Glacier closes out Big Sky, clinches spot at state
Glacier closed out a back-and-forth match with a pair of kills to secure a spot at the state tournament, beating Missoula Big Sky 25-21, 28-26, 21-25, 25-23 in a Class AA volleyball state playoff match on Tuesday at Glacier High School.
Fifth-seeded Big Sky held leads in every set, but couldn’t close out fourth-seeded Glacier when it counted.
Glacier took its first lead in the first set at 14-13 and finally was able to put together a run late, scoring five of six points to take a 24-18 lead. As it would do for the entire match, Big Sky fought back, scoring three straight points before an errant serve gave Glacier the set and an early lead.
Much like Big Sky had done the set before, Glacier ran out to a 4-0 lead in the second set but quickly saw its healthy lead replaced in a back-and-forth contest. Big Sky tied the second set at 8-8 and the teams exchanged points until 20-20, when Glacier was able to rip off four points out of five to take a 24-21 lead. Big Sky won the next four points to take a 25-24 lead and force extra points. The Wolfpack responded in extras, tying the match twice and taking a 27-26 lead on a kill from Kali Gulick. The Eagles hit a ball into the net a point later to hand Glacier a 2-0 lead in the match.
Five straight points early in the third set allowed Big Sky to take a 12-6 lead. The Eagles held off Glacier for most of the set, carrying that lead until 23-17, when four straight Wolfpack points by Glacier made the set close again. A serving error, one of at least 13 in the match for the Wolfpack, closed the rally, however, giving Big Sky a 25-21 lead.
Glacier squandered a big lead in the fourth set, at one point leading 13-7 only to find itself tied at 16-16. Glacier scored five straight points, then surrendered the next five, took a 23-21 lead, then gave up the next two points again, calling a timeout tied at 23-23.
The Wolfpack responded out of the break, with Aubrie Rademacher killing a pair of points from the middle to close out the match.
“You could feel a sense of relief in the team room that we got through the playoff game,” Glacier coach Christy Harkins said. “This is a group that didn’t have a playoff game last year, the one we had the year before that we lost. It’s not an experienced group with winning a playoff game. It was stressful for them. To be able to battle through it and come out with a win is great.”
Gulick had 16 kills and seven blocks and sophomore Kacey Hill had 19 digs to lead the Wolfpack.
“We were a little inconsistent but we fought hard. I was proud of that,” Harkins said.
“Big Sky was fighting really hard. Great defense and sending balls back over, chipping away at us. I like how we hung in there. Especially my two sophomores, Kacey Hill and Aubrey Rademacher, I thought did an excellent job of not being afraid out there. They have the least experience out there of anyone and they were going for it.”
Glacier advances to the state tournament with the win and will find out its opponent later this week.
“We have lots to work on,” Harkins said. “We have a week to prepare for state. We’ve got to clean a lot of things up.”
The state tournament is Nov. 9-11 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman.
Glacier def. Big Sky 25-21, 28-26, 21-25, 25-23
Glacier: Kills — 57 (Kali Gulick 16), Blocks — 13 (Gulick 7), Assists — 53 (Ashley Montini 50), Digs — 69 (Kacey Hill 19), Aces — 3 (McKenna Johnson 2)
Big Sky: n/a
Flathead 3,
Missoula Hellgate 1
MISSOULA — Flathead found a rhythm when it counted, pulling off a series of long rallies to top Hellgate in four sets 25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21 and keep its season alive.
The seventh-seeded Bravettes scored the final 12 points of the first set to rally back from down 21-13, then scored six of the final eight points to win the third set and four of the final six points in the fourth set to pull off the victory at the sixth-seeded Knights.
Madde Boles had a match-high 21 kills to lead the Bravettes and Julia Burden filled out the stat sheet with 11 digs, 10 kills and 7 aces.
Hellgate’s Kate Koenig had 15 kills and four aces for the Knights.
Flathead advances to play at third-seeded Helena High on Thursday, with the winner advancing to the state tournament.
The Bengals defeated Flathead in a tight four-set match in their last meeting in Helena.
The state tournament is Nov. 9-11 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman.
Flathead def. Hellgate, 25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21
Flathead: Kills 44 (Madde Boles 21). Blocks 9 (Hannah O’Dell 5). Digs 45 (Sierra Wilhelm 12, Abbi Chavez 11, Julia Burden 11). Assists 42 (Bailey Nunn 40). Aces 13 (Julia Burden 7).
Hellgate: Kills 40 (Kate Koenig 15, Jada Merseal 12). Blocks 5 (Kylie Lunday 3, Haleigh Irwin 2). Digs 62 (Jessica Eichenlaub 15). Assists 38 (Sydney McDaniel 32). Aces 8 (Koenig 4).