BUTTE, Mont. –  The Lewis-Clark State College women's volleyball team ran into the wrong team at the wrong time Saturday and fell to the Frontier Conference's hottest squad, Montana Tech, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21.

The win was the eighth straight for the NAIA's No.23^rd-ranked Orediggers and improved them to 5-3 in the conference standings and 17-7 overall. LCSC is 2-7 in league and 7-12 overall.

Saturday's contest was just the opposite of the first meeting between the two when the Warriors swept Montana Tech at the LCSC Activity Center more than a month ago. In that match, Montana Tech had 15 attack errors and 13 service errors.

In Saturday's match, LCSC had almost as many attack errors (21) as kills (25). LCSC had a season-low hitting percentage of .053 in the match, which came on the heels of a .096 hitting percentage in a four-game loss to Carroll on Friday night.

LCSC senior Kennadie Clute had her streak of straight matches with double digit kills end at 31 dating back to last season when she was held to six. That's only the fifth time in Clute's career as a Warrior that she failed to get into double digits in kills.

Senior Maya Williamson led the Warriors with seven kills, while Justine Cota added five. Clute had a team-high eight digs, while Rachel Gregg added seven. Williamson was credited with three blocks, while Amber Hillestad added 13 assists.

The Warriors got off to a good start as two kills by Cota helped them to a 6-2 lead in the first game. A kill later by Stephanie Ovitz helped LCSC to a 17-14 advantage, but Montana Tech rallied to score 11 of the next 12 points. Angie Pancost had four service aces during the run to aid the Orediggers.

Montana Tech rode that momentum into the second game as it jumped out to a 6-0 lead. LCSC fought back and tied the match and actually took a 16-15 lead when Montana Tech turned it on again and scored nine straight points. Six of the points came on Warrior attack errors. LCSC did rally for three straight points to cut the margin to 24-19, but the Orediggers picked up the next point for the win.

The third game was more back-and-forth as the two teams exchanged the lead early. Montana Tech did put together five straight points for a 12-7 lead, but LCSC fought back to tie it at 17.  Tech gained the upper hand with four straight points and LCSC couldn't get closer than three the rest of the way.

The Warriors have three regular-season matches left before it enters the Frontier Conference Tournament at Great Falls. LCSC plays its final home match of the season on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Activity Center against Montana Western. The following week, LCSC will be on the road to finish the season at Montana State-Northern and the University of Great Falls.

If the season were to end today, the Warriors would be the seventh seed in the tournament and would play the No. 2 seed, currently Montana Tech, in the opening round.