LEWISTON, Idaho – Every fan was on their feet on Thursday night in the LCSC Activity Center when the Lewis-Clark State Volleyball team took down the conference leading No. 16 Rocky Mountain Battlin' Bears in front of a packed house. With the 3-1 (28-26, 21-25, 25-22, 25-20) win, the Warriors now hold a share of the Frontier Conference's top spot.

"We played with a lot of heart," junior Morgan Ness said. "A lot of the plays that were long and we executed on kept the momentum going. That was a very good defensive team"

"I think that there wasn't a whole lot of hesitation," coach Shaun Pohlman said. "At the end of the day, the team going for it and not hesitating, and really giving it everything they've got is what championship teams are made of."

The Warriors came out swinging in the first set, earning the first two points on an RMC error and a kill by Sydney Lawrence. The Battlin' Bears answered with three-straight points, but a kill by Tori Edwards and an ace by Gionni Brown put LC State back in front. Carli Berntson brought the lead to 8-4 to force a Rocky timeout. Channa Hart, Berntson and Morgan Ness kept the offensive pressure going as the lead grew to 12-7. A run by Rocky brought the Battlin' Bears within three at 16-13, but a big swing from Edwards and an ace by Josilyn Remick killed the momentum and stretched the lead to 18-13. RMC rallied late to even the set 21-21, keeping the set tied into overtime. An attack error put LC back in front 27-26 and a kill by Ness gave the Warriors a 28-26 victory in the first set.

Rocky jumped out to the early lead in the second set, scoring twice before an error gave LC their first point of the frame. The Bears kept a small lead over the Warriors on their way to a 25-21 win to even the match.

"It was a weird vibe," Ness said. "We weren't playing Warrior volleyball because we weren't having fun."

A kill by Kenzie Dean and a pair by Ness gave LC a 3-0 advantage to open the third set, and a service error made it 4-1. Lawrence followed an ace by Dean to extend the lead to 8-5, and a block by Lawrence and Edwards added one more. RMC knotted things up 10-10 before a block put them in front 11-10 until an ace from Brown gave LC back the lead at 14-13. Brooke Kaawa kept LC in front with a kill to make it 18-17, but the Battlin' Bears continued to answer every point. An error by RMC put the gave LC a slim 22-21 advantage, and Ness kept them in front 23-22. A Rocky net violation pushed the score to set point and Ness ended it at 25-22.

Kaawa opened set four with a kill off the RMC block, but the Bears answered right back to begin the back-and-forth. Back-to-back kills by Edwards gave LC a slight edge at 7-6, and a massive swing by Hart kept the Warriors in the lead at 10-9. Berntson added on with a kill before teaming up with Hart on a block to bring the score to 12-9 and force a Rocky timeout.  The Bears evened the set 12-12, but kills by Hart, Ness and Lawrence and an error gave the Warriors four-straight to jump in front 16-12. A kill by Lawrence, ace by Elyse Booker and a kill by Hart put the Warriors up 21-16. Edwards and Bernston stung together three kills before a block by Hart and Bernston ended the set 25-20.

The upset win has the Warriors tied with Rocky for the top spot in the conference with three matches left in the regular season.

"It was a relief," libero Brown said. "We worked so hard this week and we learned how to have fun and play. We let loose and balled out."

The win is the sixth straight for the Warriors, and second consecutive against a ranked opponent. They are now tied with Rocky for first place in the Frontier Conference.

Ness had a career night with a match-leading 19 kills with a .340 attack percentage. Kaawa was also in double digits with 12 and Edwards had 11. Brown collected 28 digs, Hannah Pond had 17 and Dean added 14. Hart led the Warriors with a .636 attack percentage on seven kills in 11 attempts with no errors. Remick dished out 26 assists and Jess Ruffing added another 22.

Daniella Russell led Rocky Mountain with 14 kills. Ayla Embry collected 21 digs and Natalie Hilderman dished out 34 assists. Russell added five blocks to her night and hit at a clip of .400.

The Warriors host their final home match of the season on Saturday against Montana Western. The match is set for 2 p.m. with a Senior Day ceremony scheduled to start at 1:45 p.m.