Volleyball roundup: Capital nips Wolfpack, Flathead edges Helena

Glacier let a lead after three sets slip away Saturday afternoon as Helena Capital rallied to down the Wolfpack 17-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-15, 15-13 in Western AA volleyball play at Glacier High School.

 “We didn’t capitalize on all of the opportunities that we had,” Glacier coach Christy Harkins said.

 The Wolfpack did rack up 11 aces in the match, with five coming from Brietta Russsell.

Glacier also had 102 digs, with Hailee Bennett’s 31 leading the way.

Capital outkilled Glacier 51-44 and recorded 11 blocks.

 The Wolfpack returns to action Tuesday for a crosstown match at Flathead at 7 p.m.

Kills — Capital 51 (Brittania Shepard 16), Glacier 44 (Nikki Krueger 15). Assists — Capital 50 (Katie Culvar 43), Glacier 44 (Abby Schrade 43). Digs — Capital 93 (Madi Quick 22), Glacier 102 (Hailee Bennett 31). Blocks — Capital 11 (Taylor Sullivan 6), Glacier 9 (Megan Gillespie 6). Aces — Capital 3 (Savanna Bignell 1), Glacier 11 (Brietta Russell 5).

 Flathead 3, Helena 2

Flathead survived a late push from Helena to down the Bengals in five sets, 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 25-27, 15-10, at home in a Western AA matchup.

The Bravettes (4-1, 2-1) put down 53 kills in the match, led by 17 from Marisa Postovit. Flathead setter Xio Lopp assisted on 45 of those kills.

“Our hitters were really sharp,” Bravettes coach Courtney Baker said. “They were finding open spots on the court and Xio was placing the ball just where they needed it.”

The Flathead defense was also tough, recording 17 blocks, led by seven from Tiana Johnson.

“Our middles just shut down their hitters,” Baker said. “They brought a lot of energy to our team.”

Ally Peccia had 13 kills and Kendra Woodland added 18 digs to lead Helena.

Kills — Helena 50 (Ally Peccia 13), Flathead 53 (Marisa Postovit 17). Assists — Helena 31 (Madison Richtmyer 31), Flathead 45 (Xio Lopp 45). Digs — Helena 85 (Kendra Woodland 18), Flathead 67 (Lizzie Sherwood 17). Blocks — Helena 8 (Alexis Danz 7), Flathead 17 (Tiana Johnson 7). Aces — Helena 6 (Madison Richtmyer 2), Flathead 5 (Abbie O’Brien 2)

Libby 3, Mission 0

LIBBY — Mehki Sykes had 10 kills to pace Libby’s lopsided 25-19, 25-10, 25-10 victory over Mission.

“I was pleased with the way we rebounded from yesterday’s tough loss (to Anaconda),” Libby coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said. “We played much better today.”

Libby had 15 aces, led by four from India Croucher.

“The girls had fun and that’s when we play our best,” Ostrem-Johnston said. “It was a good team effort.”

Kills — Mission 15 (Sydney Castor 5), Libby 27 (Mehki Sykes 10); Assists — Mission 13 (Jordyn Eichert 10), Libby 28 (Ashley Walker 14); Digs — Mission 37 (Ran’dee Charlo 11), Libby 30 (Bailie Rosling 10); Blocks — Mission 2 (Aston Brander 2), Libby 11 (Emily Mossburg 3); Aces — Mission 3 (Nalani Linsebigler 2), Libby 15 (India Croucher 4).

Eureka Quad

EUREKA — Missoula Loyola and Frenchtown both went 2-0 at the Eureka quad while Eureka and Troy finished 0-2.

Loyola defeated pesky Eureka 25-22, 26-19, 25-22 while Florence prevailed 25-22, 23-25, 25-14, 25-18 over the hosting Lions.

“We battled with them,” Eureka coach Charli Chapman said of the Loyola match.

