SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Junior Demi Dlouhy (left) has a season-high 13 kills and a .765 hitting percentage to help the Lewis-Clark State College women’s volleyball team sweep Westminster for the second time this season, this time 25-16, 25-20, 25-21 on Friday night to complete the Warriors’ final road trip of the regular season and hand Westminster its first home loss this year.
Dlouhy, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker/outside hitter, set a team high for kills in a three-set match this season. The previous high was 12 by senior All American Anile Clemente. Dlouhy also had the Warriors’ second-best hitting percentage of the season, topping her own .750 mark against Montana State University-Northern last week. Clemente holds the season mark at .857.
The win lifts No. 24-ranked LCSC to 18-8 on the season and 9-3 in Frontier Conference play, and also keeps the Warriors’ hopes alive of a third straight conference title. Carroll College and Great Falls are currently tied for the top spot at 9-2 and play on Saturday. The Warriors wrap up the regular season at home next week, playing host to Rocky Mountain on Thursday at 7 p.m. and then Carroll at 2 p.m. in a match that is both Senior Day and could decide the conference title.
Dlouhy helped the Warriors hit .248 for the match, compared to .063 for Westminster. LCSC had 44 kills, compared to 28 for Westminster.
“Demi just has been getting better all year every single day in practice,” LCSC coach Jen Greeny said. “I thought they (the Griffins) were really keying on stopping Anile and from the beginning Demi was able to get those kills and just did a great job.”
The Warriors, who won their third straight, started off hot in the match as they claimed leads of 5-1 and 10-3 in the first set. Westminster cut the margin to 13-9, but couldn’t get closer the rest of the way. LCSC closed out the set with a 6-2 run, thanks to a pair of kills from senior Dana Christiansen, who finished with nine kills in the match.
“I thought we played with a lot of focus and energy, and we were able to do some really good things tonight,” Greeny said.
The second set was a see-saw battle that saw Westminster only lead once at 2-1, but the Griffins tied the contest seven times. A pair of kills by Clemente helped LCSC go on a 4-0 run, and Christiansen added four more kills down the stretch as LCSC never allowed Westminster to get closer than three the rest of the way.
The third set resembled the second with a back-and-forth contest, but this time Westminster was able to lead by as much as three on four occasions, including 18-15. However, a pair of Griffin hitting errors, two kills by LCSC sophomore Lauryn Herrick and another from Dlouhy helped the Warriors go on a 5-0 run for a 20-18 lead. After Westminster cut the lead to 20-19, Dlouhy and Clemente had a pair of kills each to help the Warriors close out the match.
Greeny said she was pleased with the Warriors composure and ability to answer every time Westminster made a run. “We were just really calm and nobody panicked,” Greeny said. “Westminster is a great team so I’m really proud of the way we played. We showed a lot of composure and got the job done.”
Earlier this season, the Warriors defeated Westminster 25-19, 25-21, 25-22 in Lewiston.
Herrick finished with seven kills and one of four service aces for the Warriors. Clemente had six kills and 11 digs, while Dlouhy also had three digs and two blocks. Sophomore Katie Hinrichs had a team-high 17 digs, while Kim Fong led the Warriors with 20 assists. Lisa Davis added 17. Stephanie Shumaker and Davis added nine digs.
“I thought our defense was better than it has been,” Greeny said. “I was really pleased with our defense.
“We’re glad, definitely to be finished with the road, but we have a tough week ahead of us. We have to focus in practice and prepare for two really tough teams.”
