BUTTE, Mont. – The experienced 2026 LC State squad made its presence known as the No. 23 Warriors opened the season on Thursday. LC State took on Williams Baptist (Ark.) and IU East (Ind.) on the first day of the Big Sky Challenge and came away with a pair of victories with standout performances across the board.
The Warriors defeated WBU 3-1 (25-10, 23-25, 25-18, 25-12) and IUE 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-23). LC State was able to showcase its depth throughout both matches as every player saw time on the court.
Juniors Aubree Lane and Taylor Boyce led the offense with a combined 31 kills. Boyce tallied 14 with a .500 attack percentage. Kate Schneider made her return to the court after a year off from injury with eight kills and three blocks, and Hannah Dotson led the day with four aces.
"We saw a lot of growth throughout the day," head coach Katie Palmer said. "Both opponents challenged us in similar ways which gave us opportunities to learn and utilize multiple lineups. I was especially pleased with how clean and efficiently we played in the second match. That's an identity we want to continue building for Warrior Volleyball: playing clean, making adjustments as matches unfold and finding ways to get better every time we step on the court."
MATCH ONE: No. 23 LC State def. Williams Baptist (Ark.) 3-1 (25-10, 23-25, 25-18, 25-12)
Newcomers Addison Wilson and Lane got the Warriors off to a hot start with two kills each, and tallies by Michaela Romine had the lead at 8-4 in the first set. Schneider, Alba Carpena and Jordynn Albright joined in on the offensive attack as the Warrior advantage grew to 15-5. Makenzie Stout dealt the first ace of the season and Lane added another pair of kills to fuel an 8-3 run to close out the frame. Kendall Focht, Schneider and Wilson added kills before an ace by Dotson ended the set 25-10.
Lane gave the Warriors their first point of the second set with a kill before a block with Helena Stewart made it a 5-4 lead. Swings by Lane and Wilson, followed by an ace by Teagan Scott, grew the margin to 12-9. A run by the Eagles put LC State in a 18-16 deficit late in the set, but timely kills by Carpena and Lane knotted the score 19-19. WBU kept the momentum to take the set 25-23.
Swings by Lane, Stewart, Romine and Schneider had the third frame even 5-5 before a short run by Williams Baptist made it 8-5. Kills by Carpena and Schneider and a block by Wilson and Schneider kept the score close before kills by Taylor Boyce and a pair of aces by Dotson evened things up 15-15. Karissa Lindner and Boyce made immediate impacts in their season debuts with back-to-back kills to put LC State in front 17-15. Carpena, Mikale Roy and Lindner combined for a 5-1 run for a 23-16 cushion and errors by the Eagles ended the set 25-18.
Kills by Carpena and Lane, plus an ace by Scott, had the Warriors off to a strong start in set four with a 4-1 edge. Swings by Boyce kept the lead with LC State at 7-5. Two kills by Lindner and three by Lane kept the offense rolling, and an ace by Kadence Moore had the advantage at 15-9. Boyce rattled off three kills before Focht dealt an ace to make it 20-11. A block by Romine and Lindner, kills by Carpena and Lindner and ace by Stout ended the match 25-12.
STAT RECAP
Lane led the contest with 15 kills in her Warrior debut with a .333 attack percentage. Carpena added nine with a .429 clip and Boyce tallied eight (.400.). Freshman Wilson had five kills on seven swings (.714) in her first collegiate contest.
Scott dished out 23 assists and Focht added a career-high 21. Stosich led the back row with 13 digs and Stout collected nine. Dotson dealt three service aces while Stout and Scott each had two.
LC State hit .328 as a team and had nine aces compared to one by WBU.
MATCH TWO: No. 23 LC State def. IU East (Ind.) 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-23)
LC State came out swinging in the first set against IU East. Boyce opened the match with a kill and Lindner and Hadyn Smith combined for two blocks. Smith tallied the first kills of her collegiate career for a 7-1 lead and Roy made it an 8-1 opening run with a kill of her own. After a kill by Albright, Moore dealt back-to-back service aces to grow the margin to 12-3. Points from Boyce, Smith and Roy pushed the score to 20-11 after a short burst by IUE, and Boyce ended the frame 25-17 with a kill.
Boyce and Smith went back-to-back for a 3-1 lead early in the second set, and consecutive swings by Lindner and Roy made it 5-3. The freshmen duo of Smith and Wilson teamed up for a block before another kill by Smith aided a five-point run at 8-3. Three kills by Schneider grew the cushion to 16-7. Roy and Wilson pushed the score to set point and another ace by Humphrey ended it 25-11.
A block by Carpena and Wilson had the score knotted up 5-5, and a kill by Carpena put LC State in front 7-5. A kill by Stewart started a four-point run that featured an ace by Stout, kill from Smith and block by Stewart and Smith for a 15-10 lead. Roy and Smith combined for four points at 19-16 and Lane tallied a kill and a block to make it 23-21. IUE rallied to tie the set 23-23, but a kill by Boyce and block by Stewart and Smith ended the contest 25-23.
STAT RECAP
Smith led the match with 11 kills and Roy added nine. Scott had 12 assists and Focht notched nine.
Stosich led the contest with 11 digs, and both Humphrey and Moore had two aces each.
LC State was even more efficient offensively in the second contest of the day with a .408 hitting percentage. The Warriors had nine errors on 76 swings with 40 kills.
UP NEXT
LC State continues the Big Sky Challenge on Friday against Carroll (Mont.) at 10 a.m. PT and No. 6 Providence (Mont.) at 5 p.m. PT.
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