HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll College Volleyball team split a pair of matches on the opening day of the 2023 Big SKy Challenge. The Saints fell in three sets to Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio), and then swept Warner Pacific (Ore.) in their evening match to end day one of the event.
It was a tale of two stories for the Fighting Saints (1-1) on the first day of the 2023 season. The Saints looked out of sorts in their opener against Mount Vernon Nazarene (2-0), but rallied for a dominating three-set sweep over Warner Pacific (0-2) to end the night.
CARROLL vs. MOUNT VERNON NAZARENE
The Saints' home opener against Mount Vernon Nazarene, of the Crossroads League, was not one they will stick in the memory bank. MVNU raced to a three-set sweep over the Saints, spoiling Carroll's home opener.
The Cougars raced out to a first set win on the heels of scoring 16 of the set's final 19 points, 15-16. MVNU won handily in the second set as well, accruing four separate runs of four points or more en route to a 25-12 set win. Carroll would close the gap in the third set, after their shaky start to the year, but the Cougars would prove too much to handle as they won the third and final set 25-21 to secure the victory.
Lauren Heuiser (Helena, Mont. / FR) had an extremely impressive collegiate debut. The middle hitter from the Capital City led the Saints in three categories; Kills (8.0), Aces (1) and Blocks (5.0).
MVNU's Lyssi Snouffer had a game-high 12 kills, while Reagan Nuss led all players with 39 total assists.
CARROLL vs. WARNER PACIFIC
The Saints bounced back in a big way in the day one night cap, breezing past Warner Pacific for a three-set sweep of their own to even their record at 1-1.
Carroll made quick work of the Knights, needing just over an hour-and-a-half to secure their first win of the young season.
The Saints hit an impressive .402 as a team, all while holding Warner Pacific to just .023 hitting percentage as a team.
Carroll held their opponents in check from the get-go, Warner Pacific only managed to score 30 total points over the three-sets played (25-10, 25-8, 25-12).
Mara Lynch (Bozeman, Mont. / SR) compiled 13 kills to lead the way for the Saints, while
Lauren Heuiser continued her standout first day at the collegiate level, accruing nine kills in the night game.
Hannah Schweikert (Columbia Falls, Mont. / JR) posted a game-high 35 assists in the win.
The Saints will return to the court tomorrow, as they wrap up play at their initial tournament of the season, facing off with Bushnell at 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, before finishing the event with a 6 p.m. showdown with Spring Arbor at the PE Center.
Be sure to visit www.carrollathletics.com tomorrow evening for a full recap of the action, as well as to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.
