Hamilton Girls Volleyball Falls in Western A Tournament

Hamilton's season ended after losses to Polson and Dillon at the Western A Divisional tournament hosted in Hamilton.

Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Volleyball

Expressive editorial sports illustration of a female volleyball player mid-spike at the net in team-colored jersey on a wooden gym floor, conveying a tense final-match moment. — Hamilton's girls volleyball season ended after losses to Polson and Dillon at the Western A Divisional tournament the team hosted November 5 to 7. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

The Hamilton girls volleyball team was eliminated from the Western A Divisional tournament it hosted, losing 1-3 to Polson in its opener and 0-3 to Dillon in the loser's bracket. The Western A Divisional tournament ran from November 5 to November 7, 2026, ending the team's season.

Why it matters

The loss closes out Hamilton's season and leaves the team out of the next stage of the Western A Divisional bracket. The result also determined the final standings for the teams that qualified from the SW and NW conferences.

Hamilton dropped the first game 1-3 to Polson, with set scores of 14-25, 18-25, 25-22, and 20-25. In the loser's bracket, Hamilton lost 0-3 to Dillon, with set scores of 9-25, 18-25, and 22-25.

The players

Hamilton Girls Volleyball

The Hamilton High School girls volleyball team represents the host school of the Western A Divisional tournament.

Polson

Polson is a Montana high school volleyball program that eliminated Hamilton in the tournament's opening round.

Dillon

Dillon is a Montana high school volleyball program that eliminated Hamilton from the loser's bracket.

The details

Hamilton, the No. 3 seed from the SW conference, hosted the Western A Divisional tournament from November 5 to November 7, 2026. After falling to Polson in the opening round, Hamilton was sent to the loser's bracket, where it lost to Dillon, the SW No. 1 seed, before its season ended.

November 5, 2026: Hamilton lost 1-3 to Polson in its first game.
November 6, 2026: Hamilton lost 0-3 to Dillon in the loser's bracket.
November 7, 2026: The tournament concluded.

Season Trajectory

Under the Montana High School Association's divisional tournament format, teams seeded by conference move through winners and losers brackets, so Hamilton's loss to Polson moved it to the losers' side before its elimination by Dillon. Corvallis followed a similar path, losing to Bigfork and Whitefish in the same tournament.

With Hamilton eliminated, the Western A Divisional bracket narrows to the remaining SW and NW qualifiers. Fans tracking the postseason can follow the surviving teams' results to see which programs advance to the next stage.

The takeaway

The Hamilton and Corvallis results show how quickly a single loss can end a divisional run in a bracket that offers only one path back through the losers' side. Following each team's sets record is the clearest way to track how the tournament unfolded.