DILLON, Mont. – The no. 19 ranked Montana Western women's volleyball team (11-5, 3-3) got a win over the visiting RV Carroll College Saints (12-4, 2-4) in a 3-0 sweep.
Jazi Smith led the Bulldogs with an impressive double double. She went on to rack up 15 kills and 10 digs in the match.
"It was a great team win tonight. Our defense did a great job just working together. Not only backing each other up in the back court, but also our blocking and setting up real solid," Head Coach Katie Lovett said. "Our serve receive and our defense gave us great options on offense and they definitely took advantage of it. The team played awesome."
How It Happened
After battling for ground early in set one, the Fighting Saints were the first to grab momentum and take a 17-14 lead over the Bulldogs. Down two, Kelsey Goddard helped the Bulldogs to a 5-0 run, serving Western to a 21-18 lead. Back-to-back kills from Jordan Olson and Peyton Vogl gave UMW the fire they needed to close the set 25-20.
Montana Western stayed one step ahead of Carroll for much of the second set, riding behind the powerful arm of Smith from the outside. Smith would rack up six kills for the Bulldogs on their way to a 25-20 set two victory.
It was Smith once again who got the Bulldogs out on the right foot in the third frame, adding two kills on their way to a quick 4-0 lead. After running on a 7-0 scoring run that saw a pair of kills from Maxine Hoagland, the Bulldogs would take a 20-12 lead. Carroll made a late push, running on a 5-1 run to close the gap. Western ultimately won the final frame by a score of 25-19 as Olson and Vogl put an exclamation mark on the win with a big block on the outside.
Notables
Montana Western is now 5-1 in the last six matchups with the Saints, dating back to the 2022 season.
The Bulldogs outhit the Saints .198 to -.016 in the matchup.
Vogl had a solid night, totaling nine kills and three blocks.
Madisyn Frazier led the Bulldogs in the back row with 21 digs.
Up Next
Western will hit the road for the weekend and head to Havre, Mont. for their second matchup with MSU-Northern. The game will be at 2 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium on Saturday Oct. 5.
Pictures by Terri Haverfield
Comments