HELENA, Mont. -- A Thursday night showdown with the Montana Western Bulldogs looms ahead of the Carroll College Saints volleyball team before a break in conference.
The Saints (15-9, 3-3) host Western (4-11, 0-5) at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the PE Center.
"It really doesn't matter at this point who is on the other side of the net," Saints coach Moe Boyle said. "We really need to focus on our side to make sure we're progressing on our game. That started on Friday. I felt like we got better on defense."
The Saints split their matches last week, falling to No. 23 Montana Tech 3-1 before bouncing back to defeat Lewis-Clark State 3-1.
In between those two matches, the Saints made a lineup change that sparked a new energy that Carroll is hoping carries it in the second half of the season. Boyle said she watched her team grow each set. She noticed a new resolve, too.
When the first set went the Warriors way, the Saints didn't look back. Carroll reeled off the next three.
"I believe that everyone on the court contributed," Boyle said. "I feel like our energy really motivated us throughout the night. I feel like from the beginning of the match to the end of the match we got better as a team. That hasn't happened in a couple years, which is nice because you feel like they are growing together."
Entering Thursday's match, the Saints are the No. 4 team in the NAIA in total blocks (189), a large chunk of that coming from senior
Brielle Bumgarner.
Bumgarner is No. 8 in the NAIA in total blocks (86) and is No. 25 in blocks per game (1.1).
Senior
Rayna Pilgeram leads the team in assists with 652, or 8.3 per game.
Ayla Carpenter leads Carroll in digs with 4.5 per game.
Western enters the match ranked No. 2 in the NAIA in digs per game (20.3). Dylan Fowler is the mainstay of the Bulldogs' defense. The senior averages 8.2 digs per game.
Carroll defeated the Bulldogs 3-0 in Dillon to kick off the Frontier Conference season.
After Western, the Saints travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to play four non-conference matches from Oct. 12-13.
