MISSOULA — Flathead cruised past Big Sky 25-14, 25-18, 25-14 to pull back into a tie for second place in Western AA with a conference victory on Tuesday.

The Bravettes (4-2 Western AA, 6-5 overall) are now in a three-way tie with Helena Capital and Helena High for second place after dismantling the Eagles on the road.

“We did a good job,” Flathead coach Leon Wilcox said. “We had really slow starts in games 1 and 2. We let them play with us for a while, then we broke away. It was a good, solid effort, we did a lot of good things.”

Emma Andrews had a team-high 20 kills and Timi Severson had seven of the Bravettes’ nine blocks in the dominant performance.

“Blocking wise, Timi had a really good night,” Wilcox said. “She kinda got in the hitters’ heads, forced them to change up, forced them to chip.”

Flathead is done with in-state matches for the week, with a trip to Coeur d’Alene on Friday before playing the 64-team Crossover Tournament in Spokane on Saturday.

Kills – Flathead 43 (Emma Andrews 20), Big Sky 18 (Hana Feilzer 5, Anna Gragg 5). Blocks – Flathead 9 (Timi Severson 7), Big Sky 4 (Gragg 3). Digs – Flathead 67 (Andrews 16), Big Sky 62 (Maddi Winz 18). Assists – Flathead 39 (Jessica Simmons 39), Big Sky 16 (Winz 11). Aces – Flathead 6 (Iris Matulevich 3), Big Sky 6 (Lexi Baumgardner 3).

Columbia Falls 3, Polson 0

COLUMBIA FALLS — The Wildkats were strong in every aspect of the game, beating Polson 25-13, 25-8, 25-22 in a Northwestern A conference volleyball match.

Winter Kemppainen led her team in kills, blocks and aces as Columbia Falls easily outpaced the Pirates in the first two sets before grinding out the third. Jessica Bagnell had a team-high 16 assists and 11 digs for Polson.

“We came out strong at the net and swinging,” Columbia Falls coach Josie Brown said. “We probably had our best night both blocking and hitting. And we had great defense by Shaylene Fishel in the back row and more aces than we’ve ever had before.”

Kills — Polson 19 (Chloie Huerta 5), CF 29 (Carla Nicosia, Winter Kemppainen, Haley Belgarde 7). Assists — Polson 16 (Jessica Bagnell 8), CF 24 (Cydney Finberg 13). Blocks — Polson 6 (Kaelen Wall 2, Kaelyn Binder 2), CF 9 (Kemppainen 5). Digs — Polson 45 (Bagnell 11), CF 32 (Shaylene Fishel 9). Aces — Polson 5 (Taylor Davis 2), CF 12 (Cydney Finberg 4, Kemppainen 4).