Thanks to some senior leadership the Stillwater Cougars were able to edge Hot Springs and win their seventh game in a row on Tuesday night at home.

Stillwater improved to 18-1 overall on the season after winning 25-18, 22-25, 26-24 and 25-12 on senior night.

"It's always great to see your seniors win on senior night," 13th year head coach Dave Shawback said. "There were a lot of emotions, but they played tough through all that emotion."

Senior Julia Bray had 16 kills, four blocks and six aces and Julia Smith added seven kills, 14 digs and nine aces for the Cougars.

"It was a pretty big defensive battle," Shawback said.

"I think they play really well together as a team and I think that that carries over off the court as well as on the court," he added. "It's been a great group of girls to coach."

Stillwater plays Flathead J.V. at home on Thursday and then Whitefish J.V. the following Monday before heading to the Montana Christian Athletic Association state tournament in Bozeman. Stillwater finished second there last year.

Kills - Stillwater 34 (Julia Bray 16, Jordan Danz 7, Julia Smith 7), Hot Springs 34; Assists - Stillwater 26 (Linnea Hashley 26), Hot Springs 26; Blocks - Stillwater 11 (Bray 4, Lindsey Vander Ark 2, Hashley 2), Hot Springs 9; Digs - Stillwater 70 (Danz 18, Smith 14, Hot Springs 66; Aces - Stillwater 20 (Smith 9, Bray 6), Hot Springs 11

Bigfork wins in three

BIGFORK - Melissa VanDerveer and Claire Wilken each had six aces and the Bigfork Valkyries won their sixth game in a row by beating Plains 25-12, 25-13 and 25-9 in 7B volleyball.

VanDerveer also chipped in two blocks while Wilken handed out 10 assists for Bigfork (10-2 overall, 8-1 in conference).

"They're scrappy, but the best thing is they just have good chemistry going on," Bigfork coach Tammi McDaniel said.

"They communicate well, they work well together as a team, and I think when we've been down that saves them."

Emily Hardman had nine kills and Mallery Knoll added six for the Vals.

"They're trying to just gear up and head into tournament time on a high note," McDaniel said. "They're staying positive and working hard and going for it."

Bigfork looks to keep the win streak alive at Troy on Saturday.

Kills - Bigfork 21 (Emily Hardman 9, Mallery Knoll 6), Plains 6 (Kelsey Beagley 2); Assists - Bigfork 16 (Claire Wilken 10, Taylor Peck 6), Plains 5 (Heather Earhart 3); Blocks - Bigfork 5 (Melissa VanDerveer 2), Plains 3 (Laurel Danhof 2); Digs - Bigfork 14 (Kelly Deaton 5), Plains 16 (Diamond LaDeaux 8); Aces - Bigfork 16 (Wilken 6, VanDerveer 6), Plains 2 (Earhart 1)

Hellgate drops Glacier

MISSOULA - Hellgate narrowly beat Glacier in the opening set and carried the momentum over to big wins in the following two and dropped the Wolfpack in AA action, 25-23, 25-12 and 25-21.

Lexy Boschee had nine kills and two aces, McKell Bennett had three blocks and Paige Latimer dealt 21 assists for Glacier.

Kills - Glacier 26 (Lexy Boschee 9), Hellgate 36 (Lisa Woerlein 12). Blocks - Glacier 6 (McKell Bennett 3), Hellgate 9 (Gen Newell 4). Digs - Glacier 41 (Leah Engebretsen 14), Hellgate 40 (Brooke Bryant 10). Assists - Glacier 22 (Paige Latimer 21), Hellgate 31 (Halen McKenzie 21). Aces - Glacier 4 (Boschee 2), Hellgate 7 (Woerlein 4).