HELENA, Mont. – The Lewis-Clark State College volleyball team is now just one win away from claiming its fifth straight Frontier Conference Tournament title. The No.1-seeded Warriors defeated the No. 5 seed Great falls in four sets 25-21, 19-25, 25-14, 25-23 early on Saturday.
“It was a fun match and really intense,” said LCSC head coach LaToya Harris. “Everyone was fired up and we came out with amazing energy.”
The Warriors, ranked No. 7 in the NAIA and now 21-3 overall, hit just .131 in the match, but tied a season high with 14 blocks and held the Argos to a .048 hitting clip.
“Great Falls is a very good team with strong blockers and strong hitters,” said Harris. “Because of how strong they are, one of our main focuses was blocking—and it worked.”
Nicole Graybeal led LC’s blocking efforts with two solo blocks and four block assists. Chelsea Strong and Nevena Dragovic added one solo block and three block assists apiece, and Frontier Conference Player of the Year Lauryn Herrick had two solo blocks and one block assist.
After dropping the second set, the Warriors came out looking unstoppable in the third. Harris credited this turnaround to her team getting back to playing its game.
“We weren’t running our offense, and were playing at their tempo in the second set,” said Harris. “We had to focus on keeping our quick tempo. Once we found our rhythm in the fourth it was really fun to watch.”
Herrick led the team with 13 kills, and Briane Brown added 10 to go with a team-high two service aces.
Dragovic continues to set well during tournament play as she finished with 37 assists and no ball handling errors. And Kaylee Rector also played well in the back row as she collected 25 service receptions without an error and had 18 digs.
Great Falls, which ends the season at 22-10, was led by Kelsey VanUden who had 13 kills.
In the title match the Warriors will face second-seeded Rocky Mountain College. The Bears are ranked No. 9 in the NAIA and have played well in the conference tournament thus far having not surrendered one set. Rocky Mountain eliminated host and No. 3 seed Carroll College 25-21, 25-13, 25-16 in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
“They’re a great blocking team as well,” said Harris about Rocky. “We’re going to have to get everyone involved, stay solid, keep our flow, and play our game.”
The championship match will start at 6 p.m., Pacific, this evening. Video coverage is available at http://gotw.tv/.
