Crosstown volleyball: Glacier looks to sweep season series

In yet another high-stakes crosstown volleyball match, Glacier hosts Flathead looking for its first season sweep in school history, in a gym where it hasn’t seen much luck against the Bravettes.

The Wolfpack (12-2 overall, 6-0 Western AA) enters the match as the top team in the Western AA, mowing through each of its conference opponents this season with relative ease, including a three-set victory over Flathead earlier this year at FHS that broke a six-match losing streak to its crosstown rivals. Glacier only has one loss in state this season, a two-set loss to Billings Senior at the Electric City Invitational.

“I’m pleased with way we’re playing right now,” Glacier coach Christy Harkins said. “I think we’re starting to develop consistency. I like where we’re at right now.”

Flathead enters the match in a three-way tie for second place in the West, looking to keep pace with Helena Capital and Helena High for seeding at the state tournament. The Bravettes have been strong in matches at GHS, winning five of the six crosstown contests at the school.

“(The girls) thought they overlooked them (in the first match) in a way because the last couple years we’ve taken them, but this is a really good Glacier team,” Flathead coach Leon Wilcox said.

“I think we’re starting to get over a lot of the mental issues ... I think we’re starting to gel a little bit and understand what it takes mentally to be competitive. We saw a lot of that this weekend at the Crossover in Spokane, a consistent mental effort, and so I think we’re getting better in that area.”

The game will be a battle on both ends of the court. Glacier boasts one of the top front lines in the state, with Cassi Hashley and Tessa Krueger entering the match leading the conference in hitting efficiency, and the team is the best in attack efficiency.

“They’re very tall and very strong,” Wilcox said.

“They have a lot of offense, so just like last time we’ve got to try to counter that offense with our defense, and I think it’s just defensive tenacity. We’ve got to be aggressive, we can’t ease up on them. It’s got to be go, go, go the whole time because they’ve got a lot of guns, they’ve got a lot of weapons, they come at you from a lot of different places.”

Flathead is led by is experienced back row, with the top three passers in the state and two of the leaders in digs. Emma Andrews and Timi Severson lead the conference in kills per set.

“Flathead has great passers,” Harkins said.

“They keep the ball off the floor. We have to make sure we are constantly aggressive and don’t get frustrated if they continue to keep the ball off the floor, which they’re capable of doing ... That comes from perseverance and persistence.”

The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at Glacier High School.