BILLINGS, Mont. - The Lewis-Clark State Warriors gave No. 8 Rocky Mountain College a run for their money on Friday night in a five-set thriller. The Battlin' Bears eventually pulled ahead in the fifth set to take the match 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 28-26, 20-25, 13-15), despite the Warriors playing one of their strongest matches of the season.
"I have never been more proud of this team," Head Coach Shaun Pohlman said. "Despite the outcome, this is everything we have been trying to achieve all season."
Senior Rachel Gregg had a career night, tallying 28 digs along with 20 kills to complete the double-double. Aubrey King led the team in kills with 21, a career-best, and Lauren West dished out a career-high 60 assists.
The Warriors came out fighting in the first set to get an early 1-0 lead in the match. They hit at a clip of an impressive .395 as a team in the set. Alexa Van Vleet and King gave LC an early lead with back-to-back kills at 4-2 before the Bears battled to a 6-6 tie. Sydney Lawrence brought down a kill and Gregg followed with a pair to give LC back the lead at 9-6. Rocky Mountain evened things up at 23-23 and Lawrence stepped up big with back-to-back kills to end the set.
The second set was a back-and-forth battle until the end. LC won a frantic rally to take a 5-4 lead in the set before Rocky Mountain pulled ahead 13-10. They maintained their three-point margin for the remainder of the set to close to close it out 25-22.
A Rocky Mountain service error sparked a three-point run to give LC an early 8-4 lead in the third set. The Warriors lengthened the lead with a run of four to go up 14-7 with kills from West and King, along with a block by King and Van Vleet. The Battlin' Bears clawed their way back into the set to tie things at 25 each. LCSC fought off a set-point at 25-26, rattling off three-straight to take the set 28-26. Van Vleet and West put up a block to even the score at 26-26 before a Gregg kill and an ace from West finished set.
The Battlin' Bears took control of a momentum swing in the fourth set, taking a lead at 7-6 and never looking back to win 25-20.
The fifth set came down to the bitter end as LC fought until they ran out of time. Three kills from King gave the Warriors a 4-1 lead, but the Bears came back to take an 8-6 lead at the switch. A kill from Gregg sparked a five-point rally to give LC a 13-11 advantage, but Rocky Mountain rallied for the next four to take the set and the match.
"The is the new age of Warrior Volleyball that I have been pushing the entire season," Pohlman said. "It was incredible to see it come to life."
Along with King and Gregg, Brooke Kaawa also found herself in double-digit kills with 10. Gionni Brown tied Gregg for the lead in digs with 28. Jordan Phelan recorded 16 and Hannah Pond and West each had 13.
The Warriors continue their road trip on Sunday when they head to Dillon, Mont. to face Montana Western at 1 p.m.
