SALINA, Kan. – The Montana Tech volleyball team closed out the Kansas Wesleyan University Labor Day Tournament with two victories over Briar Cliff and host Kansas Wesleyan.
The Diggers (11-2), who are off to their best start since the 2012 season, went a perfect 4-0 on the weekend.
Match one: Tech 3, Briar Cliff 1
The Diggers won their fourth straight match Sunday afternoon with a 25-23, 18-25, 26-24, 25-13 victory over Briar Cliff University at the KWU Labor Day Tournament.
Middle Bailie Cortner led the way for the Diggers with a match-high 18 kills and 2.5 blocks. Jordan Danz (12) and Haley Druyvestein (10) each accumulated double-digit kills while Makenzie Bauck dished out a match-high 28 assists.
Katelin Langel had a team-high 15 kills for Briar Cliff (5-2).
It was s story of runs in the first set. The Chargers took the early 3-0 lead but Tech bounced back scoring six straight points to go up 6-3. BCU took the 9-7 edge via back-to-back errors by the Orediggers. The Diggers regained the lead at 20-17 by way of a kill by Cortner. BCU attempted a late rally but it would fall short as Jordan Danz put the Chargers away with a kill.
Briar Cliff bounced back in the second set winning 25-18. Tech scored the first point of the set but that would be the last time the Diggers would lead in the stanza. The Charger offense prevailed and limited a Montana Tech comeback.
Twenty-five points wasn't enough to win the back-and-forth third set. The Chargers tied up the score at 24 all after a kill by Breanna Nogelmeier. That did not phase Tech's Druyvestein as she connected with a kill and block assist guided the Orediggers to the 26-24 victory.
It was all Montana Tech in the fourth set. The Diggers broke free from a 3-3 tied and never looked back. The Orediggers forced six Charger hitting errors and limited BCU to just nine kills in the stanza. Tech had 12 kills in the set and hit a match-best .409 cruising to the 25-13 win.
Match two: Tech 3, (RV) Kansas Wesleyan University 1
The Diggers beat host KWU 25-18, 27-29, 25-12, 25-16 Sunday night to go unblemished in the Labor Day Tournament. The Diggers had a total of 11 blocks limiting the Coyotes to a hit percentage of .014 and forcing 31 hitting errors. Tech's attacked continued to prevail with 50 kills in the match.
Senior Sydney Norris had her fourth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 15 digs. While Jordan Danz added a double-double of her own with 12 kills and 12 digs. Setter Makenzie Bauck had another great performance with a match-high 39 assists and freshman Kylee Berridge added to her league leading service aces with five.
Kansas Wesleyan (4-6) was led by Jori Mote who had nine kills on the night.
Down 3-1 in the first set, Tech used a 10-0 run highlighted by a Berridge service ace to take the commanding 11-3 lead. The Coyotes made a late run to pull within five at 21-16, however the Montana Tech offense held on as it went on to score the final four points.
The highly competitive saw 14 ties and 16 lead changes. Tech had a six point lead midway through the stanza but KWU came fighting back tying up the contest at 26 all. The Coyotes went on to score three of the final four points to take the second set victory.
Coach Brian Solomon's squad would rebound and sets three and four as they eased past the Coyotes winning 25-12 and 25-16 respectively.
The red-hot Diggers are back in action next weekend when they closeout their nonconference slate at the Five Points Bank invitational in Hastings, Neb.
