The prep volleyball season is nearly halfway through and next on the slate is a crosstown meeting between Glacier and Flathead teams at Glacier High School.

When these teams last met, it was during Western AA playoffs. Flathead beat Glacier 3-0 in a play-in game for the state tournament.

Flathead went on to finish fourth at the AA state tournament.

Varsity play begins at 7 p.m. tonight.

Flathead

The Bravettes lost a number of starters from last season and are subsequently a much younger team.

That hasn’t seemed to make a difference, as Flathead is 7-3 overall (3-1 in conference play) and nipping at the heels of Helena High and the undefeated defending state champion Helena Capital for tops in the conference.

“We’ve had a great start to the season,” Flathead coach Nicole Fairclough said. “Being 3-1 in the conference is a great place to be. I think we still have a lot left to accomplish and to grow. We have great kids that have stepped into positions that we lost last year. It’s exciting to see that they’ve gotten there this quickly.”

Outside hitter Julia Burden, one of the Bravettes’ two seniors, leads AA with 4.29 kills per set and has the second-most points per set — 5.29. Burden also has the fourth-best digs per set average, with 3.86.

Junior setter Mayson Moore averages 8.443 assists per set, the fourth-best in AA.

Concerning Glacier: “As far as conference matches go, we’ve been beaten and lost to the same teams,” Fairlclough said. “We have players on similar lists [statistically]. Crosstown is always a great match no matter what your record is ... It’ll be a tough match. We know them pretty well and I think they know us pretty well, too.”

Glacier

The Wolfpack is young, but experienced.

“I think my girls are improving,” Glacier coach Christy Harkins said. “We’ve done a lot of good things to improve and work on developing some constistency.”

And with a 3-1 conference record (4-6 overall), Glacier is neck and neck with Flathead in the West.

It’s not a surprise, either. Glacier has threats on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

Senior middle hitter Aubrie Rademacher averages 3.6 kills per set, the fourth-most in AA.

Junior setter Kaylee Fritz averages the second most assists per set with 9.47.

“Crosstown has never disappointed,” Harkins said. “It’s always been a good match. They have a lot of offensive firepower at the net and we’re expecting them to bring all of that.”

The two teams are close statistically, too.

“We are very happy with where we are tight now,” Harkins said. “Very similar in team makeup with Flathead.

Both teams are well-matched in almost every category which indicates a wealth of volleyball talent in the Valley.

“Pretty awesome to have some great volleyball in the Valley,” Harkins said. “It should be a great match.”

Class AA Volleyball

Western

Conf. Overall

Helena Capital 4-0 10-0

Helena High 3-0 7-2

Kalispell Flathead 3-1 7-3

Kalispell Glacier 3-1 4-6

Missoula Sentinel 2-1 2-5

Butte 0-4 4-5

Missoula Hellgate 0-4 1-7

Missoula Big Sky 0-4 0-6

Eastern

Conf. Overall

Great Falls CMR 3-0 9-1

Bozeman 3-0 6-4

Billings Senior 2-1 2-5

Great Falls High 1-1 4-5

Billings West 1-1 9-5

Billings Skyview 1-3 2-5

Belgrade 0-5 1-8

Standings as of Sept. 23