BUTTE, Mont. - The Carroll College Volleyball team picked up a big late season win, erasing a two-set deficit to defeat rival Montana Tech 3-2 on Saturday night at Valley Bank Arena.
Tech took the first two sets, 25-21 and 25-17, but the Fighting Saints (17-10, 12-8) would find their footing and win three in-a-row to spoil Senior Night for their neighbors to the South.
The comeback started in the third set, where Carroll hit a match-best .310 with 17 kills and only four errors. Tech jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but the Saints didn't waver. Both teams posted a pair of 4-0 runs throughout the frame, but it was a 3-0 run in the late stages of the set that would swing things heavily in favor of the Saints. A kill by Birdie Heuiser (Helena, Mont. / SO), followed by an ace by Jansyn Carrizales (Sunnyside, Wash. / SR), and another kill from McKaila Balcom (Pasco, Wash. / SR) would give Carroll a 23-20 lead. Balcom and Heuiser finished what they started, combining for the last two kills as well to bring Carroll back to life with their 25-21 win.
The fourth set was a highly-competitive frame that featured multiple ties and lead changes throughout. The set was tied at 20-20, 21-21, 22-22, 23-23 and 24-24 before the Orediggers faltered. Birdie Heuiser was instrumental in the late stages, putting away three-straight kills ahead of a Montana Tech attack error that made it 25-24, Lauren Heuiser (Helena, Mont. / SR), the league's kill leader, sent the match to a deciding fifth frame with a set-winning kill, 26-24.
Knotted at three, Carroll took control of the fifth set. A 4-0 run was all the wiggle room that the Saints would need, as they never trailed for the remainder of the match. Lauren Heuiser served up a pair of aces to push the lead to 14-9, while Kaylen Hay's (Pocatello, Idaho / R-SO) kill ended the match at 15-12, giving the Saints their first win in Butte since 2017.
Lauren Heuiser led Carroll with 18 kills on .375 hitting and finished with two aces and a block as well. Birdie Heuiser added 14 kills, Hay had 14, and McKaila Balcom had 10 to round-out Carroll's double-digit kill leaders.
Both Jansyn Carrizales and Lauren Fox (Bozeman, Mont. / SO) posted double-doubles in the win. Carrizales finished with team -highs in both assists (32) and digs (17), while Fox chipped-in 21 assists and 13 digs.
The Saints have two more games at home next week to wrap up the 2026 regular season, hosting Bismarck State on Thursday and Dickinson State on Friday night at 6 p.m., looking to jump into the upper seeds of the upcoming Frontier Conference Championship.
Be sure to visit www.carrollathletics.com for a preview of the matches, and for complete coverage of the Fighting Saints all season long.
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