Glacier rolls by Hellgate
<p>Glacier middle hitter Nikki Krueger goes up for a kill during the Wolfpack’s straight-set victory against the Missoula Hellgate Knights at Glacier on Saturday.</p>
Glacier looked dominant on Saturday, rolling to a three-set victory — 25-20, 25-16, 25-16 — over Missoula Hellgate (1-2 overall, 0-1 Western AA) in a home volleyball match.
Playing its first conference game of the season, the Wolfpack (3-0, 1-0) started strong with its impressive front line showing its strength. Four different hitters earned kills on the way to an early 11-5 Glacier lead.
“We’re fortunate we have a lot of height this year,” Glacier coach Christy Harkins said. “[They’re all] good aggressive hitters.”
The only flaw in the Wolfpack’s game was its errors, with seven in a nine-point stretch to get Hellgate back in the first set at 15-14. Leading 20-19, Glacier closed the set strong, getting a pair of kills from Tessa Krueger and Brielle Bumgarner and back-to-back blocks to end the set 25-20.
The second set was much cleaner, Glacier jumping out to a 10-5 lead and stretching it to 19-10 on the arm of senior outside hitter Katie Wiley. After a short run by the Knights, Tessa and Nikki Krueger combined for the last six kills of the set, leading the Wolfpack to a 25-16 win.
Hellgate took charge early in the third set, taking its first lead of the match after a pair of errors by the Wolfpack. The Knights ran their lead to 8-4 before the Glacier offense got rolling again.
Ali Williams got Glacier going, with three kills to give Glacier a 10-9 lead. The Wolfpack went on a 12-4 run to lead 22-13. Hellgate rallied for a few points but a kill from Williams finished the match.
“It’s nice for us to have a little diversity [on the front line],” Harkins said.
“I thought our outsides played really well. Teams know we have strong middles so they’re going to key on them. It’s nice for those outsides to be able to crank it up and put it down.”
Tessa Krueger led the Wolfpack with 13 kills and Williams had nine. Hailee Bennett had 19 digs and Bumgarner seven blocks. Hannah Liss had 35 assists and an ace to lead Glacier.
“I thought our hitters did a really good job,” Harkins said. “Credit to our passers for getting the ball to Hannah so she could run the offense.”
Glacier will still look to clean up its offense as it heads into the heart of the season.
“We had quite a few [errors],” Harkins said.
“It’s still early. We’re still trying to figure out what we are. We’re working in a new rotation and still getting used to some things.
“We have a lot of errors we need to clean up. We know that’s one of our things. We tend to be over aggressive sometimes. We’re working on that.”
Hellgate was led by Mari Lundin’s six kills and 10 digs from Becca Jones.
“Hellgate is a team that always puts up a good block and plays a good defense,” Harkins said.
“For us to be able to handle that was nice. Gives us some confidence.”
Glacier plays Billings Skyview at Great Falls C.M. Russell High School on Thursday ahead of the Great Falls Invitational, which starts Friday.
Glacier def. Hellgate 25-20, 25-16, 25-16
Kills — Hellgate 19 (Mari Lundin 6), Glacier 44 (Tessa Krueger 13). Assists — Hellgate 16 (Emily Jones 8), Glacier 37 (Hannah Liss 35). Digs — Hellgate 31 (Becca Jones 10), Glacier 65 (Hailee Bennett 19). Blocks — Hellgate 7 (Rachel Martens 3 1/2), Glacier 11 (Brielle Bumgarner 7). Aces — Hellgate 3 (Paula Woerlein 2), Glacier 2 (Liss, Abi Fiske).