HELENA — With the high school volleyball regular season winding down, both Helena High and Helena Capital excelled during their Senior Night matches on Tuesday.
The Bruins defeated Butte in four sets, while the Bengals swept Missoula Big Sky.
After erasing a 24-20 deficit in the third set, Helena Capital never trailed in the final set, wrapping up a 3-1 win over Butte.
Helena Capital seniors honored prior to the game included Taylor Ferretti, Kate Berg, Brielle Heller, Riley Chandler, Tey-ana Lintner, Sarah Logan, Cecily Blaz and Ashly Nelson.
"I love my school, so I have a lot of pride," Heller said before the game. "I really hope we go home with a win."
And that’s exactly what the seniors accomplished at home Tuesday, besting the Bulldogs in four sets to improve to 5-18 overall and 4-9 in Western AA play. Butte is now 6-17 overall and 5-8 in conference with the Western AA divisional tournament scheduled for next week.
At Helena High, the Bengals narrowly sneaked past Missoula Big Sky for a 27-25 victory in the first set. From there, Birdie Hauser and the Bengals easily won the second set before finishing the match with a 25-18 win in the decisive third set.
Seniors Annika Nehring and Malena Onespot-Danforth, who was credited with a match-high 27 assists, played key roles for the Bengals. Katryn Seliskar was also honored for Helena High on Senior Night.
With the sweep over Big Sky, the Bengals improved to 15-8 overall and 11-2 in conference play. The Bengals will head to the divisional tournament next week as the Western AA's second seed if they can end the season with another win Thursday at Butte. Big Sky is 3-20 overall and 2-11 in conference play.
The Western AA divisional volleyball tournament is Nov. 2-4 at Butte.
