HELENA — Helena Capital and Helena High volleyball will meet Thursday in the den of the Bruins for their first crosstown match of the season. The home team will enter the matchup at 3-3 in the conference and 3-9 overall.
“I know that they're pretty good and scrappy. They are number one in our division right now. And we've been preparing by fine tuning the things we need to work on,” Capital senior and middle hitter Nyeala Herndon said.
The visiting team, Helena High enters with a 9-3 overall record and a perfect 6-0 record in the conference. Their biggest concern entering the match? How loud the Capital High student section can get.
“It's always hard. I can't hear my coach sometimes, like we have to get really tight in the huddle to even hear what she's saying,” Helena senior and outside hitter Alex Bullock said.
Herndon is hoping for a win come Thursday.
“I think it'd be pretty special. We haven't won crosstown since my sophomore year. And so winning it here at home for the first crosstown would be pretty amazing,” she said.
For Bullock, winning Thursday would mean keeping the Bengal’s perfect conference record.
“It'd mean a lot to us. I mean, obviously, we want to keep that undefeated in our conference, but also just like, it brings us together as a team like we'll be together if we lose, but also it's just something great to celebrate if we win,” she said.
The seniors are also looking forward to playing their friends on the other side of the net.
“We have the whole town. From both schools, and they're all cheering for us. And like, even though we have this big rivalry, like I get to play with some of my best friends across from the net that I might play with in club. And so like, even though we're supposed to all hate each other, like it's just this great competitive atmosphere that honestly, it's not replicated in any other game but crosstown twice a year … I love all those girls they’re such great people, such great athletes. But Kayla Almquist is a big name for me, like we've been playing together as long as I can remember, she's an incredible athlete,” Bullock said.
Both seniors also agreed that they’ll miss the atmosphere of crosstown games the most.
“The atmosphere like I like you won't get that in college. You won't get that anywhere else like you know your friends from the other side of the net. You know the people in the student section, you know your family is there watching. So just the energy and the chaos and just the utter happiness of crosstown,” Bullock said.
The varsity match is set to start at 7 p.m.
