LCSC goes the distance with UGF and comes away with title

11-14-09

LEWISTON, Idaho – It took back-to-back five-set matches, but a tired Lewis-Clark State College roster persevered its way to its third consecutive Frontier Conference tournament title. The Warriors brought down Great Falls 20-25, 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 15-12 in the title match of the Holiday Inn Express Frontier Conference Volleyball Tournament on Saturday night.

The win gives the Warriors an automatic berth to the 36-team NAIA national tournament. This will be the Warriors third straight appearance at nationals.

To earn the title the Warriors had to get past the hard hitting Argos who entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed and had little trouble winning its first two matches of the tournament.

“We knew it was going to be tough, but we’re just happy with the outcome,” LCSC coach Greeny said. “We kept fighting and I’m really proud of them.”

The season comes to an end for Argos who finish the season at 18-11. Great Falls received votes but was not ranked in the NAIA final top 25 poll, and did not receive one of the eight at-large berths which were announced on Saturday night.

One of the keys for LCSC, which showed some signs of fatigue as a result of its five-set comeback win over Carroll a few hours earlier in the day, was to slow the pace of UGF’s hard hitting offense. Lewis-Clark State used 13 blocks to try to slow down its opponent, but still was out swung 63-52 in kills.

Great Falls seemed to have free reign around the net in the first set, which resulted in the Argos hitting .361 to LCSC’s .233. The Warriors then combined for five blocks in the second and third set to help keep UGF’s hitters under control.

The fourth and fifth sets featured great defensive plays and long volleys, but in the end LCSC came out on top.

“It was just an emotional rollercoaster match,” said UGF coach Arunas Duda. “We didn’t pass the ball well in the second and third games, but we battled. It’s tough to beat this caliber of team on their court.”

In the fourth set with the score 23-18 in LCSC’s favor the match seemed to be winding to end. However, the Argos, led by three kills from Tasha Nunes, responded with seven straight points to tie it up at two sets apiece.

“We have a lot of seniors that just weren’t ready to be done yet,” said Duda. “I’m really proud of the girls and their effort. It was a heckuva ride, especially the second half of the season.”

The Argos were led by 16 kills from Cali Buck, 15 from Nunes, and 14 from Kelsey Vanuden.

On the match, the Warriors hit .208 while Great Falls hit .199. Jennifer Peterson led Great Falls with 39 assists, while LCSC's Kim Fong and Lisa Davis finished with 21 and 17 assists, respectively.

LCSC efforts were again spearheaded by Anile Clemente who led the team with 16 kills and 16 digs. Lauryn Herrick also added 12 kills and had a game high five service aces.

“It was crazy,” said Clemente. “After our match against Carroll this morning we set the goal of winning it all, but we knew we were against a tough opponent. We picked it up when we needed to, and it was an amazing win.”