GREAT FALLS, Mont. - It was a battle from the start, but the Lewis-Clark State Volleyball Team ultimately fell 3-2 (25-16, 25-18, 22-25, 18-25, 17-15) to No.15 Providence in a five-set match on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors got off to a strong start, winning the first two sets to take a 2-0 lead. The momentum shifted in the third set, however, and Providence stormed back for the five-set victory.
LCSC jumped to a 4-0 lead early in the first set, but the Argos battled back to even the contest 4-4. A big kill from Olivia Jarvis stretched the lead to 7-5 before a Gionni Brown ace and back-to-back kills from Aubrey King lengthened the advantage to 10-5. The Warriors continued to dominate the court. Brown made impressive digs to keep the ball up and a kill to the back right corner of the court from Gregg had the Warriors up 20-12. A big hit from Mikayla Seller-Wiebe and three-straight errors by the Argos put the first set away for LCSC, 25-16.
The Warriors picked up where they left off in the second set. A huge dig from Brown kept the ball up to allow Gregg to take swing and put LCSC up 2-0. The offense continued to run the court, and Gregg gave LC a 10-5 lead when she tipped a ball over the net and onto the court between a pair of Argos. A seven-point Warrior run was capped by an error by Providence to give LCSC a 17-7 lead. The momentum carried LCSC to a 25-18 set win.
Providence gained momentum in the third set to take a 6-4 lead over the Warriors. Gregg knotted the set 8-8 with a kill and an error gave LCSC a 9-8 lead. Brooke Kaawa stepped up with a kill to push the advantage to 15-12, but the Argos fought back to cut the lead to one at 18-17. Providence would go on to take the third set 25-22.
LC trailed 2-0 to begin the fourth set but quickly fought back to even the score before taking a 4-3 lead on a kill from Jarvis.The two teams continued the back-and-forth battle and the lead changed hands several times. Tied at 18-18, the Argos struck for seven-straight to take the set 25-18 and force a decisive fifth set.
The Warriors struck first in the final set and took a 3-0 lead with the match tied at two sets each. An ace from Hannah Pond game LCSC an 8-4 as the teams switched sides. A sneaky kill from West gave LC a 9-5 advantage but the Argos continued to push back to a 10-10 tie.West found Jarvis to give the Warriors back the lead at 11-10 and a kill from King gave LCSC a two-point lead at 13-11. With the score tied 15-15, the Argos finished off the match with two-straight to take the set 17-15, amd win the match 3-2.
"I have to hand it to Providence," Head Coach Shaun Pohlman said. "They made the adjustments they needed to make to get back in the game."
Gregg led the Warriors in both kills (18) and digs (29) to notch a double-double. West also had a double-double with 43 assists and 11 digs. King tallied double-digit kills with 12.
The Warriors now sit at a record of 10-3 and 1-1 in Frontier play. They host their home opener on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. against Whitworth.
