Bravettes punch ticket to state

​​The Flathead Bravettes hit a couple milestones Friday night at the Glacier High School gym — not only did they advance to the Western AA Divisional volleyball final but they punched a ticket to the state tournament for the first time since 2018 with a five-set victory over Helena High.

“I’m so excited that my team laid it all out there tonight,” Flathead coach Emily Russell said. “We came here to beat Helena High and that's what we did.”

Russell had to wipe away a few tears before meeting her players out on the court for photos. They were tears of joy, of course. And she had much to be proud of.

The No. 3 seeded Flathead took No. 2 Helena to five sets and won, ensuring the Bravettes’ first state appearance in three seasons and the first of Russell’s tenure.

“I think it's awesome that we just get to experience divisionals and have that tournament experience before going into state,” Russell, a Flathead alum, said. “That’s huge. I never had that as a player and we always just had playoff games. So it's really cool to be able to have that experience with the bracket and playing through three days of hardcore volleyball. I'm so excited to see what my team will do (Saturday).”

Flathead had Helena on the ropes in the fourth set, up 23-17 after a kill by Akilah Kubi. The Bengals went on a 9-1 scoring spree to tie things at two sets apiece and force a fifth by winning 26-24.

In the fifth set, which was as tightly contested as the other four, Flathead led the whole way. A block by Cyan Mooney and a backdoor kill from Savanna Sterck helped seal the 15-12 win.

Sterck factored heavily all night for Flathead, including the first set, where she had four kills alone. In that set, Maddy Moy had a kill and two consecutive service aces as Flathead rallied from a 15-9 deficit.

Moy totaled three aces and Kylie Munsinger four. Munsinger also tallied 23 assists. Setter Kennedy Moore had 21 assists, 14 kills and 12 digs. Sterck hit the ball well again Friday and had 17 kills and 12 digs.

Lauren Heuiser led the Bengals with 17 kills, three blocks and three service aces.

“We're peaking at the right time,” Russell said. “It's the best. It's the best thing to hear from people watching our games too — they're like, ‘Your team is rolling. They're doing what they need to do.’ And you know, we were playing our best, but I know there's still more in store for what our team can do.”

Flathead will play top-seeded Missoula Sentinel today at 2 p.m. for the Western AA title. Helena faces Glacier at 9 a.m. in a loser-out semifinal.

Flathead def. Helena High 25-21, 20-25, 25-18, 24-26, 15-12

Kills — Flathead 59 (Savanna Sterck 17, Kennedy Moore 14), Helena 45 (Lauren Heuiser 17, Sidney Mattfeldt 9). Assists — 52 (Kylie Munsinger 23, Moore 21), Helena 36 (Katelyn Onespot-Danforth 21). Blocks — Flathead 4 (Maddy Moy 2), Helena 8 (Heuiser 3, Natalie Seburn 3). Digs — Flathead 69 (Cyan Mooney 18, Sterck 12, Moore 12), Helena 58 (Morin Blaise 20, Alex Bullock 12). Aces — Flathead 8 (Munsinger 4, Moy 3), Helena 8 (Heuiser 3, Blaise 3).

Glacier 3, Hellgate 0

Glacier kept its state tournament hopes alive with a sweep of Missoula Hellgate Friday.

Sidney Gulick’s 16 kills helped power the Wolfpack into today’s loser-out bracket semifinal where they will play Helena High.

Ella Farrell and Maddie Davis came up with key blocks for Glacier with two each and Haven Speer had 22 assists and three service aces.

For Hellgate, Camille Sherrill recorded 14 kills, two blocks and 15 digs.

Glacier def. Hellgate 25-17, 25-21, 25-22

Kills — Glacier 29 (Sidney Gulick 16); Hellgate 25 (Camille Sherrill 14). Assists — Glacier 24 (Haven Speer 22); Hellgate 23 (Jordan Freer 14). Blocks — Glacier 4 (Ella Farrell 2, Maddie Davis 2); Hellgate 5 (Ashleigh Hall 2, Sherrill 2). Digs — Glacier 36 (Maddie Frazier 11); Hellgate 49 (Sherrill 15). Aces — Glacier 8 (Speer 3); Hellgate 4 (Hall 2).

Semifinal

Missoula Sentinel def. Butte 26-24, 23-25, 25-13, 25-14

Kills — Sentinel 46 (Quincy Frohlich 14), Butte 32 (Kennadie McMahon 9, Ashley Olson 8). Assists — Sentinel 45 (Paige Sawyer 37), Butte 33 (Katie Keller 19, Olivia Quinn 12). Blocks — Sentinel 11 (Kodi Fraser 4), Butte 11 (Mollee Conlan 3, Olson 3). Digs — Sentinel 85 (Raia Chase 25), Butte 98 (Conlan 23, Brooke McGrath 20). Aces — Sentinel 8 (no leader), Butte 6 (Keller 2, Jacelyn Cleveland 2).

Loser out

Helena Capital def. Missoula Big Sky 25-16, 25-22, 18-25, 10-25, 15-13

Kills — Capital 44 (Rachael Stacey 19, Parklyn Heller 10), Big Sky 41 (Kaitlyn Anderson 10, Brynne Smith 10). Assists — Capital 40 (Kayla Almquist 35), Big Sky 32 (Rece Sandau 26). Blocks — Capital 6 (Nyeala Herndon 4, Tey’ana Lintner 2, Heller 2), Big Sky 4 (Hadlea Fred 4). Digs — Capital 71 (Kennedy Pocha 20, Stacey 19), Big Sky 65 (Jordan Whitmire 24). Aces — Capital 10 (Rachel Hoffman 3, Almquist 2, Pocha 2), Big Sky 11 (Natalie Ellis 4).