FULLERTON, Calif. – The Carroll College volleyball team has been impressive this season but they didn't expect to go to California, play four matches in two days, two against ranked teams, one against a team receiving votes and the fourth against the tournament host and come out with a 4-0 record. They didn't expect it, but that is what the Saints did.
 
Carroll closed out the Hope International Labor Day Invite Saturday with wins over No. 19 Biola 17-25, 25-22, 27-25, 18-25, 15-13 and The Master's (RV) 25-22, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18. The Saints have now won seven-straight matches and were the only team at the tournament to go 4-0 on the weekend. 
 
"If you would have told me we would come out of this tournament 2-2 I would have been very happy," head coach Moe Boyle said. "This was an awesome tournament with a lot of great teams. Biola is a great team, they beat Columbia, the No. 1 team in the country last week. The Master's is going to be ranked in the next poll they are a very solid team. We turned some heads at this tournament and if we had any lack of confidence on this team, we are all moving in the right direction now."
 
Carroll opened Saturday with their toughest match of the weekend. Biola is among the top programs in the nation and leads the country in total kills.
 
The Saints hit a solid .228 against the Eagles and Paige Montgomery led the way with 19 kills and a .271 hitting percentage.
 
"Paige Montgomery was unbelievable against Biola," Boyle said. "She just kept swinging and they couldn't do anything to stop her."
 
Briell Bumgarner hit .345 for 12 kills and Holly Morehouse tallied 11kills with a .267 percentage. Ayla Carpenter notched 10 kills and 17 digs for the double-double. Natalie Kassa tallied a team-high 19 digs.
 
Jonni Dorr had 50 assists and 12 digs.
 
Biola led wire-to-wire in the first set and appeared to be in control but the Saints rallied to win set two and overcame a 21-18 deficit to win set three 27-25. Biola came back to force a fifth game with a 25-18 win in the fourth set.
 
The Eagles led early in the final set before the Saints went on a 5-1 run to take control of the set and earn the 15-13 win.
 
In the final match of the tournament, the Saints opened up the match with a 25-22 set-one win before The Master's rallied for the 25-18 second set win. The Saints jumped out early in set three but The Master's rallied and cut the lead to 9-8. Boyle then called a timeout.
 
"I knew we were dead in the water, we didn't have any energy, between the travel, and all of the matches our tanks were pretty empty," Boyle said. "I told them that if they wanted to win they needed to put this team away, the more we let them hang around the more likely that they would beat us. They responded, the bench was huge supplying energy and they went to work."
 
The Saints rattled off four-straight points and never trailed again en route to the 25-19 set-three win. After a 3-0 start by The Master's in set four, it was all Carroll, the Saints closed out the match with a 25-18 win.
 
"In the fourth set, the score was close at times but the momentum was all on our side," Boyle said. "The fourth set was never in doubt. It was fantastic to see the girls respond like that."
 
Carroll tallied a .205 hitting percentage. Morehouse tallied 12 kills and Montgomery 10 to lead the way. Kassa had 13 digs while Carpenter notched 10 and Dorr had 11.  Dorr paced the offense with 32 assists.
 
The Saints notched seven service aces against the Master's part of 12 for the day and 32 on the weekend.
 
"The serving this weekend was incredible," Boyle said. "It is a huge weapon that haven't utilized as well as we should. The girls re taking it seriously. Serving was the key in every math this weekend."
 
The Saints are now 10-2 on the season and have just one non-conference game left on the slate, a meeting with No. 25 Jamestown next Friday in Great Falls. Boyle believes her team is on the verge of something special.
 
"We aren't the same team we were a week ago or two weeks ago," Boyle said. "They believe in each other. The comradery and the way they work together and believe in each other is growing day by day. When hit a rough patch in a match and our team comes together and works through it. It doesn't matter who is on the other side of the court and that is where you want to be as a coach."