LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State College volleyball team got a double-double from senior outside hitter Kennadie Clue on Saturday, but it wasn't enough to overcome inconsistent passing in a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-21) loss to Rocky Mountain College.
 
The Warriors, who fell to 6-10 overall and 2-5 in the Frontier Conference, lost their sixth consecutive match for the first time since a run of seven straight in 2006. The Battlin' Bears earned third fourth win in their last five matches to improve to 8-13 on the season and 4-3 in conference play.
 
The visitors form Billings, Mont. won in just about every phase of the contest, with the lone bright spot for LCSC coming at the net with five blocks, an area of strength for the Warriors this season. RMC outhit LCSC .298 (45-11-114) to .143 (36-18-126), had more digs (64-53) and tallied more service aces (4-2).
 
"Our passing was inconsistent," said Warriors Head Coach LaToya Harris-Alexander. "The mistakes we make are coming at crucial moments as well. We get on a run, then we commit an error or have an overpass, things we aren't doing in practice. At those moments, we just need to be smarter and make better choices. We try to be perfect and that's when we make mistakes."
 
It was all RMC in set one as the Warriors tied the score just twice at 1 and 3 before the Battlin' Bears scored eight-of-nine points to take an 11-4 lead. The Lewis-Clark State offense couldn't get on track, with the largest run coming down 20-11 as Clute tallied a pair of kills and a pair of RMC attack errors added to a 4-1 LC run, but it wasn't enough in the first set loss.
 
Amber Hillestad started set two with a service ace and an assist to Katie Barton, but a Battlin' Bears kill and an LC attack error tied the score. Barton and Clute kills, along with an RMC error, made it 5-3, but RMC scored five of the next six points to take an 8-6 advantage. After trading side-outs the Warriors were able to score three of four points to take a 20-18 lead. Unfortunately, the visitors scored seven of the final eight points, including six straight, to take set two, 25-21.
 
"When you get to 20-18 and give them the next six points it's hard to take because we had control of the match," said Harris-Alexander. "We tried too hard to get that win and set them up for their offense."
 
Clute assisted Barton for the first points of the decisive third set and followed with a pair of kills from Hillestad for a 3-0 lead. Rocky answered with an 8-3 run to go up two, 8-6. Kills from Clute and Alexa Van Vleet cut the deficit to one, but five of the next seven points went to the Battlin' Bears for a 14-10 lead. Kills from Stephanie Ovitz and Clute along with a Claire Ahmann ace made it 15-13, but again RMC responded with a 7-2 run to push the deficit to seven.
 
Showing their grit and determination, the Warriors fought back, scoring four straight points with two kills and a block assist from Maya Williamson. A pair of RMC kills gave the visitors match point, but Barton and Van Vleet kills, both on assists from Clute, kept the Warriors alive. A Kylie Hadley kill ended the comeback with a 25-21 loss.
 
Clute finished the match with 15 kills and 15 digs with Williamson tallying seven kills on 15 attempts, hitting a team-best .400. Ovitz had six kills and 13 digs with Jordan Phelan adding 14 digs. Van Vleet led the defense up front with three blocks.
 
"The team responds to Kennadie and she's the kind of leader that her teammates follow her lead," said Harris-Alexander. "She's continued to play well, but we need to get her some help. We need to get Stephanie going again and need to get better passes when Maya's in the front row so we can feed her the ball. She's someone that, if we can get her going, makes everyone else better."
 
"I also thought Jordan did an excellent job on defense and Lexi (Alexa Van Vleet) did a great job on her block and disrupting No. 10. Overall we have to continue to believe in each other, regardless of the outcome and know that we can still get where we want to go," added Harris-Alexander.
 
The Warriors hit the road for their next three contests, traveling to Whitworth on Oct. 12 before visits to No. 16 Carroll and No. 22 Montana Tech on Oct. 21-22, respectively. LCSC returns home for senior night on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. against Montana-Western.