HELENA, Mont. – The Carroll Volleyball team defended its home court and kicked-off a busy Homecoming weekend on the Hilltop with a sweep of No. 19 Montana Tech on Thursday night, taking down the Orediggers 25-20, 25-21, 26-24 inside the PE Center.
Entering the evening, the (RV) Fighting Saints (10-6, 5-3) had not beaten their rivals from Butte in two full seasons, however, a balanced offensive effort and a strong defensive presence helped them take down the Orediggers (9-5, 5-3) in straight sets.
The Saints set the tone early in the opening frame. After trading points through the first several rallies, Carroll grabbed control early the set behind a string of Oredigger errors, racing out to a 13-6 lead. Tech battled back to even the frame at 16-16, Carroll settled back into things, and came away with timely kills from Sidney Gulick (Kalispell, Mont. / SR) and Kaylen Hay (Pocatello, Idaho / R-FR) to close out the 25-20 set win in which Tech hit just .027.
In the second, Carroll built a 14-9 advantage with contributions from all three Heuiser sisters early, then had to withstand a late Oredigger rally. Tech managed to narrow the gap near the end of the frame, but McKaila Balcom (Pasco, Wash. / JR) provided the final two kills of the set to give 25-21 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set was the most dramatic of the night. Carroll jumped in front early, stretching the margin to 9-5, but Tech clawed back to even the score at 10-10. From there the set turned into a back-and-forth battle, with 15 ties and seven lead changes recorded in the frame. The Orediggers held a 24-22 lead with a set-point serve, but back-to-back kills by Elizabeth Heuiser (Helena, Mont. / R-SR) leveled the score and forced extra points. With the match on the line, the Saints capitalized on a Tech error which was upheld after review. Balcom hammered the final kill of her big night to close out the 26-24 victory and the sweep.
Balcom paced Carroll with a match-high 13 kills while hitting .545. Gulick added nine kills, and Liz Heuiser had seven. Setters Jansyn Carrizales (Sunnyside Wash. / JR) (16 assists, 9 digs) had a good showing, while Lauren Fox (Bozeman, Mont. / FR) was right behind her with a double-double (11 assists, 10 digs). Sofia Kimmel (Bozeman, Mont. / FR) led the Saints with a team-high 11 digs.
The sweep was a great start to a jam-packed weekend at Carroll, as the Saints will turn right around and host Montana Western tomorrow evening at 7 p.m.
Be sure to visit www.carrollathletics.com tomorrow evening for a full recap of the action, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.
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