Stella apparently isn’t the only one who got her groove back.
Borrowing the title from the late 1990s movie, the Lewis-Clark State College volleyball team got its groove back after a long layoff and started the second half of Frontier Conference play with a dominating 25-7, 25-16, 25-10 win over Montana Western at the LCSC Activity Center on Thursday night.
The match was the first in 12 days for the No. 23-ranked Warriors and also was the first action since LCSC dropped a pair of matches on the road that left a lingering bitter taste.
“We needed that,” LCSC coach Jen Greeny said. “It’s nice to come off a long layoff, and a couple of losses, and respond and play well tonight.”
The Warriors, 6-2 in conference play and 13-7 overall, dominated Thursday’s match by hitting a season-high .450, outblocking the Bulldogs 7-1, and nailing eight service aces.
“We have stressed the importance of our intensity level,” Greeny said. “I’m proud of the effort tonight. Everyone contributed.”
The Warriors were able to take control of each set early to drop the Bulldogs to their 10th straight loss. Montana Western is 0-8 in league and 4-11 overall.
“I know they are missing a couple of players with injuries, but even with that, we played really well as a unit,” Greeny said. “I like the effort I saw tonight.”
LCSC led 8-4 and 14-6 in the first set before Montana Western scored its final point of the set on a kill by Jamie Zemljak. Katie Hinrichs then served the next 11 points for LCSC, including one of a service ace. Senior Anile Clemente also had two of her match-high 13 kills during the run.
The Warriors led by as much as eight in the second set, but the Bulldogs cut the margin to 21-16. LCSC senior Dani Barrett responded with a pair of kills while Clemente added one to close out the set.
The third set was moiré of the same as LCSC turned a 2-2 tie into a 17-6 lead as Hinrichs served seven straight points. The Warriors continue their aggressive play at the net to close out the win.
Clemente hit .550 for the match, had four service aces and four digs. Barrett added 11 kills, a .692 hittiing percentage, and 1.5 blocks. Sophomore Lauryn Herrick hitting .500 with eight kills and added two service aces and four digs.
Lisa Davis paced LCSC with 18 assists, while Kim Fong added 16. Freshman Stephanie Shumaker led the club in digs with seven.
Montana Western, which hit .028 for the match, was paced by nine kills for Zemljak, and 13 assists and eight digs from Michaela Jeffs.
The Warriors return to action Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. when they play host to Montana Tech.
