Lindsey Branch, UMW Sports Information
DILLON, Mont. – The no. 13 ranked Montana Western volleyball team opened their 2024 Frontier Conference slate this evening with a 3-1 victory over the MSU-Northern Skylights.
Bulldog middle blocker Peyton Vogl tallied a career-high 22 kills with a .313 hitting percentage in the game, in addition to adding six blocks on the defensive side of the ball.
"I think we played really well for our first conference game tonight. We knew going into the game that Northern is a very scrappy team that stays around and has very good defense," Vogl said. "We had a slow start but once we found our momentum we took it and ran. Our offense did a really good job staying aggressive and mixing up shots, while our defense did really well staying scrappy. Overall, I think we are happy to come out with our first conference win, but not satisfied and are ready to get to more conference games next week."
How It Happened
After falling to an early 12-9 deficit in the game, the Bulldogs battled point for point and tied the game at 18 following a solo block from Dani Brown. A block from Vogl and Jordan Olson paired with a kill from Vogl kept UMW tied at 20 with the Skylights, but the Bulldogs were unable to stay up and fell in the first set 25-23 to MSUN.
Kelsey Goddard got UMW back on track early in the second set, serving UMW to a 4-0 lead. Jazi Smith added to the lead with back-to-back service aces. MSU-Northern did not lay down and fought their way back into the set with a 8-1 scoring run to take an 18-15 lead. After falling to a 20-17 deficit, a well-timed timeout flipped momentum and the Bulldogs went on to win the set 26-24.
Five kills from Vogl got UMW on track in the third set. Up 9-8, UMW rode behind a 7-0 scoring run to a 16-8 lead. The Skylights battled back, but it was too late as the Bulldogs ran on to a 25-21 set three win.
UMW closed out the match with an easy 25-12 victory in set four. They went on to hit .310 across the set with just two hitting errors and 11 kills.
Notables
Vogl led the Bulldogs on the day with an impressive 22 kills and six blocks. She surpassed her previous career kills mark of 18 kills that was set two seasons ago against Carroll College.
Smith followed with 24 digs and 11 kills for a double-double on the night. She also added four aces at the service line.
As a team, the Bulldogs totaled nine aces in the match, the most in a game so far this season.
Megan Hardman led the Bulldogs with 27 assists and added 13 digs to tonight's tally.
Up Next
The Bulldogs move to 9-2 this season and will face off with RV Carroll College next week on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. in Helena, Mont.
The Fighting Saints enter the matchup at 10-2 overall following a 3-0 loss to the University of Providence this evening.
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