Glacier beats Big Sky in Western AA play-in
Strong net play by Kali Gulick, 15 kills, and Aubrie Rademacher, three blocks, coupled with a great court effort by Maddie Johnson helped Glacier spill Missoula Big Sky 25-19, 27-25, 25-15 on Tuesday evening at Glacier High School in a Western AA volleyball play-in match.
Glacier, the sixth seed, now moves on to play at No. 3 seed Flathead on Thursday at 6 p.m. with that winner advancing to the state tournament Nov. 8-10 in Bozeman.
“For such a young team, the first playoff game most of the kids have played in, I thought they handled it very well,” Glacier coach Christy Harkins said.
“It doesn’t show up in the stats, but I thought my senior defensive specialist Maddie Johnson had a great game. She was aggressive, a good leader on the floor.”
Glacier held a statistical edge on Big Sky in four of the five categories.
In kills, Glacier had a 43-22 advantage.
In blocks, it was 9-2 Glacier.
“At the net, solid play from Kali (Gulick) and Aubrie (Rademacher),” Harkins said.
Glacier also led in assists, 36-16, and aces, 7-6.
Big Sky totaled 58 digs to 40 for Glacier.
The victory was the third of the year for the Wolfpack over the Eagles. All were 3-0 victories.
Kills — Big Sky 22 (Bethany Hicks 6), Glacier 43 (Kali Gulick 15); Blocks — Big Sky 2 (Lizzy Clawson 2), Glacier 9 (Aubrie Rademacher 3); Assists — Big Sky 16 (Katie Rolle 16), Glacier 36 (Kaylee Fritz 30); Digs — Big Sky 58 (Nikki Cathey 19), Glacier 40 (Kacey Hill 12); Aces — Big Sky 6 (Cathey 2, Rolle 2), Glacier 7 (Hill 2, Fritz 2).
Class AA Playoffs
Western Division
Tuesday
Play-In Match
Glacier, No. 6 seed, def. Missoula Big Sky, No. 7 seed, 25-19, 27-25, 25-15
Helena Capital — first seed at state
Helena High — second seed at state
Thursday
6 p.m.
Glacier, No. 6 seed, at Flathead, No. 3 seed
6:30 p.m.
Missoula Hellgate, No. 5 seed, at Missoula Sentinel, No. 4 seed
Eastern Division
Tuesday
Play-In Match
Billings Skyview, No. 6 seed, def. Great Falls High, No. 7 seed, 25-19, 28-26, 25-13
—————
Billings West — first seed to state
Bozeman — second seed to state
Thursday
6 p.m.
Butte, No. 5 seed, at Great Falls C.M. Russell, No. 4 seed
Thursday or Friday
6 p.m.
Billings Skyview, No. 6 seed, at Billings Senior, No. 3 seed
Final Regular Season Standings
Eastern AA
Overall League
Seed W L W L
1 Billings West 18 10 10 2
2 Bozeman 21 7 10 2
3 Billings Senior 24 7 8 4
4 CMR 16 13 7 5
5 Butte 9 17 4 8
6 Billings Skyview 8 21 2 10
7 Great Falls High 8 20 1 11
Western AA
Overall League
Seed W L W L
1 Helena Capital 24 2 11 1
2 Helena High 21 6 10 2
3 Flathead 18 11 9 3
4 Missoula Sentinel 12 14 4 8
5 Missoula Hellgate 10 15 4 8
6 Glacier 9 17 4 8
7 Missoula Big Sky 3 21 0 12