Nov. 7—HELENA — Helena's Ella McCarthy and Brooklyn Smith had eight kills each and the Bengals downed Flathead in straight sets Thursday in a State AA volleyball play-in match.

Lauryn Lieberg and Sammy Knutson added seven kills each for the Bengals (12-14), who won 25-16, 25-20, 25-10.

They advanced to the State AA tournament as the West's No. 3 seed. Helena will face Bozeman in the first round next Wednesday at Breeden Field House on the MSU campus.

Flathead ended up 5-21, though the Bravettes had an excellent start to the second set, taking leads of 14-6 and 18-10 before Helena rallied.

Makenna Aldrich had an ace to go with five kills to lead Flathead.

Helena def. Flathead 25-16, 25-20, 25-10

Kills — Flathead 15 (Makenna Aldrich 5), Helena 34 (Ella McCarthy 8, Brooklyn Smith 8). Assists — Flathead 14 (Cheyenne Heino 14), Helena 31 (Avery Peterson 29). Digs — Flathead 35 (Emy O'Dell 12), Helena 47 (Lauryn Leiberg 17). Blocks — Flathead 6 (Bristol Lenz 4), Helena 7 (Sammy Knutson 4). Aces — Flathead 3 (3 with 1), Helena 8 (3 with 2).

The Pinkerton Academy volleyball team advanced to Saturday's Div. I championship match with a 3-1 win over Nashua North Tuesday night.

The top-seeded Astros (19-1) will face No. 6 Dover in the the championship on Saturday at noon at Pinkerton Academy. Dover advanced with a 3-2 win over No. 2 Londonderry on Tuesday.

Against North, Pinkerton fell in the opening set, 25-22, but rallied for three-straight wins (25-9, 25-20 and 25-15) to advance.

The Astros were led by Aaliyah Gooden (15 kills, eight blocks), Maddie Andrade (12 kills, 15 service points, two aces, 21 digs), Mollie Jones (11 kills), Liv Townsend (three blocks), Lucy Denu (13 service points, 15 assists), Taylor Nastasi (two aces, 24 assists) and Ella Piascik (17 digs).