Volleyball roundup: Glacier dominates Missoula Invitational
MISSOULA — The highly anticipated matchup between the state’s top two volleyball teams never happened.
Helena Capital lost it’s semifinal matchup to Missoula Hellgate, whom the Bruins beat in pool play on Friday, allowing Glacier to rout the Knights in the three-set championship match at the Missoula Invitational, sweeping Hellgate 25-11, 25-10 for first place on Saturday.
Katie Wiley finished with 13 of Glacier’s 27 kills in the championship match, and teammate Hannah Liss registered 25 assists for the Wolfpack, who never dropped a set out the 24 they played over the course of two days.
Hailee Bennett had eight digs for the Wolfpack and recorded three of Glacier’s nine aces. Liss also finished with three aces.
Glacier defeated Helena in the semifinal match in two sets.
Helena defeated the Flathead Bravettes in the first round of championship bracket play, eliminating the chances of a crosstown semifinal matchup in Missoula, but the Bravettes regrouped and beat Columbia Falls before knocking off Missoula Sentinel for a third-place finish.
After topping the Spartans 25-23 in the first set, Flathead fell 17-25 in the second, but rallied to another 25-23 win in the final set.
“It was the 24th match on the last day. Maintaining the intensity and focus is tough,” Bravettes coach Leon Wilcox said.
“We had a pretty substantial lead in that game, but Sentinel came back with some motivation, and we gave up a string of points. We called a time out, made some readjustments and we pulled it out.”
The Bravettes strong showing in Missoula was credited to the return of Lizzie Sherwood and Jourdon Schultz. The two impact players were sidelined by injuries, but made their return to the lineup.
“For us, it was almost like a new start having those two players out and getting them back this weekend,” Wilcox said.
“It was fresh and new for us. It was fun. It didn’t feel like a middle of the season situation.”
It was a long second day for Columbia Falls. The Wildkats played both Kalispell’s schools to losses and were knocked out of the tournament. They lost their first match of championship bracket to Glacier, setting up the contest against Flathead.
In the consolation bracket, Whitefish and Libby had similar fates to their Class A partner Columbia Falls. Each team lost the first two matches and were done for the day.
Polson won its opening consolation match by beating Missoula Big Sky, but lost to Great Falls in the consolation semifinal match. The Lady Pirates finished strong, defeating Big Sky for the second time in the same day for a third-place finish.
Missoula Invitational
Saturday’s results
Consolation bracket
Hellgate High School
Scores unavailable
Frenchtown def. Libby
Anaconda def. Great Falls CMR
Great Falls def. Whitefish
Polson def. Missoula Big Sky
Great Falls def. Libby
Big Sky def. Whitefish
Anaconda def. Frenchtown, semifinal
Great Falls def. Polson, semifinal
Polson def. CMR
Big Sky def. Frenchtown
Polson def. Big Sky, third place
Great Falls def. Anaconda, championship
Championship bracket
Sentinel High School
Helena Capital def. Butte, 19-25, 25-20, 25-21
Missoula Hellgate def. Missoula Sentinel 25-18, 25-23
Glacier def. Columbia Falls, 25-14, 25-13
Helena def. Flathead 25-18, 25-19
Sentinel def. Butte, 25-13, 25-18
Flathead def. Columbia Falls, 25-23, 25-16
Missoula Hellgate def. Helena Capital, 25-20, 24-26, 25-20, semifinal
Glacier def. Helena, 25-19, 25-18, semifinal
Flathead def. Sentinel, 25-23, 17-25, 25-23, third place
Glacier def. Hellgate, 25-11, 25-10, championship
Stillwater 3, Bigfork 0
Stillwater made it 4-0 versus District 7B foes this fall, downing Bigfork 25-18, 25-13, 25-21.
Stillwater topped both Bigfork and Eureka twice during the season.
Stillwater had 37 kills, led by Sarah Paolini with 16 and Megha Tannehill had seven. Those two were also the leaders in digs with 12 and nine, respectively.
Bigfork’s Kalia Wicklund had team highs in assists (21) and aces (3). Lana Berg led in kills (8) and digs (7).
Stillwater def. Bigfork 25-18, 25-13, 25-21
Kills — Bigfork 26 (Lana Berg 8), Stillwater 37 (Sarah Paolini 16, Megha Tannehill 7); Blocks — Bigfork 6 (Miranda Campbell 3), Stillwater 3 (Courtney Beaver 2); Assists — Bigfork 23 (Kalia Wicklund 21), Stillwater 33 (Dori Smith 33); Digs — Bigfork 37 (Berg 7), Stillwater 41 (Paolini 12, Tannehill 9); Aces — Bigfork 6 (Kalia Wicklund 3), Stillwater 12 (Beaver 5).
Plains 3, Troy 1
TROY — Plains posted a District 7B victory over Troy, winning 25-19, 25-15, 22-25, 25-22.
Plains held a huge advantage at the net with 49 kills to 16 for Troy, and in aces with 16 to Troy’s four.
Aurora Becquart had five kills and three blocks for Troy.
Plains def. Troy
25-19, 25-15, 22-25, 25-22
Kills — Plains 49 (Hailey Phillips 13, Leah Thompson 13), Troy 16 (Sami Rohrich 5, Aurora Becquart 5); Blocks — Plains 6 (Phillips 3, Thompson 30, Troy 4 (Becquart 3); Assists — Plains 37 (Kimmie Earhart 25), Troy 14 (Allie Brown 12); Digs — Plains 17 (Earhart 6), Troy 14 (Kaitlyn Downey 10); Aces — Plains 16 (Hailey Coe 8), Troy 4 (Taylor Brown, Allie Brown, Tana Thill, Olivia Roach).