HAVRE, Montana – The Lewis-Clark State Volleyball team wasted no time in their first match of the weekend when they swept Montana State-Northern 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-18). Brooke Kaawa led the charge with 13 kills in the team effort, and Gionni Brown had 18 digs.

The Warriors started hot, striking first with a kill by Sydney Lawrence. Tori Edwards added on, followed by an ace from Brown and a kill by Kaawa for push the lead to 4-1. The Skylights battled back to tie the set 9-9. Kenzie Dean put the Warriors back in front with a pair of aces to make it 12-10, and a kill by Edwards sparked a three-point run that was aided by a kill by Kaawa and an ace by Jess Ruffing. Hannah Pond went on a serving run that included two aces to give LC State a 20-13 advantage. Carli Berntson kept the offense going with a kill off an assist from Ruffing. Ness and Dean went back-to-back with a kill and service ace, respectively, before Edwards ended the set with a kill at 25-17.

After MSUN struck for two out of the gate in the second frame, the Warriors answered back to tie the set. The Skylights went on a four-point run to gain a 6-2 lead, but LC State came roaring back to jump back in front 13-9. An attack error by the Skylights broke the 9-9 tie before two more errors and a Berntson kill did the damage for LC. Kills by Lawrence, Edwards and Kaawa pushed the advantage to 19-14. They went on to take the set 25-21.

Edwards opened the third set with a kill, followed by a service ace by Dean to give the Warriors the early advantage. The Skylights evened the set 2-2 before taking a slim lead. A kill by Berntson evened things up 5-5, then Kaawa did the same to put the Warriors back in front 13-12. The error started an eight-point run, fueled by kills by Kaawa and Edwards, to push the advantage to 19-12. The Warriors cruised through the rest of the set to a 25-18 win to sweep the Skylights.

Kaawa led the Warriors with 13 kills on the night, followed closely by Edwards with 10, Josilyn Remick dished out 23 assists and Ruffing had 17. Brown led the defense with 18 digs and Dean added 13. Berntson led LC with a .429 attack percentage with seven kills on 14 swings with one error. Lawrence hit .400 with seven kills.

"With three injured players and us being down people," coach Shaun Pohlman said, "to ask some people to come off the bench and take care of business and they did just that, that is absolutely incredible. We are very fortunate to have solid depth."

The Warriors utilized their bench and had three freshmen and two sophomores on the court at one point in the game.

"It's awesome that we've got the experience from our upper classmen, but our newbies are also contributing at a level that's conducive to success," Pohlman added.

The Warriors continue their trip to Montana on Saturday against No. 18 Providence at 1 p.m. in Great Falls.