Volleyball: Bravettes sweep Sentinel

Flathead moved into a three-way tie for second place in the Western AA volleyball standings with a 25-9, 25-17, 25-20 win over Missoula Sentinel Tuesday at Flathead High School.

Flathead (11-7 overall, 5-2 Western AA) ran away with the first set after Lizzie Sherwood served seven consecutive aces in a 12-0 run, and while Sentinel (3-10, 1-6) made the second and third sets more competitive, the Bravettes always appeared in control.

Flathead libero Iris Matulevich said Sherwood’s run of aces was a catalyst for the fast start, but the Bravettes were careful not to let their guard down.

“That definitely got the momentum up, just because it takes a lot out of a team to be acing them like crazy,” she said. “That definitely helped us, but we had to make sure we stayed focused and made sure that we were watching for stuff coming back over the net.”

Flathead trailed at times in the second and third sets but never by more than three points. Timi Severson’s big hitting kept the second set close until a slew of Sentinel errors allowed the Bravettes to pull away. A 4-0 run on Ashli Petek’s serve iced the third set.

“It was a midweek match,” Flathead coach Leon Wilcox said. “They played really good. I thought Sentinel started out, for lack of a better word, they started out kind of scared, but just like I figured they would, they came back. We got the job done. It wasn’t real flashy, it looked like it was middle of the week, got homework to do, kind of tired volleyball.

“I’m not taking anything away from the girls, they did a great job. They played hard, they were sweating like crazy out there and Sentinel picked it up and made us work for it.”

Severson led Flathead with 16 kills while Sherwood and Emma Andrews each had eight. The Bravettes tallied 33 kills as a team while Sentinel had 12.

“Phenomenal passing and the energy of the team just got me pumped,” Severson said.

Setter Jessica Simmons had 31 of Flathead’s 35 assists and Severson and Andrews each had two blocks. Iris Matulevich led the Bravettes with 18 digs.

Sentinel led 8-5 early in the second set after Flathead dominated the first, but the Bravettes managed to tie it at 10 after kills by Andrews, Sherwood and Severson. Two more ties ensued before Severson hit back-to-back kills, including one from the back row, to put Flathead ahead 14-12. The two teams then traded points until Sentinel made four consecutive errors to make it 21-15 and Flathead won four of the next seven to go ahead two sets to none. A kill from Severson brought up set point and Sherwood finished it with a kill that deflected out of bounds off the hand of sprawling Sentinel setter Tian Harrington.

The third set included nine ties and Flathead trailed 17-14 before rallying to win five consecutive points. Sentinel’s Allie Olson put down a kill to break up the run, but Sherwood and Severson answered with back-to-back kills and an error by Sentinel put Flathead ahead 22-18. The Bravettes won three of the last five points to end it.

Flathead, Helena High and Helena Capital all trail Glacier by 1.5 games in the Western AA standings. Flathead lost to Glacier in three sets when the crosstown rivals met on Sept. 24, but it gets another shot on Thursday when the Wolfpack hosts the Bravettes at 7 p.m.

“I’m so excited,” Severson said. “We are ready, we are hungry to win.”

Kills - Sentinel 12 (Krista Hunton 4), Flathead 33 (Timi Severson 16). Assists - Sentinel 10 (Tian Harrington 7), Flathead 35 (Jessica Simmons 31). Aces - Sentinel 2 (two with 1), Flathead 11 (Lizzie Sherwood 7). Blocks - Sentinel 3 (three with 1), Flathead 4 (Severson 2, Emma Andrews 2). Digs - Sentinel 48 (Cady 19), Flathead 45 (Iris Matulevich 18).