“Played really good volleyball. They have some big hitters and we just didn’t match up well with them. We didn’t get blocks on them.”

Sierra Tiede led Loyola in kills with 15.

 Eureka had to contend with another big hitter in the Florence match as well. That was Sabrinna Hopcroft. She had 23 kills.

“In the fourth game we battled and worked hard,” Chapman said.

“We did the little things we needed to do to stay right with them.”

 Eureka’s Amanda Peterson had 18 kills against Loyola and 20 versus Florence.

 Loyola def. Eureka 25-22, 26-19, 25-22

Kills — Loyola 22 (Sierra Tiede 15), Eureka 36 (Amanda Peterson 18); Blocks — Loyola 3 (Tiede 2), Eureka 3 (Peterson 2); Assists — Loyola 29 (Jacy 29), Eureka 28 (Liz Pacella 28); Digs — Loyola 52 (Tiede 23), Eureka 76 (Rylee Morgan 24); Aces — Loyola 6 (MJ 3), Eureka 4 (Morgan 3).

Florence def. Eureka 25-22, 23-25, 25-14, 25-18

Kills — Florence 51 (Sabrinna Hopcroft 23), Eureka 35 (Peterson 20); Blocks — Florence 4 (Kezia Ward 2, Megan Kowolski 2), Eureka 2 (Jessica Wilson 1, Kassi Peterson 1); Assists — Florence 51 (Rylie Hawkins 51), Eureka 41 (Pacella 37); Digs — Florence 62 (Hopcroft 27, Hunter Doty 17), Eureka 61 (A. Peterson 16, K. Peterson 12); Aces — Florence 16 (Hopcroft 5, Natalie Drozdz 4), Eureka 5 (Pacella 3).

 Florence def. Troy 25-7, 25-14, 25-14

Kills — Florence 35 (Hopcroft 22), Troy 15 (Sami Rohrich 7); Blocks — Florence 5 (Kowolski 4), Troy 1 (Aurora Becquart 1); Assists — Florence 35 (Hawkins 35), Troy 15 (Annie Day 11); Digs — Florence 32 (Hopcroft 10), Troy 14 (Kaitlyn Downey 9); Aces — Florence 12 (Doty 5), Troy 0.

 Loyola def. Troy 25-10, 25-7, 25-18

Kills — Loyola 26 (Sam Tiede 9), Troy 13 (Becquart 4); Blocks — Loyola 5 (Sierra Tiede 4), Troy 2 (Rohrich 1, Becquart 1); Assists — Loyola NA; Troy 5 (Day 3); Digs — Loyola 45 (Sam Tiede 17), Troy 25 (Downey 12); Aces — Loyola 12 (Sierra Tiede 4), Troy 2 (Hannah Thrasher 1, Downey 1).

Anaconda 3, Bigfork 0

 BIGFORK — Bigfork battled point-for-point with Anaconda but ultimately fell in three sets, 20-25, 24-26, 25-27.

 Both teams had 32 kills in the match, and the Valkyries had more blocks (7-1) and aces (14-9) but still came up short.

 “We played well, we just need to finish,” Bigfork coach Schuyler Baird said.

“Stats-wise it looked like we won but when it mattered Anaconda got two points in a row to pull it out.”

 Abbie Fraley and Lana Berg led the way for the Valkyries with seven kills each.

Kills — Bigfork 32 (Abbie Fraley 7, Lana Berg 7), Anaconda 32 (Bailee Oxnam 10); Assists — Bigfork 28 (Kalia Wicklund 27), Anaconda 27 (Bailee Oxnam 12); Digs — Bigfork 59 (Sami Varner 15), Anaconda 50 (Libby Jorgensen 18); Blocks — Bigfork 7 (Miranada Campbell 3), Anaconda 1 (Kassandra Flores 1); Aces — Bigfork 14 (Abbie Fraley 5), Anaconda 9 (Shea Forsberg 3).