LEWISTON, Idaho – Overcoming a slow start, a couple of injuries during the match, and illnesses, the Lewis-Clark State College women’s volleyball team gritted out a 22-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-16 win over Montana Tech in a Frontier Conference volleyball match at the LCSC Activity Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Warriors, 14-6 overall and 7-2 in conference play, held a 21-16 lead in the first set, but Montana Tech rallied for six straight points and scored nine of the final 10 points in the set to claim the win.
LCSC then lost freshman Kaylee Rector and senior Katie Hinrichs to injuries during play. Both play the libero/defensive specialist position. Rector suffered a broken hand, while Hinrichs stayed in the locker room after the second set with pain in her back and leg.
To make matters worse, a couple of players have been ill during the week, including middle blocker Dani Barrett. But that didn’t stop the 6-foot-2 senior from post 12 kills and hitting .348 during the match to help the Warriors rally to the win.
“I thought our energy wasn’t quite as good as it was on Thursday night (a three-set sweep over Montana Western) but we made things work,” LCSC coach Jen Greeny said. “In the third set, we had people thrown into positions that they weren’t used to playing. The way they played says good things about them.”
Senior Anile Clemente, who earned first team ACVA NAIA All-America honors last season, matched her career high at LCSC with 20 kills and hit .341 for the match. Clemente also had 12 digs and two block assists.
“She really did a great job for us,” Greeny said. “She really stepped up and played well.”
Sophomore Lauryn Herrick and senior Dana Christiansen added nine and eight kills, respectively, for LCSC. Herrick hit .360 for the match and had three digs, while Christiansen led all players with a .538 hitting percentage and had 1.5 blocks. Both teams finished with five blocks.
Senior Lisa Davis added 22 assists and had three of LCSC’s nine service aces in the game. The Warriors, however, also had 14 service errors.
After the letdown in the first set, the Warriors used a 4-0 run in the second set to break a 7-7 tie. The Warrior ended the set with a 7-2 run.
The third set was tied at 10 when LCSC took the lead for good, the Warriors again ended strong by scoring 10 of the final 14 points. The final set was all LCSC as the Warriors led 10-3 and Montana Tech couldn’t get closer than six the rest of the way.
Montana Tech, which is 3-6 in league play and 9-13 overall, was led by Katie Daly’s 14 kills and 12 digs, while Jodi Hogart had 35 assists.
LCSC hit .326 as a team, while Montana Tech was at .146.
The Warriors return to action for their final non-conference game of the regular season when they play host to Walla Walla University on Wednesday at 6 p.m. LCSC then hits the road for matches at Great Falls and Montana State-Northern next weekend.
