HELENA, Mont. – No. 17 Carroll College volleyball puts the conference lead on the line Friday evening when the Saints host second-place Montana Western at the PE Center.
 
Carroll is on a three-match win streak that includes sweeps over the University of Great Falls, MSU-Northern and Rocky Mountain.
 
At 4-1 in conference play, Carroll has a chance to build a two match lead over the 3-2 Bulldogs with a win, a loss and the two teams are tied at the mid-way point in Frontier play.
 
Western is under the helm of first-year coach Brent Lewis and the 8-9 Bulldogs have shown improvement as the season has progressed.
 
Carroll head coach Moe Boyle has been impressed with their early growth.
 
"They are going to be scrappy," Boyle said. "They are going to be good on defense and they run a quick offense. We have to be prepared for a battle."
 
Western has a talented team that is beginning to find their stride on the court in Lewis' system.
 
"Bailey Wilson is a dynamic player brings quickness to the outside hitter position," Boyle said. "Tessa Miller is a quality efficient hitter in the middle. The Libero, Dylan Fowler, anchors a solid defense. Callie Hanson is a seasoned setter that does a nice job distributing the offense."
 
Carroll leads the league in hitting percentage, kills, assists and aces. The Saint's only conference loss came against Lewis-Clark State more than two weeks ago. Since that time, Carroll has notched four player of the week honors in the 3-0 stretch, including two by setter Jonni Dorr.
 
Despite the strong play, Boyle knows there is room for improvement and Carroll can't take winning for granted, especially against a hungry team like Montana Western.
 
"We need to play solid consistent volleyball from start to finish," Boyle said. "I feel like we've made some strides offensively but we still have a lot of work to do. Our serve and serve-receive need to continue to produce at a high level for us to be successful and I think there is potential for our hitting to continue to improve."
 
The Bulldogs and Saints take the court at 7 p.m. The match will be live streamed via the Carroll Youtube Channel and live stats will be available via Dakstats.