In the last major tournament before the state playoffs, the Bravettes volleyball team went 7-7 against a 16-team field in the Missoula County Public Schools Invitational volleyball tournament, Feb. 21 and 22.
The tournament was randomly divided into two pools - gold and purple. Flathead placed fifth in the purple pool and tied for ninth overall.
"We came out strong on Friday morning," said senior Mandy Strong. "Then we lost one to Sentinel and lost our momentum."
Senior Delaney Sock and senior Shannon Grace combined for nine kills to lead the Bravettes 15-10, 15-5 in their opening match against Columbia Falls. Sophomore Lindsay Ogle had six set assists.
The Bravettes split their next match against Missoula Sentinel 15-12, 7-15, and then went on to lose twice to Helena High and C.M. Russell, to finish with a 3-5 record on Friday.
"The end of the first day we did bad," said Grace. "But we ended the tournament strong."
Flathead, along with eight other AA schools from the western division, competed with western A leader Libby and six other A schools. Libby defeated Butte 15-12, 16-14 in the finals.
"I think we did pretty well," said Ogle. "We improved and started working well as a team."
On Saturday, the Bravettes finished with a 4-2 mark with wins over Ronan 15-4, 15-4 and Hamilton 15-10, 15-5. The Bravettes only loss was against the Butte Bulldogs, 6-15, 2-15.
Junior Sara Saverud had five kills and junior Jodi Hagestad set up 10 assists in the Bravettes' final win against Hamilton.
In the final weeks before the state tournament in Billings on March 13-15, the Bravettes are looking to finish strong.
"We need to beat Big Sky and Hellgate," said Strong. "If we beat them, we can host a playoff game."