HELENA, Mont. – Carroll College volleyball swept Montana Western 25-17, 25-22, 25-19 Friday night at the PE Center in Helena for the fifth-straight win.
The Saints have now won 15 of their last 16 sets, dating back to the Five Points Bank Invitational in Nebraska last weekend.
Carroll now improves to 8-7 on the season and 2-0 in Frontier Conference action. The Bulldogs of University of Montana Western fall to 4-8 on the season and 0-1 in conference.
In the first set, Carroll would set the tone by jumping out to an 11-6 lead. Western would battle back to cut the lead to 11-10. However, the Saints would pull away with an 8-1 run and eventually close out the set 25-17.
The Saints found themselves trailing in the second set, 18-12 after a seven point run by Western. Head Coach Moe Boyle mixed up the rotation with
Natalie Kassa and
Brielle Bumgarner, who brought a different level of energy onto the court. Carroll would rally with a 10-1 run to close out and win the set 25-22.
"
Mallory Arbizzani and Brielle picked up this team and created a lot of energy in that second set." said Boyle. "There is a lot to be said about the energy of this team, and how quickly it can turn us around."
The Bulldogs again took an early 7-3 lead in the final set, but the Saints would again battle back to tie the game at 14 and would not look back, winning the set 25 to 19.
The early struggles in the last two sets were mostly self-inflicted, the Saints tallied 24 attack errors and six service errors on the match. Carroll remained cool however came out on top despite facing a deficit to overcome.
"I think that our girls have matured and when there is chaos on the floor we have the ability to stay calm," Boyle said. "Every player has taken their turn to step up and play well and over the last five matches we've done what we need to do."
Emily Sullivan and
Crystal Schmidt led the Saints' attack with eight kills each while
Jonni Dorr recorded a game high of 22 assists.
Rebecca Sweeney and Kassa led the game with 18 and 12 digs respectively to help anchor Carroll's defense.
Carroll will resume Frontier Conference play next Thursday, September 24th, against Lewis-Clark State here in Helena at 7 p.m.
