Eagles Split on Day Two of the Challenge
SPOKANE, Wash. – After sweeping Montana Western 3-0 in a morning match, Northwest University lost in three sets to Montana Tech (25-22, 25-17, 25-18) to go 1-1 on the second day of competition in the Cascade-Frontier Challenge.
Tech jumped out to an early 12-7 lead after two straight kills by the Orediggers. With Montana Tech up 20-14, Northwest would mount a comeback and Alivia Johnson’s service ace would make it 21-20. After an NU miscue, Korey Krumm’s service ace would give Tech the first set win.
Northwest would lead 10-9 in the second set, but Lacey Phelan’s kill and Kimmy Kavran’s service ace would put MTT into the lead, 11-10. After two more ties the teams would exchange three errors as the Orediggers would take a narrow, 14-13 lead. Kills by Kory Krumm and Mikala Sullivan would put Tech into the lead for good as they would take set number two.
In the final set, Montana Tech would lead the entire way. Heather Shulke would pull the Eagles to within two, 11-9, with her service ace, but Tech would out score NU 7-4 to go up 17-13 . The Orediggers would maintain that lead the remainder of the set as they would sweep Northwest U.
Olivia VanDlac led Northwest U. (1-2) with 7 kills. Arika Zwack and Rae Ann Haistings both had 5 kills and Ashton Arbuthnot led the team with 18 assists. Heather Shulke had 17 digs for the Eagles.
Sydney Norris had a game high 17 kills for Montana Tech (2-1) and Shersteen Cline contributed 12 kills. Norris hit .414 and Cline hit .425 to lead the team. Alison Lunde had a match high 36 assists and Kimmy Kavran had a match high 21 digs for the Orediggers.
“We struggled in serve-receive this afternoon but a lot of that had to do with Tech’s aggressive serving,” commented Steve Bain, NU head coach. “Combine that with unforced errors in crucial situations and that becomes the story of the match.”
Northwest U. finishes play in the Challenge on Saturday when the face the University of Great Falls at 4 p.m. in the HUB Sports Center. Montana Tech takes on Evergreen and Warner Pacific on Saturday.