HELENA, Mont. – The Carroll College volleyball team overcame a two-set deficit to earn a dramatic 23-25, 21-25, 25-15, 25-10, 20-18 home win over Evergreen State Wednesday evening at the PE Center.
 
The Saints started the match with a 3-0 run, two of which were service aces by Rayna Pilgeram and it looked like the Carroll would roll to the win, but Evergreen answered with a 6-0 run of their own to build a 6-3 lead and would never trail again in the first set.
 
The second set followed a similar script, the Saint struck first, but the Geoducks went on a 5-0 run to build a 6-2 lead and never trailed en route to the 25-21 win.
 
"It was frustrating, no question," head coach Moe Boyle said. "We didn't come out like we usually do, so it became uncomfortable very fast, and Evergreen took advantage of that. We played on the defensive. We let them do what they want offensive, and our block didn't get a lot of touches which caused our defense to panic. In the third set, we started to get a lot of touches and blocks, and our defense settled down. We funneled the ball to our defensive players, that calmed the side of the court."
 
The third set started point for point but trailing 4-3, the Saints went on a 9-0 run to build a 12-4 lead en route to a 25-15 win. In the fourth set, Carroll dominated wire-to-wire. Evergreen failed to hold a single serve through the entire match, and the Saints rolled to a 25-10 win.
 
The fifth set had the blood pressure of everyone in the build a few points higher than normal. There were 15 ties and 15 lead changes, but the Saints pulled out the win with three-straight points to earn the 20-18 victory to move to 3-2 on the year. The game was the season opener for the Geoducks who are now 0-1.
 
The Carroll middle hitters were a force in the match. Brielle Bumgarner notched 14 kills on .391 while Mallory Arbizzani tallied eight kills on a .412. Holly Morehouse had a team-high 16 kills on a .448 hitting percentage while also adding six blocks.
 
"Our middle hitters, Brielle and Mallory had a great night," Boyle said. "They got us going. Holly Morehouse got a few blocks on Natalie Taylor, and it changed the way she hit the ball. She is a good player, but once we started getting touches on the block we got her a little out of sorts."
 
The Saints closed the night with a .282 hitting percentage while Evergreen was .147. Carroll had 11 team blocks to just four for the Geoducks, and The Saints had seven service aces, including a career-high five from Rayna Pilgeram.
 
Carroll also got a boost off of the bench with Taelyr Krantz, Madi Quick, and Laurel Kassa all bringing some energy for the Saints.
 
"Taelyr was a great spark off of the bench and is beginning to come into her own as an outside hitter," Boyle said. "Madi Quick came in and sparked us defensively. She passed great out of the serve receive. Laurel was huge in on the service line for us."
 
Pilgeram notched career-high 51assists while also adding six kills and six digs.
 
"Give Rayna Credit. She served well, had five aces and did a great job running the offense. She is developing nicely into the role as the starting setter, and the team builds more trust in her every practice and match."
 
The Saints continue play Friday and Saturday with four matches in two days at the Big Sky Challenge at the Civic Center in Butte.
 
The Saints open the tournament with Dickinson Friday at 1 p.m. before playing the No. 25 College of Idaho at 5 p.m. Saturday, the Saints play Northwest University at 11 a.m. and close the tournament with a match against No. 20 Bellevue at 5 p.m.
 
Live Video will be available via the Montana Tech Youtube channel, and live stats will be available via Dakstats.