Despite very impressive runs by two of Missoula's Class AA volleyball squads, the 2009 state tournament marked the 10th consecutive season that neither Big Sky, Hellgate nor Sentinel made the championship round.

Hellgate and Sentinel both lost their openers last Thursday in Bozeman only to rebound for a pair of loser-out victories on Friday, before meeting in that day's final match. The Knights topped the Spartans in four games in the loser-takes-fourth match. Hellgate went on to lose to Bozeman in four games on Saturday in the consolation match.

Saturday's third-place finish gave the Knights their first trophy at state since 2002 (not 1994, as was originally reported). Hellgate lost to Billings Skyview for third place on March 16, 2002. Skyview then lost to Billings Senior for the AA title that year. That was the last time Montana's high school volleyball season was played in the winter. The Knights qualified for state eight months later when volleyball made its debut in the fall, but they went 0-2 the next time around.

Until last week, that was Hellgate's last trip to state. The season switch with volleyball and girls' basketball has caused some record-keeping problems, so here is a brief rundown of what Missoula fans should know about their volleyball teams.

n Sentinel was the last Missoula volleyball team to play for a Class AA state title in 2000. The Spartans fell in four games to Great Falls CMR, which went 28-0 that season. The Spartans have made the state tourney four years in a row now, including a third-place finish last season - their first trophy since finishing runner-up in '00. Sentinel's last state title was in 1988.

n Big Sky has made three trips to state since the season switch (fall of 2002, '05, and '07). The last time the Eagles placed at state was 1998, when they took third. Big Sky's last state title was in 1995.

n Hellgate's only state title came in 1993 when it beat Bozeman.

More volleyball news

No injuries were sustained when the bus in which the Kalispell Glacier volleyball team was riding was involved in a wreck just hours before Glacier's Western AA playoff match at Missoula Sentinel on Nov. 5.

The Wolfpack had left Kalispell and were heading south on Highway 93 when the team bus collided with the rear end of a car in front of them near Lakeside. There were no serious injuries, but both vehicles were badly damaged.

"You couldn't get out of the front of that bus. That bus was done," Glacier coach Christy Harkins said. "We had to switch buses, and a new driver came and got us and took us on our way."

The accident delayed the Wolfpack's tip-off with the Spartans by about an hour to 8 p.m., Harkins said. None of her players seemed rattled by the incident. In fact, Glacier won the first game 25-23, before falling 26-24, 25-14, 25-20 in the next three sets.

"In hindsight, I think it was the right decision to play that night," said Harkins, who's been coaching volleyball in the valley for 18 years. "Sentinel was better than us that night and they probably would have been the next night too, if we would have made arrangements to come back. It was definitely unique. That's the first accident I've been in."

Hand-le with care

Missoula Sentinel junior wide receiver Ben Roberts broke his left hand exactly three weeks ago against Helena Capital and missed the Spartans' first Class AA playoff game in 20 years the following week.

The league's co-leading receiver - Roberts and Big Sky senior Drew Owens both caught 55 passes during the regular season - didn't suit up against Helena High on Nov. 7, when Sentinel lost 26-16 in the opening round of the AA playoffs. His absence was noticeable. The Spartans managed just 62 yards of passing through the first three quarters of the game as they fell behind the Bengals 19-0.

"It did affect us," Sentinel coach Pete Joseph said. "It affected us because a lot of the stuff we like to run with Benny is our quick-strike offense; one-on-one, get the offense going down the field. You can throw up a ball and it doesn't have to be a prefect pass and he can go get it."

The 6-foot-4, 190-pounder suffered a spiral fracture on the metacarpal bone to his index finger, Joseph said. The injury happened on the Spartans' second possession of the game with Capital, which the Bruins wound up winning 37-13 to close out the regular season.

Roberts, who also plays basketball for Sentinel, was told he needed 6-8 weeks of recovery time before he could resume any athletics.

"It took away some plays we like to run, but as far as taking us out of our game, that didn't happen. We still ran our offense," Joseph said. "We didn't change things up. We just weren't as effective."

"Anytime you take a D-I athlete off the field it's going to affect you."

Roberts has drawn interest from Boise State, several Pac 10 schools and - in advance of this week's "Brawl of the Wild" - both UM and MSU.

Scholarly swimmers

Two Missoula high school seniors signed national letters of intent last Wednesday, to extend their swimming careers to the next level.

Loyola Sacred Heart's Brittany Szekely and Sentinel's Kasey Robinson earned college scholarships for their prowess in the pool. Szekely, who swept the 50 and 100 freestyle for a second straight season in 2008, is going to Bowling Green in Ohio on a full-ride, while Robinson, who was runner-up in the 200 and 500 free a year ago, is headed to Wyoming on a partial scholarship, Missoula YMCA Swim Team coach Kirby Majerus said.

"High school swimming hasn't even started yet, but we'll have more (signings)," Majerus said. "Between the MYST and the MAC there are about eight kids in one class of seniors who will earn swim scholarships. That's a huge class. And that's pretty good for one community like Missoula."

Coming up

The Class AA and Class B football championship games, which don't involve western Montana teams, are scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Top-ranked Helena Capital (12-0) hosts No. 2 Great Falls Russell (11-1) in the AA title game at 7 p.m. The Bruins, who beat CMR 28-26 earlier this fall, are riding a 33-game winning streak. In the B title tilt, No. 1 Huntley Project (11-0) and No. 2 Fairfield (11-0) meet in a rematch of last year's championship game, which Huntley won 41-28. ... The Class AA All-Star Volleyball match is set for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Butte High School. Coaches are Helena High's Sheila Williams for the West and Bozeman's Katie Laslovich for the East. ... Winter sports may begin practicing on Thursday for swimming and wrestling (all classes) and Monday for boys' and girls' basketball (all classes). First day for competition in those sports is Dec. 4, if the required number of practices are met.