BUTTE, Mont. – Lewis-Clark State's volleyball team won a thrilling Frontier Conference match against #20 Montana Tech at Butte Saturday afternoon.
 
The Warriors won the first set 25-19 before dropping the next two – 22-25 and 16-25, before regrouping to win the final two – 25-15, 15-7.
 
Rachel Gregg, who recorded a season-best 21 kills during the match, scored three of the Warriors' final four points as they improved to 13-4 overall, 3-2 in league action. They return to the Activity Center next Saturday for a 2 p.m. Frontier Conference match against Rocky Mountain College.
 
In addition to her team-leading kill total, Gregg added three service aces and 27 digs as the driving force for LC.
 
"It was a kind of crazy, back-and-forth, up-and-down match," coach Shaun Pohlman said. "There were times when it was good volleyball and times when it was really bad volleyball on both sides. I'm glad we came out with the win. Hopefully it's something we can build on."
 
The first game was a back-and-forth battle before the Warriors seized control with a 7-1 run to end the game. With the score tied at 18, a kill by Gregg on an assist by Lauren West started the Warriors on their run. A setting error and a reception error on the Orediggers put LC up 22-18. West provided the next point with a kill on an assist from Jordan Phelan for the 23-18 advantage. Gregg sandwiched kills around a Warrior service error to provide the final 25-19 score.
 
The Warriors were flat in the second match with a meager .028 hitting percentage before a lackluster third put the Orediggers up 2-1.
 
The tone changed completely as the fourth game unfolded with the Warriors scoring the first eight points. Tech broke the ice at 8-0 and was within seven points on a couple of occasions but didn't seriously threaten during the remainder of the game as LC rolled 25-15.
 
"There are times when it comes to a point where the players take over the game; they have to make the plays," Pohlman said. "They have to do what's expected of them. In four and five, our team took over. It was them making the decision to do it instead of talking about it."
 
Tech struck first in the decisive fifth but the Warriors responded immediately and didn't look back after taking a 2-1 lead on a kill by Gregg.
 
In addition to Gregg's kill today, Olivia Jarvis added 13 and Brooke Kaawa had nine. West finished with 51 assists and Gionni Brown had 21 digs to back Gregg's leading 27.