GREAT FALLS, Mont. — In day one of the Frontier Conference Tournament, the Bulldogs (20-6) opened with a five-set win over the MSU-Northern Skylights. They then took on the no. 11 ranked Montana Tech Orediggers and won in a 3-0 sweep of the Orediggers to advance to the tournament championship set for tomorrow at 2 p.m.
The Bulldogs defeated the Skylights in a five-set win by scores of 13-25, 25-17, 24-26, 25-11, 15-8.
In the second match, the Bulldogs took the Orediggers by storm, winning in a 3-0 sweep by scores of 25-21 in all three sets.
"I am super proud of how the entire team contributed today. On the court and on the bench, everyone believed and celebrated every little victory. We know tomorrow will be a tough opponent and will have to be just as dialed in to have the same outcome as today," Head Coach
Katie Lovett said.
How It Happened vs. MSU-Northern
The Bulldogs were slow to get moving in the match, hitting a mere .081 as a team in the first set and falling quickly to the Skylights 25-13.
Despite the loss, the Bulldogs dug their heels in and stopped the Skylight march at the beginning of set two.
Morgyn Harrison served an ace to give an 11-8 set lead for the Red and Black. A pair of kills from
Jordan Olson and
Peyton Vogl highlighted an 8-1 run that put the Bulldogs in prime position to close the set out with a 25-17 win.
MSU-Northern flipped the script again, taking a 17-10 lead over UMW. Down 20-11, the Bulldogs fought their way into the set as
Rylee Nickodemus served back-to-back aces and UMW went on their own 8-0 run. The two teams continued their game of tug of war through 24 all with the Skylights winning the battle at 26-24.
UMW ran away with the fourth set, capitalizing on a .030 Skylight hitting percentage and a whopping .483 UMW hitting percentage. Olson and Martin led the Bulldogs with four kills apiece in the 25-11 set win.
Vogl continued to shine into the fifth set, putting down three kills as the Bulldogs took a 7-3 lead. The Bulldogs held off the Skylight surge and took the fifth set win 15-8.
How It Happened vs. No. 11 Montana Tech
Montana Western opened the game hot, racking up 16 kills as a team and two service aces. The Bulldogs would take a first set win over the Orediggers 25-21.
UMW claimed an 11-8 lead in set two following back-to-back kills from Olson and a solo shot from
Jaiden Perez. The Bulldogs kept the Orediggers on their heels, totaling a team total of 20 kills in comparison to Montana Tech's 12 in the set.
Up 2-0 on the Orediggers, Western raced to an 8-4 lead in the third frame as a kill from Martin paired with an error from the Orediggers forced an early MT timeout. Martin followed the timeout with another kill from the middle. The Bulldogs would carry on to win the set 25-21.
Notables
- With the win over Montana Tech, it marks the second year in a row that the Bulldogs have advanced to the tournament championship game.
- Tonight's wins push the Bulldogs over 20 wins this season. It is the first time the Bulldogs have crossed the 20-win mark since the 2002 season when the Bulldogs went 26-13 on the season.
- UMW had at least 16 kills in all three sets against Montana Tech, including 20 to win the second set.
- Vogl led the Bulldogs in the win over the Skylights. She totaled a season high 16 kills and 4 blocks. Vogl added another four blocks in the win over Montana Tech.
- KayLee Kopp and Olson led the Bulldogs in the sweep of the Orediggers with 11 kills apiece.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will now face Rocky Mountain College tomorrow at 2pm in a rematch of last year's Frontier Conference Tournament Championship game. Rocky Mountain enters the game with an overall record of 21-11 and defeated the University of Providence in a five-set match to advance to the final.
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