Volleyball to State; Football’s road ends in Florence

Wow. Also: Whew!

The Jefferson High volleyball team had a thrilling weekend at the Class B Southern Division tournament in Colstrip — perhaps a bit more thrilling than it had anticipated. The result, though, was a second-place finish and a ticket to this week’s state championship.

The unexpected twist for the Panthers was their first-round match Thursday against Columbus. Jefferson had defeated the Cougars twice in the regular season, both times in straight sets. But those results were deceptive: There were no blow-out games, and Columbus was tough.