Volleyball: Bravettes rally to earn state bid

With their backs against the wall, the Flathead Bravettes (13-10) improbably punched their ticket to the Class AA state volleyball tournament for the 12th consecutive year.

After dropping the first two sets of Thursday night’s Western Division play-in match to the Helena High Bengals (7-15), Flathead rattled off three straight victories, winning the tie-breaking set on Lizzie Sherwood’s ace that sent the Flathead faithful into hysteria as they rushed the court to celebrate with their team that took down the Bengals 20-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-15, 15-11.

Despite the Bengals scoring the first four points to open up the decisive fifth set, it wasn’t enough to stop the thundering momentum the Bravettes possessed.

“This game really just showed that we earned this,” Flathead senior Jessica Simmons said.

“After losing two sets in a row, and losing to Helena two weeks ago, having this win was great. We knew coming into the third game that we had nothing to lose. We just had to go out swinging and we did. We had momentum for the fourth game, which was our best, winning by 10 points, and that gave us momentum for the fifth.”

Simmons, the lone senior on the Bravettes’ roster, navigated the comeback with 31 assists and plenty of teamwork.

Flathead was paced by Lizzie Sherwood’s match-high 18 kills, including eight in the final two sets before her match-winning ace. When the Bravettes fell behind 4-0 in the fifth set, they rallied around Sherwood, who recorded three consecutive kills to bring Flathead within one point.

A Helena error would tie the set at eight and a Xio Lopp ace forced the Bengals to call a timeout and regroup as they trailed 9-8.

Coming out of the break, Helena scored three straight points, but that’s all it would earn before Flathead caught fire to end the match.

“Those first two and a half games our youth and inexperience came out as did a lot of nerves,” Flathead coach Leon Wilcox said.

“We were apprehensive at times defensively and, offensively, we weren’t being aggressive. It turned around. I knew if we won that third game we would have enough momentum. In that third set, you could feel the momentum shift sides of the court. To our credit, the girls hung on to that momentum for the rest of the match.”

The Bengals were led by senior Jenna Starke’s 16 kills, but whenever Helena tried to assert her into the match, she was met at the net by 6-foot sophomore Tiana Johnson. Johnson blocked Starke on three occasions and matched her kill total with 16 of her own.

“I think Tiana had a great night and we needed it from her, too,” Wilcox said.

“We matched her up on Starke intentionally. That was part of our gameplan with her being our best blocker. I thought not only did she block (Starke) well, but she also hit around her well.”

Flathead got a big defensive night from junior libero Abbie O’Brien. While Sherwood and Lopp finished with 14 digs each, O’Brien led the Bravettes with 25.

Flathead also utilized serving specialist Jourdan Schultz. The junior recorded a match-high five aces of the 12 the Bravettes would hit.

The composure to shrug off a slow start paired with the team effort to close out the match came just at the right time as Flathead gets ready to head to Bozeman for the state tournament.

“We know we can do anything, really, after losing two games and winning the next three,” Simmons said.

“I think it gives us a boost of confidence and we’re really excited to go to state.”

The Bravettes will play Billings Senior (28-1), the second seed out of Eastern AA, at 4 p.m. on Thursday at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on the campus of Montana State University.

Flathead def. Helena

22-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-15, 15-11

Kills — Helena 43 (Henna Starke 16, Autumn Mayo 8), Flathead 66 (Tiana Johnson 16, Lizzie Sherwood 18). Assists — Helena 37 (Madison Richtmyer 37), Flathead 53 (Jessica Simmons 31). Blocks — Helena 9 (Starke 7, Ally Peccia 5). Flathead 7 (Johnson 3). Digs — Helena 92 (Kendra Woodland 31, Madison McLaughlin 16), Flathead 78 (Abbie O’Brien 25, Lizzie Sherwood 14, Xio Lopp 14). Aces — Helena 9 (Richtmyer 3, McLaughlin 4), Flathead 12 (Jordan Schultz 5).

Thursday

Eastern AA

Billings Skyview def. Great Falls CMR

25-7, 25-14, 25-9

CMR (3-21): Kills: 12 (Adrianna Hennessey 5). Blocks: 3 (McCall Enott 3). Aces: 0. Digs: 39 (Kierstin Evenson 13). Assists: 11 (Lindsey Anderson 11).

Sky (20-9): Kills: 31 (Hailey Copinga 13, Molly Little 8). Blocks: 3 (Copinga 2). Aces: 8 (Ashley Jones 4). Digs: 22 (Taylor Burris 7, Holly Johnson 7). Assists: 26 (Jones 25).

Billings Senior def. Butte

25-11, 25-15, 25-2

Butte (6-17, 1-11): Kills 12 (Caileigh Norman 6). Assists 7 (McKaul Ori 7). Aces 3 (Three with one). Digs 24 (Hannah Amtmann 11). Blocks 1 (Brittney Plum 1).

Billings Senior (28-1, 11-1): Kills 37 (Taylor Mims 15, Aubrie Steiner 9). Assists 34 (Brianna Bromgard 21, Jeanann Lemelin 11). Aces 8 (Briley Rowe 4, Lemelin 4). Digs 51 (Emily Orvis 18, Rowe 8). Blocks 11 (Mims 7, April Cross 5).

Billings West def. Great Falls

25-19, 25-18, 25-23

GREAT FALLS (8-16): Kills 29 (Libbey Fellows 12). Assists 27 (Measha Lindstrand 13). Blocks 4 (Sarah Dudro 3). Digs 62 (Lindstrand 16, Fellows 11). Aces 6 (Kienn Cape 2, Fellows 2).

BILLINGS WEST (16-13): Kills 42 (Jessi Zuroff 10, Payton Spoja 10). Assists 37 (Mikayla Bloyder 33). Blocks 4 (Zuroff 2). Digs 60 (Tatum Meyer 17, Spoja 13). Aces 5 (Bloyder 2, Spoja 2).

Western AA

Sentinel Missoula def. Missoula Hellgate

25-19, 25-20, 14-25, 25-23.

Kills -- Sentinel 41 (Lexi Delridge 14), Hellgate 38 (Mari Lundin 10). Blocks -- Sentinel 2 (Tizzy Weida 2), Hellgate 8 (Rachel Martens 3.5). Digs -- Sentinel 63 (Lauren Cady 18), Hellgate 60 (Hannah Lasche 17). Assists -- Sentinel 37 (Tian Harrington 33), Hellgate 32 (Paula Woerlein 23). Aces -- Sentinel 7 (Cade 2, Nicole Holmquist 2), Hellgate 4 (Lasche 2).

Tuesday

Western AA

Helena Capital def. Big Sky

25-10, 25-22, 25-11

Kills - MBS 13 (Anna Gragg 6), CHS 37 (Kendra Danielson 9, Savannah Perschon 9); Assists - MBS 11 (Carly Hart 11), CHS 30 (Rayna Pilgeram 23); Blocks - MBS 2 (Kiley Snow 2), CHS 6 (Amanda Bartsch 5); Digs - MBS 51 (Macey Newberry 15), CHS 54 (Madison Quick 19); Aces - MBS 5 (Gragg 2, Kylee Fredd 2), CHS 10 (Pilgeram 5).