Women's Volleyball | 11.14.2019
GREAT FALLS, Montana – It's conference championship time for the No. 24 Lewis-Clark State Volleyball team and a trip to the national tournament is on the line. After dropping the final two matches of the regular season, the Warriors hold the No. 4 seed in the Frontier Conference Tournament and will face fifth-seeded Carroll on Friday at 1 p.m. PT.
"You never know if you're ready until you step on the court and go," coach Shaun Pohlman said. "At the end of the day, our job is to prepare our athletes and their job is to execute. Everybody has to do their job."
The Warriors climbed into the national rankings for the first time since 2016 after a win over then-No. 16 Rocky Mountain to tie for the top spot in the conference. A sweep of Montana Western later that week gave them sole possession of first place.
"The good thing that I think the team understands is that there have been a couple games this year that we would like to do over again," Pohlman said. "Those setbacks and that little bit of humility have a way of making you want to change and do things differently."
If the Warriors win on Friday, there is a strong possibility that they will get to replay the final week of their season, something they would very much like to do after falling to both Carroll and No. 17 Montana Tech.
"We get the chance to play Carroll on Friday, which is a redo," Pohlman explained, "and if we win we are most likely going to play Tech on Saturday, so we would literally get a chance to redo last weekend altogether. I think that is an exciting piece for us."
The Warriors swept Carroll in their first meeting this season (25-21, 25-31, 25-17). Freshman Carli Berntson led the team with 10 kills, Gionni Brown had 18 digs and Josilyn Remick and Jess Ruffing teamed up to dish out 31 assists. The Fighting Saints took the second meeting in five sets (18-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 15-9). Brooke Kaawa led LC State with 17 kills in the match, and Brown had a career-high 33 digs.
LC State concluded the regular season at Montana Tech and was swept by the Orediggers after defeating them in four at home in Oct. Tech will face the lowest remaining seed on Saturday morning after receiving a first-round bye as the top seed.
Tori Edwards currently leads the Warriors in kills with 299, and Kaawa leads in kills per set at 3.40. Setters Remick and Ruffing have split time on the court throughout the season. Remick has dished out 552 assists and Ruffing had added 545.
Brown is the team's leading defender with 529 digs (5.14 per set). She also leads the team in service aces with 49, followed closely by Remick's 47 and Ruffing's 40. Remick leads the Frontier Conference in service aces per set (0.5), with Brown and Ruffing behind her in second and third, respectively.
Senior Sydney Lawrence has put up the most blocks for the Warriors with 58.
The Warriors begin their postseason journey on Friday at 1 p.m. PT. The matches throughout the tournament will be live streamed by host Providence HERE, and live stats can be followed HERE.
