BIG SKY CHALLENGE: Lions Conclude Season-Opening Tournament with Pair of Setbacks
BUTTE, Mont. – Concluding their stay in the season-opening Big Sky Challenge hosted by Montana Tech at the Butte Civic Center, the Multnomah University Lions dropped a pair of 3-0 decisions to the Dickinson State University Blue Hawks and the host Orediggers here Saturday.
Dickinson State 3, Multnomah 0 (18-25, 14-25, 18-25) / Box Score
Rookie
Madysen Trout turned in a spectacular performance for the Lions, collecting a game-high 10 kills with only one error in 14 attempts for a blistering .643 hitting percentage and four block assists. It was not enough, however, to overcome the overall steadiness of the Blue Hawks (1-2) from North Dakota, who hit .263 (35-15-76) as a team.
Miranda Halverson added eight kills for the Lions, who hit .120 (25-16-75) as a team.
Marissa Rhodes had 13 assists and
Sabrina DeJesus-Bair made 10 digs on defense.
Dickinson State was led by Kyle Hadley’s eight kills, 14 assists by Makenzie Digesualdo, six digs each by Hadley and Sarah Dobitz, and six blocks by Kennedy Hildebrand.
Montana Tech 3, Multnomah 0 (14-25, 22-25, 14-25) / Box Score
Multnomah gave Montana Tech, ranked No. 14 in the NAIA pre-season national coaches’ poll, a run for its money in the second set, leading 22-21 late before the ‘Diggers reeled off the set’s final four points. Tech maintained control throughout the first and third sets, however, to sweep the match and improve to improve to 5-2 while dropping the Lions to 0-4.
Halverson topped the Lions with eight kills while Rhodes handed out 15 assists. On defense,
Emily Weidlich came up with 10 digs and Trout had three block assists.
Angela Molesworth led the Orediggers with seven kills, Tori Chelini had 21 assists, and Haley Druyvestein was in on seven of Tech’s nine team blocks.
Next: Multnomah (0-4) returns home for its first Cascade Collegiate Conference contests next weekend, hosting Northwest Christian University (3-0 to date) on Friday, Sept. 1, at 7:00 p.m., and Corban University (3-4) on Saturday, Sept. 2, at 5:00 p.m.