VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP: Flathead spills Hellgate in marathon; Glacier sweeps Big Sky

Flathead pulled through in a wild five-set Western AA volleyball match Thursday evening to slip past Missoula Hellgate 22-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22, 15-10 at Flathead High school.

“It was our first conference win and came during homecoming week,” Flathead coach Courtney Baker said.

“The crowd definitely helped.

“My girls on the bench brought a ton of energy,” she added.

“That brought a lot of flow (to our players on the court).”

Tiana Johnson led the Bravettes (2-9 overall, 1-3 league) in kills with 19 and blocks with five.

Sierra Wilhelm had 44 assists for Flathead.

“Johnson had a great night,” Baker said.

“Sierra really moved the ball around. It was a super fun match. I’m proud of them for hanging in there, for fighting and battling through it.”

Kills —Hellgate 50 (Kate Koenig 14), Flathead 47 (Tiana Johnson 19, Allie Gagnon 15); Blocks — Hellgate 9 1/2 (Kaci Paffhausen 5), Flathead 7 (Johnson 4); Assists ­— Hellgate 47 (Koenig 23), Flathead 49 (Sierra Wilhelm 44); Digs — Hellgate 91 (Adessa Gagner 20); Flathead 74 (Kirstin Wade 12); Aces —Hellgate 11 (Koenig 5), Flathead 11 (Gagnon 5).

Glacier 3, Missoula Big Sky 0

Glacier picked up its second Western AA victory of the week by dispensing with visiting Missoula Big Sky 25-10, 25-11, 25-21.

The fifth-ranked Wolfpack (8-5, 3-1) had the edge in all five statistical areas.

Glacier had 35 blocks to Big Sky’s 20. Abi Fiske had eight for the Wolfpack.

Brietta Russell had four of Glacier’s 11 aces. Big Sky finished with six.

In blocks, Glacier led 8-1. Kali Gulick led Glacier with five.

“It doesn’t show up in the stats, but Meagan Gillespie had a good game,” Glacier coach Christy Harkins said.

“She was right up there in kills and blocks with the leaders.”

Kills — Big Sky 20 (Hannah Entzel 11), Glacier 35 (Abi Fiske 8); Blocks — Big Sky 1 (Brooke Kearns), Glacier 8 (Kali Gulick 5); Assists — Big Sky 19 (Katie Rolle 19), Glacier 24 (Ashley Montini 15); Digs — Big Sky 28 (Jada Ogilvie 13), Glacier 32 (Nikki Krueger 11); Aces — Big Sky 6 (Jade Sauter 3), Glacier 11 (Brietta Russell 4).

Libby 3, Troy 0

LIBBY — It was all Libby as the Loggers rolled by Troy 25-10, 25-11, 25-15 in a District 7B outing.

Libby piled up 36 kills, led by Mehki Sykes and Brooklyn Rainer with 11 and nine, respectively.

The Loggers (7-1, 2-0) had 20 aces to Troy’s two.

“We were very efficient in all aspects tonight,” Libby coach Cindy Ostrem-Johnston said.

“I was proud of them.”

She said the team got on some runs from the service line.

Jessica Jones had 11 in a row in the first game to get the Loggers off to a fast start.

Kills — Troy 7 (Alyssa Lewis 3), Libby 36 (Mehki Sykes 11, Brooklyn Rainer 9), Blocks — Troy 1 (Allie Caldwell), Libby 1 (Rainer); Digs — Troy 23 (Kaitlyn Downey 15), Libby 24 (Emma Gruber 8); Assists — Troy 7 (Allie Brown 7), Libby 26 (Alli Collins 19); Aces — Troy 2 (Lewis), Libby 20 (Jessica Jones 7, Collins 6).

Bigfork 3, Eureka 0

EUREKA — Abbie Fraley had 14 kills and Kalia Wicklund led in assists with 29 and aces with four to help Bigfork upend Eureka 25-17, 25-18, 25-19 in a District 7B matchup.

