would get only one blocker. That makes it easier to put the ball down.”

Flathead’s Emma Andrews contributed nine kills while playing all three positions across the front row, while Krueger led the Bravettes with 16 kills, doing most of her damage from the left side.

“I thought (Glacier’s) block did a very good job of getting to the ball, but Cassie was just powering through,” Wilcox said.

“She was hitting over and around.”

Krueger credited Russell’s setting for allowing her to beat the Glacier block.

“Her sets were perfect,” Krueger said. “She knew everything that I needed before I even asked for it.”

Glacier led 12-9 in the first set before Flathead won eight straight points to take a 17-12 lead. Russell assisted a Krueger kill to knot the score at 12, then Krueger added two more kills as the Bravettes began to pull away.

Glacier struggled to hit around Sarah Risenhoover, who had five of Flathead’s eight blocks, and the Bravettes led by at least four points the rest of the set.

Glacier circumvented Risenhoover in the second set by getting its outside hitters more involved, but didn’t have an answer for Flathead’s attack. The Wolfpack built a 10-7 lead early, but four errors, an Andrews kill and a double block by Kwyn Johnson and Risenhoover allowed the Bravettes to tie the score at 14.

Three more ties ensued at 15, 16 and 19 before Flathead rattled off a four-point run to grab a 23-19 edge. Three kills by Glacier outside hitter Katie Wiley and a hit by Tiffany Marks that was deflected out of bounds tied the score at 23, but Flathead finished strong, ending the set with a Krueger kill and a Russell ace.

Glacier built an 8-4 lead in the third set, but Flathead forced a tie at 10 before pulling away. The Bravettes won nine of the final 14 points as Andrews finished the match with a kill from the right side.

“The third game, we went on a run and got to the point where we were on top and we didn’t look back,” Russell said.

“Our defense was playing fantastic, getting the setter the ball, and our hitters were playing everything,” Krueger added.

“It was a good team effort.”

Wilcox said he was proud of the way his team battled despite trailing at various points in all three sets.

“We didn’t play flawless volleyball, but they never gave up, and that’s kind of our trademark,” he said.

“We just keep going and going and going. Even at times when we we’re losing momentum on the scoreboard, they were holding onto momentum on the floor, and it allowed them to keep coming back.”

Glacier coach Christy Harkins credited the Bravettes with a good performance, but was frustrated her team didn’t rise to their level.

“We played poorly and Flathead played well,” Harkins said.

“They started out much stronger than us and gathered that momentum right away, and crosstown’s all about momentum. I don’t feel like we ever gathered any momentum.”

Glacier will look to rebound Tuesday at Missoula Big Sky. Flathead hosts Big Sky on Thursday.

Kills — Flathead 30 (Cassie Krueger 16), Glacier 29 (Rachel Chery 10). Assists — Flathead 28 (Emily Russell 26), Glacier 23 (Hannah Liss 20). Aces — Flathead 9 (Jessica Simmons 3, Emma Andrews 3), Glacier 3 (Liss 2). Blocks — Flathead 8 (Sarah Risenhoover 5), Glacier 4 (Cassi Hashley 3). Digs — Flathead 38 (Kwyn Johnson 8), Glacier 37 (Kailea Vaudt 17).