A so-so day in AA for Glacier, Flathead at state volleyball

BOZEMAN — Billings bested Kalispell in both Class AA winners-bracket quarterfinals at the state volleyball tournament Thursday evening at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

Glacier (22-4) fell 25-22, 25-17, 25-17 to Billings Skyview (24-4) while Flathead (18-11) couldn’t get past the big block of defending champion Billings Senior (25-1), which won 25-22, 14-25, 25-14, 25-17.

Skyview controlled its match from start to finish as 6-foot-2 middle blocker Mallory Arbizzani seemingly got her long arms on every Glacier attack while outside hitter Aubree Mason pounded away from the left side.

“All around the court they played very well,” Glacier coach Christy Harkins said of Skyview. “They blocked very well, they dug very well, they played with a lot more intensity than we did. A lot more hustle. They just had a good sense of urgency that this match is important and I thought they really excelled in all areas. They attacked the ball really well.”

Mason tallied a match-high 11 kills while her twin sister Breeanna assisted 27 of Skyview’s 35 kills.

Skyview pulled away late in the first set, breaking a 20-all tie with a 3-0 run. Two kills from Katie Wiley kept the Wolfpack in it but Skyview’s Hailey Copinga answered with a kill to polish off the set.

Skyview jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the second set and never allowed Glacier to take a lead. An 8-3 start in the third similarly propelled the Falcons to victory.

Wiley and Cassi Hashley led Glacier with nine kills apiece and the Wolfpack tallied 27 as a team. Arbizanni totaled seven kills and five blocks for Skyview.

“We didn’t have momentum at all,” Harkins said. “Skyview kept that the entire time. They did a really good job of controlling the match. We started out the match with two missed serves right into the net and that’s pretty much the direction that the match went. We controlled it at times in a negative fashion by our errors. Some of those were forced errors by the things Skyview was doing well, but some of them were unforced errors.”

Unlike its crosstown counterpart, Flathead managed to seize some momentum during its match with Senior, but it was short-lived. The Bravettes stormed out to a 10-4 lead in the second set, which prompted Senior coach Jeff Carroll to yell, “What is going on out here ladies?”

An ace by Flathead setter Jessica Simmons and a Senior hitting error gave the Bravettes an eight-point lead and Flathead seemed brimming with confidence when they finished off a 25-14 victory that evened the match at one set apiece.

The defending champs returned to their usual selves in the third, which they dominated from the first point, and Flathead didn’t have enough offense to counter Senior’s dominating block in the fourth.

The Broncs totaled 22 blocks while Flathead finished with eight. Six-foot-1 middle hitter Aubrie Steiner was in on 11 of Senior’s blocks while 6-3 middle Taylor Mims and 6-0 setter Jace Henderson tallied seven apiece.

“That block gave us troubles the whole match,” Flathead coach Leon Wilcox said. “They’re huge. I think there were moments, like the second game, where we did a real good job of hitting around the block, moving through it. Then we stopped doing that and we started hitting into the block, and it’s just too big of a block to hit into.”

Senior had a narrow 42-40 edge in kills. Flathead’s Timi Severson recorded a match-high 20 kills while Mims led Senior with 16.

Wilcox credited his back row with keeping the Bravettes competitive. Libero Iris Matulevich finished with 15 digs and defensive specialists Ashli Petek and Nouf Rashoodi gave Severson and Flathead’s hitters plenty of opportunities to attack.

“They were the standard for us,” Wilcox said. “They kept our offense in it by keeping the ball off the floor. They were fantastic. I think they’ve done a great job all day. Offensively we’ve just got to be smarter. To get here you’ve got to be good and the other teams are good too. The blocks are going to be big, they’re going to be better, we’ve just got to hit smarter.”

Glacier advanced to the quarterfinals by dominating at the service line in a first-round win over Great Falls (14-12). The Wolfpack tallied 17 aces in 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21 win.

Wiley led a balanced attack with 16 kills, Hashley had 13 and Hannah Atlee finished with 12.

Atlee pounded a kill to bring up match point in the fourth set and Hashley ended it two points later with a tip that found the floor.

“We found a way to battle through it, but I thought Great Falls High played really well,” Harkins said. “That was the best blocking and defense I’ve seen them play. We had to change a few of the things that we did and I thought we made good adjustments and we could do that, but we weren’t clicking yet.”

Flathead advanced to the quarters with a marathon 20-25, 25-19, 27-29, 25-23, 15-8 win over Bozeman (15-7) in the first round.

The Bravettes trailed 6-3 in the decisive fifth set before winning 12 of the final 14 points.

Emma Andrews led Flathead with a match-high 21 kills and Severson tallied 17.

Flathead plays the winner between Great Falls and Helena at 2 p.m. today in loser-out action while Glacier takes on the winner between Missoula Sentinel and Bozeman at 4 p.m.

Winner’s bracker quarterfinals

Skyview def. Glacier, 25-22, 25-17, 25-17

Kills – Skyview 35 (Aubree Mason 11), Glacier 27 (Katie Wiley 9, Cassi Hashley 9). Blocks – Skyview 9 (Mallory Arbissani 5), Glacier 1 (Tessa Krueger). Digs – Skyview 34 (Bekah Ellis 9), Glacier 31 (Kayla Russell 11). Assists – Skyview 28 (Breeanna Mason 27), Glacier 22 (Hannah Liss 21). Aces – Skyview 7 (Ellis 3), Glacier 3 (three with 1).

Senior def. Flathead, 25-22, 14-25, 25-14, 25-17

Kills – Flathead 40 (Timi Severson 20), Senior 42 (Taylor Mims 16, Jace Henderson 9). Assists – Flathead 37 (Jessica Simmons 34), Senior 32 (Henderson 31). Aces – Flathead 5 (Simmons 2), Senior 4 (Bobbi Bjordahl 2). Blocks – Flathead 8 (Emma Andrews 3), Senior 22 (Aubrie Steiner 11, Mims 7, Henderson 7). Digs – Flathead 48 (Iris Matulevich 15), Senior 73 (Catherine Sloan 19).

First round

Glacier def. Great Falls, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21

Kills – Great Falls 27 (Nora Klick 9, Courtney Hammer 7, Alissa Perkins 6), Glacier 50 (Katie Wiley 16, Cassi Hashley 13, Hannah Atlee 12). Assists – Great Falls 27 (Kasey Linskey 26), Glacier 45 (Hannah Liss 45). Aces – Great Falls 1 (Klick), Glacier 17 (Hashley 5). Blocks – Great Falls 8 (Ainsley Perkins 5, Alissa Perkins 3), Glacier 5 (Liss 3, Brielle Bumgarner 2, Wiley 2). Digs – Great Falls 47 (Skyler Ortiz 15, Linskey 10, Brooke Roady 9), Glacier 59 (Kayla Russell 17).

Flathead def. Bozeman, 20-25, 25-19, 27-29, 25-23, 15-8

Bozeman (15-7) - Kills: 55 (Caitlin Lonergan 19, Tiffany Shearman 18). Assists: 52 (Kayla Verzuh 31, Hailee Olsen 17). Aces: 8 (Maggie Green 2, Shearman 2). Blocks: 13 (Madison Studer 7, Lonergan 4). Digs: 64 (Green 17, Shearman 14).

Flathead (18-10) - Kills: 54 (Emma Andrews 21, Timi Severson 17). Assists: 51 (Jessica Simmons 45). Aces: 10 (Simmons 5). Blocks: 15 (Sarah Risenhoover 9). Digs:65 (Iris Matulevich 16).