Volleyball: Bigfork to battle Frenchtown for title berth

BOZEMAN — It was a clean sweep for the Western A Thursday, which means one of the teams on this side of the Treasure State will battle for a volleyball championship.

Frenchtown, Polson, Bigfork and Columbia Falls all won first-round matches at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, with Columbia Falls' three-set win over defending champion Billings Central being especially impressive. 

In the second round Frenchtown rallied past the Lady Pirates for a 5-set win; the Broncs advanced to Friday's 6 p.m. semifinal against Bigfork. 

In a match that ended at 10:41 p.m., Bigfork beat Columbia Falls in five sets. 

Polson fell into a loser-out match at 4 p.m. Friday against either Havre or Central. Columbia Falls plays at 2 p.m. against either Laurel or Miles City.

Over in the State AA bracket, Glacier gave Eastern's No. 1 seed, Bozeman, a battle but fell in straight sets. 

Polson def. Miles City 3-1 

McKenna Corley had 21 kills and two blocks, Eliza Todd added 14 kills and the Pirates shook off a first-set loss to claim a 23-25, 25-11, 25-19, 26-24 win. 

Rylee Taylor-Jefferson had 33 assists; Polson had 52 kills, with Logan McCrea getting eight kills to go with her 14 digs. Anniston Flyn had three aces; Alyesia Black led the way with 20 digs. 

Frenchtown def. Polson 3-2 

Polson got another 22 kills from Corley and 14 more from Todd, but they came tougher (.141 overall hitting percentage, compared to .245 against Miles City) in a 25-16, 19-25, 25-21, 14-25, 15-12 loss. 

Aleysia Black had three aces and 31 digs for the Lady Pirates; Rylee Taylor-Jefferson had 29 assists and Kendyl Yaeger 16; Jeager also had 27 digs. Corley and Todd had two blocks each. 

Bigfork def. Columbia Falls 3-2 

Another epic battle saw Bigfork win the first two sets 25-22 and 25-19 before Columbia Falls took the next two, 25-19 and 25-10. 

In the fifth set the Wildkats fought off four match points before Bigfork's Raegan Waller was able to get the spike that ended things. The final was 19-17. 

Waller had 14 kills, two aces and 41 digs; Somer Campos had 15 kills to go with eight blocks. Lillie Suffia had three aces and three blocks. Payton DeSpain had 31 assists and Sophia Lowell had six kills. 

Peyton Ross had 16 kills, 25 digs and and three blocks for the Wildkats; Anabelle Middlesworth checked in with 16 kills and Rylee Sweeney had 11 kills. Jezanie Brooks had 47 assists, 26 digs and two assists; Ava Scholz came up with 42 digs. 

Bigfork def. Havre 3-1 

In their opener the Vals rode 15 kills from Waller and 11 from Campos to victory over the Blue Ponies.  

Suffia added eight kills and Emily Wisman seven more; DeSpain had 39 assists on 48 total kills. 

Kenley Wheeler had 28 digs and Campos had four blocks. 

Columbia Falls def. Billings Central 3-0 

Middlesworth led the way at the net with nine kills, but Sweeney (6), Kmryn Ladenburg (5), Peyton Ross (5) and Brooks (4) all contributed. 

Scholz had 18 digs; Middlsworth and Ross combined for seven blocks and Sweeney had two aces. Brooks had 20 assists. 

Class AA 

Bozeman def. Glacier 3-0 

Audrey Mitchell had eight kills and an ace, Kyla Gully and Allie Krueger added seven kills each but it wasn't enough for the Wolfpack in a 25-22, 25-23, 25-10 loss to the Hawks. 

"I think today showed just how far we've come," said Glacier coach Jaimie Nelson, referring to the first two sets. "We found ourselves down in the first set 12-4 and instead of folding, these girls battled all the way back to 25-22. 

"Obviously we're disappointed with the loss, but there's a lot to be proud of. The beauty of a double-elimination tournament is that our story isn't over. We have an opportunity to respond and I believe in this group's ability to do exactly that." 

The Wolfpack plays Great Falls CMR Friday at 10 a.m.; the Rustlers fell to Missoula Hellgate in five sets. Hellgate had the Western AA's only win Thursday; the Knights fell to Bozeman in four sets in the Thursday's second round.  

State Championships 

Nov. 12-14, Breeden Field House 

Bozeman 

State AA 

Thursday

Bozeman def. Glacier 25-22, 25-23, 25-10 

Missoula Hellgate def. CMR 26-24, 25-14, 13-25, 16-25, 15-10 

Belgrade def. Missoula Sentinel 25-27, 13-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-11 

Gallatin def. Missoula Big Sky 25-17, 25-23, 25-16 

Bozeman def. Hellgate 25-23, 25-15, 23-25, 25-18 

Gallatin def. Bpozeman 25-13, 25-23, 25-16 

Friday

Match 7: Glacier vsl CMR, 10 a.m. 

Match 8: Sentinel vs. Big Sky, noon 

Match 9: Winner 7 vs. Belgrade, 2 p.m. 

Match 10: Winner 8 vs. Hellgate, 4 p.m. 

Match 11: Bozeman vs. Gallatin, 6 p.m., semifinal 

Match 12: Winner 9 vs. Winner 10, 8 p.m., fourth 

Saturday 

Match 13: Winner 12 vs. Loser 11, 10 a.m., third 

Match 14: Winner 11 vs. Winner 13, noon, championship 

Match 15: If necessary 

State A 

Thursday

Frenchtown def. Laurel 25-13, 16-25, 19-25, 25-9, 15-12 

Polson def Miles City 23-25, 25-11, 25-19, 26-24 

Bigfork def. Havre 25-14, 25-22, 26-28, 25-22 

Columbia Falls def. Billings Central 25-16, 25-21, 25-22 

Frenchtown def. Polson 16-25, 25-19k, 21-25, 25-14, 15-12 

Bigfork def. Columbia Falls 25-22, 25-19, 19-25, 10-25, 19-17  

Friday

Match 7: Laurel vs. Miles City, 10 a.m. 

Match 8: Havre vs. Billings Central, noon 

Match 9: Winner 7 vs. Columbia Falls, 2 p.m. 

Match 10: Winner 8 vs. Polson, 4 p.m. 

Match 11: Frenchtown vs. Bigfork, 6 p.m., semifinal 

Match 12: Winner 9 vs. Winner 10, 8 p.m., fourth 

Saturday

Match 13: Winner 12 vs. Loser 11, 10 a.m., third 

Match 14: Winner 11 vs. Winner 13, noon, championship 

Match 15: If necessary