Women's Volleyball | 08/19/22 | 9:03 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BUTTE, Mont. - The Carroll College Volleyball team opened their 2022 season with a five-set win over (RV) Vanguard University, and a three-set loss to No. 12 Eastern Oregon on Friday at the Big Sky Challenge in Butte, Mont.

The Saints' season started with a five-set thriller on Friday morning, as Carroll took on a Vanguard team who received votes in the preseason NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches Poll. 

Carroll hopped out to an early lead, grabbing the first set, 25-22. That three-point differential would be the largest margin of victory in any set, with each of the next four being decided only by the necessary two points.

Vanguard woke up, and managed to string together two consecutive set wins, 25-23 and 28-26. Carroll had a lead late in each of the sets, but were unable to finish off the Lions, and found themselves in a hole entering the fourth frame.

In yet another tightly contested set, the Saints managed to hold off another late Vanguard run to win 25-23 and force the fifth set, where they eventually bested the Lions by a score of 15-13.

Katherine McEuen (Spokane, Wash. / SR) and Sidney Gulick (Kalispell, Mont. / FR) led the Saints offensively in the first match, with 21 and 20 kills respectively. Gulick was impressive in her first collegiate experience, finishing the match leading the Saints with a .325 hitting percentage. Defensive Specialist Julia Carr (Portland, Ore. / JR) picked up right where she left off last season, with 30 digs in the match.

The second match of the day would prove to be less successful for the Saints. Carroll played an Eastern Oregon team that is currently ranked No. 12 in the nation, but likely will soon be much higher. The Mountaineers entered the match having beat two top-five teams consecutively, No. 5 Midland and No. 2 Jamestown.

The Saints were unable to win a set in the second match. The Mountaineers were simply too much to handle tonight, winning the three sets 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 for the sweep.

Eastern Oregon was the more efficient offensive team, finishing the match with .161 hitting percentage as a team, compared to just .059 for Carroll. Kiauna Mack was stout defensively for Eastern Oregon, finishing with 6.0 blocks on the night.

Sidney Gulick led the way for the Saints on the offensive side of the action, finishing with 8 kills, followed by Elizabeth Heuiser (Helena, Mont. / SO) who finished with 6 kills of her own.

Carroll will have another early start tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. as they play Dickinson State (0-2) at the Maroon Activity Center in Butte, followed by a showdown with No. 2 Jamestown at 3:00 p.m. at the MAC.

Watch links and live stats will be available for both games tomorrow, accessible through the volleyball schedule tab on www.carrollathletics.com.