HELENA -- A few things are for sure following Helena Capital volleyball's straight-set victory over the Missoula Sentinel Spartans on Tuesday.
- The Helena Capital Bruins notched their 66th consecutive victory with the win over Sentinel.
- The Bruins beat Class AA's "official" Montana High School Association consecutive wins record of 65, which the Billings Senior Broncs accrued from 2006-09.
- MTN Sports reported the Bruins would break the "official" Class AA record held by Billings Senior, on the MHSA website, with a win over the Spartans.
- The Bruins tied the "unofficial record" Senior holds of 66 wins, according to an Associated Press article from 2009, with its win over Sentinel.
So, what does this all mean? The Bruins, according to a Flathead Beacon article from September 2009, tied the consecutive wins record of 66 wins that Billings Senior had until it lost to the Helena High Bengals on Sept. 1, 2009.
Headed into Tuesday night's match, the Bruins appeared to think they would break the record.
MTN Sports reached out to the MHSA and former Billings Senior volleyball coach Jeff Carroll regarding the disparity but, as of Tuesday evening, had not heard back. The MHSA's record book is compiled based off submissions from schools.
By the MHSA's standard, at least according to their online record books, the Bruins did break the record. However, finding out following the win they may still be short of the mark left a few Bruins disheartened.
"It kind of stinks that we thought we got it, but we didn't," said Helena Capital junior Parklyn Heller. "At least we made that record and we can keep pushing and get there eventually."
Some are a bit over the chase for the record and are just as happy to pick up another win, their ninth of the season.
"Feels good, but now, at this point, it's just more wins. Like, I don't really care about the streak anymore. All it was, was getting to it and overcoming it," said Helena Capital senior Dani Bartsch. "I'm still going to try to obviously do that on Saturday (at Missoula Big Sky) because it'll be super cool, but a win's a win. I'll always take that, especially on Senior Night."
Whether or not the Bruins officially, or unofficially, tied or broke the Class AA record for consecutive wins, the Bruins will still suit up as they chase their 67th straight win when they head to Missoula to take on the Eagles on Saturday at 2 p.m.
