Dickinson Book l C of I Book
BUTTE, Mont. – No. 23 Carroll College Volleyball split a pair of matches Friday at the Big Sky Challenge in the Butte Civic Center, topping Dickinson State 25-21, 25-12, 21-25, 25-14 before falling to No. 25 College of Idaho 25-18, 30-28, 25-18.
In the first match, The Saints trailed 7-3 early in the first set before rallying to tie the set at 10-10. After trading points, Carroll took the lead at 19-18 and closed the set on an 8-3 run to win 25-21.
The second set was all Carroll. The Saints forced Dickinson into 13 attack errors while notching seven kills and five blocks en route to a 25-12 win.
Dickinson rallied to win the fourth set 25-21, but the Saints closed the match with a 12-4 run to win the fourth set 25-14.
Mallory Arbizzani was dominant on the block, picking up three solo blocks and 10 assist blocks to lead the team to 16 total blocks. She also tallied nine kills on a .500 hitting percentage. Casey McInerney tallied a match- high 10 kills and Rayna Pilgeram had six kills, 31 assists and two service aces.
The Saints held Dickinson to a -.037 hitting percentage while hitting a respectable .144.
In the nightcap, the Saints were unable to stop the high powered C of I attack. The first set was close with the saints tailing 17-16 before the Yotes went on a 5-0 run to take control before earning the 35-18 win.
The second set, both teams battled with nine ties and nine lead changes. The Saints had set point at 27-26 on an ace by Casey Berry before C of I earned back to back points. Caroll again tied the match up at 28 before the Yotes closed with two more points to earn the win.
The third set followed a similar script as the first. Carroll cut the lead to 19-18 before six-straight points closed the match out for C of I.
The Saints improved their hitting percentage in the second match to .200, but the Yotes tallied a .343 hitting percentage to control the offense.
Rayna Pilgeram led the Saints with nine kills, 23 assists, a pair of aces and three blocks while four C of I players were in double digit kills.
The Saints are now 4-3 on the year with all three losses coming against ranked opponents. Dickinson State is 0-2 after Friday and C of I moves to 6-0 on the year with an impressive resume so far.
Carroll plays another pair of games Saturday, beginning with Northwest (Wash.) at 11 a.m. before closing the tournament with No. 20 Bellevue at 7 p.m.
