State bids on the line for AA, B volleyball

Postseason volleyball hits the Flathead Valley today as both the Class AA and Western B Divisional tournaments get underway in Kalispell and Ronan respectively.

With the top-seeded Glacier Wolfpack (23-1) having secured their trip to the state tournament next weekend in Bozeman with a bye, the Flathead Bravettes (12-10) are one win away from yet another trip to state.

Having last missed the state tournament in 2002, the third-seed Bravettes are looking for their 12th straight trip to the tournament with a home victory over sixth-seeded Helena High (7-14) in tonight’s play-in game.

Although Flathead swept the Bengals on the road in September behind outside hitter Lizze Sherwood’s 15 kills, Helena proved to be a formidable opponent after defeating the Bravettes in a five-set thriller just two weeks ago.

“We’re ready. We feel prepared,” Bravettes coach Leon Wilcox said.

“Helena is a good team and they’ve been playing very good ball lately. They’re kind of on a roll right now.”

In Flathead’s most recent loss to Helena, the Bengals had an outstanding performance from Jenna Starkey. Starkey finished with 19 kills and 10 blocks as Helena took the tie-breaking set 15-12.

“They have a couple of key hitters we have to stop, like Starkey,” Wilcox said.

“If we can slow her down, that’ll be key for us. We want to try to take her out of the match.”

While Helena brings fresh confidence into the play-in game, Flathead has plenty of momentum on their end.

The Bravettes shook off the home loss to the Bengals by defeating the Helena Capital Bruins (14-9), who advanced to state as the Western’s second seed with a victory over Missoula Big Sky (5-19) on Tuesday.

It was the same Big Sky team who faced the Bravettes in the regular-season finale, losing in four sets for Flathead’s second straight victory just five days ago. Tiana Johnson led the Bravettes with 13 kills in the match.

“We need everybody to be on. That’s kind of been one of the things we’ve been trying to emphasize,” Wilcox said.

“Everyone has to play their best. We need both of our middles to stay hot. Our entire back row has to be spot on. There’s not much difference between two through six (seeds) this year in the conference. We definitely have to be on our game.”

Meanwhile, Ronan plays host to the Western B Divisional tournament where the top two teams will earn a trip to Bozeman.

 Streaking into Class B postseason play are the Eureka Lions. Although Eureka (9-6) lost in the championship match of the District 7-B tournament to Thompson Falls after a dramatic five sets, the Lions were the only team to hand the Bluehawks a conference loss when they took the tie-breaking set 16-14 a week prior.

Amanda Peterson finished with 13 kills and 23 digs while Elliot Peterson had 10 in the monumental win.

The Peterson’s, along with Evynn Anderson, are key players heading into today’s matchup with St. Ignatius (6-14).

Should the Lions defeat the Bulldogs, they’ll play the winner of the Bigfork Valkyries (11-8) and Florence Falcons (17-1).

The Valkyries ended the regular season with a three-set sweep of Troy where Miranda Campbell had two blocks and Kayla Casalegno tallied five kills, but Bigfork is coming off of two consecutive losses at the District 7-B tournament, where Casalegno injured her ankle, ruling her out for the Florence match.

“Coming in truly as the underdog for the whole divisional tournament inspired the girls. It lit a fire,” Bigfork coach Melody Strauss said.

“They got in the gym on Monday and really went to work.

“Florence is a great team. Going up against them, we definitely know what were in for. We aren’t anticipating anything other than a great a game.”

Strauss said Marissa Hiza, a senior outside hitter, is looking forward to an extra workload with Casalegno sidelined. Juniors Lana Berg and Campbell anchor the Valkyries at the net and big defensive efforts from both will be crucial for a Bigfork victory.

“Not just Miranda Campbell, but Lana Berg needs to put out a lot of energy. When Lana gets on, the team gets fire up,” Strauss said.

“You can prepare all you want for Florence. They’re a team that hustles and plays hard. We expect them to come out with everything they’ve got. We’re just focusing on the small things and what we can control.”