DILLON, Mont. – Lewis-Clark State College's volleyball team dug deep for the grit and determination it needed Sunday afternoon to survive a five-game Frontier Conference match at the University of Montana Western.
 
In a game of huge momentum swings, the Warriors (16-7, 5-5) had the final surge in winning 21-25, 25-17, 16-25, 25-15, 15-13 in a match the used heroics from throughout the lineup. Aubrey King hit .333 in leading the offensive attack with 16 kills. She was backed by 12 each from Sydney Lawrence and Brooke Kaawa with Olivia Jarvis adding another eight.
 
Gionni Brown had 28 digs with 14 from Rachel Gregg and 12 from Hannah Pond, and Jordan Phelan had two key service aces. Lauren West continued her steady ways in setting up her teammates with 26 assists. Hayley Alvarez backed her with 14 and Josilyn Remick had 12.
 
"Western (1-9, 5-15) definitely had nothing to lose," Warrior coach Shaun Pohlman said. "They came out firing on all cylinders and really took it to us."
 
His team's up-and-down effort left him baffled – particularly in light of the Warriors taking league-leader Rocky Mountain to five games Friday night.
 
"That's just part of the ebbs and flows," he said. "I guess we just have to say we came away with the win and we're thankful. I hope we can learn from this and that it helps us in the future."
 
Pohlman had high praise for the contributions of some of the non-starters inserted into the lineup throughout the match.
 
"After the match I went up to every single one of them and told them we would not have won this match without you. It requires every one of us. Hopefully, that will serve us really well."
 
The first game was a back-and-forth battle with no more than four points separating the teams. Jarvis had four kills and King had three, although neither team was particularly effective offensively with the Warriors hitting .054 (nine of 37) and the Bulldogs at just .033 (seven of 30).
 
The first-game loss was a wakeup call for LC, which won the second, 25-17, off Jarvis' six kills. Like the first set, neither team built a distinct advantage until the Warriors took over after building a 19-16 lead. Joyse Miller made it 20-16 with a kill on an assist from Alvarez. King followed with back-to-back kills for a 22-16 lead. Phelan made it 23-16 on a service ace and Kaawa's kill pushed LC ahead 24-16 before a service error stopped the run. Sydney Lawrence gave the Warriors' the 25-17 decision with a kill on an assist from Alvarez.
 
The tide turned back in the favor of the Bulldogs as they dominated the third game, 25-16. Montana Western hit .258 while the Warriors again struggled offensively with a .139 hitting percentage. The Bulldogs built a 12-4 lead before LC closed to within 14-10 – the closest it would come as Montana-Western dominated the remainder of the set.
 
LC returned to its second-game form in the fourth with a dominating 25-15 decision. The Warriors hit .200 and limited the Bulldogs to .020 en route to forcing a fifth game. They fell behind 4-1 at the start of the fourth but took control with a run that started with Jarvis' kill for an 11-9 lead and didn't end until Kaawa's kill to end the game.
 
With the match on the line, the teams launched another back-and-forth battle that the Warriors finally secured with a 4-2 run that included two kills by Kaawa, a service ace by Jordan Phelan, and the game-winning kill by Lauren West for the 15-13 victory. Kaawa had four of her 12 kills in the final game. King and Lawrence added three each.