GREAT FALLS, Mont. –The Lewis-Clark State College volleyball team will enter next weekend's Frontier Conference tournament as the No. 7 seed, after a 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 31-29) loss to the University of Great Falls at the McLaughlin Center Gym on Saturday afternoon.
 
The loss means the Warriors finish the regular season 8-14 overall and 3-9 in conference play. The Argonauts move to 13-13 on the season and 6-6 in conference play. They earned the fourth seed in the conference tournament, which they will host next weekend.
 
"We weren't the same team we were yesterday," said Warriors Head Coach LaToya Harris-Alexander. "We struggled on the serve receive to get a good pass and that really hurt us offensively. It was also senior night for [Great Falls] and Madison [Wilhelm] played outstanding. [Great Falls} just played well today and they had a great day offensively."
 
Great Falls hit .391 for the match which included hitting above .400 in the first and second sets. LCSC hit .217, but never broke .300 and hit .040 in the second set. The biggest difference in the contest was at the service line as the Argos tallied 10 aces to just one for the Warriors.
 
To coaches' point, the Warriors came out slow, falling behind 14-8 before making a small run to make it 17-13. The home team proceeded to win eight of the final 11 points for the 25-16 win.
 
A UGF service error followed by an Aly Sauer kill cut the LC deficit to two in the second set, but the Argonauts rattled off 10-straight points, which included two Olivia Snead aces and three kills from Madison Wilhelm who tallied a match-high 23, to push the margin to 17-5. A pair of Kennadie Clute kills helped the Warriors to two 4-1 runs, but the Argos scored the final three points for a 25-13 win.
 
It was a different story in set three as the Warriors, behind four straight Clute service points, which included an ace, helped LCSC to a 9-4 lead. The Warriors maintained their five-point margin until a four-point run by UGF cut the lead to two, 13-11. Seven of the next 12 points when to the Warriors and LCSC was just five points from forcing a fourth set. Another Wilhelm kill gave UGF the service and a 3-0 run made it a one-point game. LC State followed with three of the next five points, which included a pair of Justine Cota kills, to push the lead to 23-21.
 
Unfortunately, three straight points by the Argos gave UGF match-point. The Warriors successfully fended off three match-points before back-to-back kills by Rachel Gregg and Stephanie Ovitz gave LC set point, 27-26. A Wilhelm kill and an LC error gave the home team the advantage again, but a Gregg kill and a Clute-Ovitz block again gave LC a chance at the win. However, Wilhelm again registered a kill then served an ace and the Warriors committed another attack error for the 31-29 loss.
 
"Our blocking, defense and everything we've been working on didn't show up today," said Harris-Alexander. "We looked tired from yesterday's match, but finally put it together in the third set. We had the lead, but as has been the story of our season, we let them back in it with a couple runs and it's hard to get the momentum back."
 
Gregg led the offense with 11 kills, hitting .500 to go with five digs. Ovitz tallied a team-best seven digs to go with her eight kills while Clute finished with six kills and six digs. It's just the sixth time in her career that Clute has been held under 10 kills.
 
"Offensively we did ok, but we have to get Kennadie hitting better numbers than she did today," said Harris-Alexander. "Stephanie and Rachel played well, but we need our leader to be more involved."
 
The Warriors will travel back to Great Falls on Friday, Nov. 11 for the first round of the Frontier Conference tournament. LCSC will be the seventh seed and will face second-seeded and 25th-ranked Montana Tech with a time to be announced.