LEWISTON, Idaho - It. wasn't particularly flashy, but it didn't have to be. The top seed Lewis-Clark State College women's volleyball team was simply too powerful in the end.
With its three big hitters combing for a hitting percentage of above .500, LCSC rolled to a 25-15, 25-16, 25-19 win over eighth seed University of Montana Western in the opening round of the Bank of Whitman Frontier Conference Volleyball Tournament on Friday at the LCSC Activity Center.
The win lifts LCSC, ranked No. 14 in the NAIA, to 26-2 on the season and into Saturday's semifinals. LCSC will play at 1 p.m. against the winner of Friday's final first-round match between Westminster and Carroll. The other semifinal has No. 6 seed Montana Tech taking on No. 2 seed Rocky Mountain at 11 a.m. The two semifinal winners square off at 7 p.m. for the title and an automatic berth to the NAIA national tournament.
LCSC, which won its second straight FC regular-season title, is aiming for its second straight FC tourney title as well.
The Warriors didn't have much trouble against Western, grabbing the early lead in all three sets. Western, which finishes the season at 3-22, did erase a 10-point deficit in the third set and cut the margin to five before LCSC put it away.
"LC is a great team and we knew that coming in," Montana Western coach Katie Howells said. "We're just so young and inexperienced. But I definitely saw some good things tonight."
Western, which had a roster of two juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen, had a problem stopping LCSC's big three of FC Player of the Year Anile Clemente, fellow FC all-conference first-team selection Julie Maciboba, and Austyn Lewis. The three combined for 34 kills.
"I thought it was a good match and our hitting was fantastic," LCSC coach Jennifer Greeny said. "There are a few things we need to do better. Our passing needs to improve and our blocking needs to improve, but we really hit well tonight."
Clemente posted 19 kills and a .600 hitting percentage. She also had three service aces and eight digs. Maciboba had eight kills, a .429 hitting percentage, three digs and two block assists, while Austyn Lewis had seven kills and a .778 hitting percentage.
"I thought our middle played extremely well," Greeny said of Lewis and Maciboba, who combined for just two hitting errors.
As a team, the Warriors hit .432, compared to .163 for Western.
Courtney Nicholls led Western with nine kills, while Maria Peterson had 19 assists.