Kaylee Kronsberger and Kassi Peterson had 11 kills each for Eureka (5-3, 0-1).

Bigfork (8-2, 1-1) had five blocks to none for Eureka. Wilson Vogt was credited with three.

“Bigfork played very well,” Eureka coach Charli Chapman said.

“They played great defense against us. We weren’t able to get any momentum tonight.”

Kills — Bigfork 33 (Abbie Fraley 14), Eureka 26 (Kaylee Kronsberger 11, Kassi Peterson 11); Blocks — Bigfork 5 ( Wilson Vogt 3), Eureka 0; Assists — Bigfork 29 (Kalia Wicklund 29), Eureka 25 (Liz Pacella 25); Digs — Bigfork 39 (Abby Ellison 11), Eureka 48 (Peterson 13); Aces — Bigfork 10 (Wicklund 4), Eureka 3 (Kronsberger 2).

Whitefish 3, Polson 1

WHITEFISH — Whitefish pulled out a tight win in the first set and came back to take the second and fourth to claim the Northwest A win 26-24, 25-15, 19-25, 25-12.

Cailyn Ross had 10 kills and Mirielle Krueger two blocks for Whitefish.

Haley Fyant had 16 kills for Polson.

“I thought it was a well fought match by both teams,” Whitefish coach Jackie Fuller said.

“There were a lot of long rallies back and forth. Our girls fought really hard, kept their composure. I give Polson a lot of credit. They came firing at us a lot and we couldn’t stop them on the outside.”

Kills—Polson 39 (Haley Fyant 16), Whitefish 35 (Cailyn Ross 10); Assists—Polson 35 (Kaelyn Smith 12), Whitefish 34 (Libby Nagler 20); Digs—Polson 68 (Kyler Lundeen 30), Whitefish 69 (Kylie Larsen 18); Blocks—Polson 5 (Lauren Lefthand 2), Whitefish 3 (Mirielle Krueger 2); Aces—Polson 6 (Hannah Fryberger 3), Whitefish 6 (Kylie Larsen 2).

Columbia Falls 3, Frenchtown 0

FRENCHTOWN — Columbia Falls came through with another lopsided victory in Northwest A play, crushing Frenchtown 25-14, 25-10, 25-14.

KJ Schweikert had a big outing for Columbia Falls, leading the Wildkats in blocks with three and aces with five.

Cydney Finberg had all 20 assists for Columbia Falls and Morgan Stenger had 12 of the team’s 25 kills.

Kills – Columbia Falls 25 (Morgan Stenger 12), Frenchtown 5 (Allison Hochhalter 2); Blocks – Columbia Falls 6 (KJ Schweikert 3, Kiara Burlage 3), Frenchtown 5 (Alivia Williams 3); Digs – Columbia Falls 37 (Keavyn Baker 9), Frenchtown 15 (Kylie Willet 4); Assists – Columbia Falls 20 (Cydney Finberg 20), Frenchtown 5 (Willet 2). Aces – Columbia Falls 12 (Schweikert 5), Frenchtown 3 (Lexi Statlen 2).

Ronan 3, St. Ignatius 2

RONAN — Ronan had to go the distance to beat St. Ignatius, winning the District 6B contest 25-6, 25-27, 21-25, 28-26, 15-7.

Alicia Camel had 16 kills for Ronan while Lee Camel had a team-best six blocks.

Kills – Mission 28 (Arianna Rossi 7, Afton Brander 7, Addison Arlint 7), Ronan 42 (Alicia Camel 16). Blocks – Mission 3 (Rossi 2), Ronan 10 (Lee Camel 6). Digs – Mission 78 (Naylani Linsebigler 20), Ronan 105 (Sadie Wirz 24). Assists – Mission 18 (Sophia Tolbert 10), Ronan 36 (Shaina Snyder 18). Aces – Mission 12 (Rossi 9), Ronan 15 (A. Camel 7).