Match 3
Montana Western
Thursday, September 26 7 p.m.
Straugh Gymnasium
Dillon, Mont.
 
Match 4
Rocky Mountain
Saturday, September 28 7 p.m.
Fortin Center
Billings, Mont.

Full Game Notes (PDF)
 
Scouting the Western Bulldogs
The Montana Western Bulldogs (7-8, 0-2) host the Orediggers on Thursday night in Dillon. The Bulldogs are coached by first year head coach Katie Lovett. Lovett was previously the assistant coach at St. Andrews university in Laurinburg, N.C. The Bulldogs lost to Carroll College and Rocky Mountain College to open up conference play last week. The Bulldogs are led in kills by Jessie Weber who averages 2.23 kills per set.
 
Scouting the No. 23 Battlin' Bears
The Battlin' Bears of Rocky Mountain College (10-5, 2-0) host the Orediggers on Saturday night in the Fortin Center in Billings. The Battlin' Bears are coached by former Frontier Conference Player of the Year Yang Yang who is in her first season. Yang Yang takes over for Laurie Kelly who coached the Battlin' Bears for a decade and took Rocky to five NAIA National Tournaments in six seasons. Rocky is led by  Daniella Russell who averages 3.5 kills per set. Russell also leads the Frontier Conference in kills from her outside-hitter position. 
 
Team Notes
League Leaders
Montana Tech leads the Frontier Conference averaging 12.6 kills per set and has two players in the top five for kills per set in Karina Mickelson and Maureen Jessop who rank third and fifth. Two Orediggers also lead the Frontier Conference in respective categories: McKenna Kaelber (9.3 assists/set) and Sabrina Hopcroft (5.5 digs/set).
 

Big Sky Volleyball Challenge
Montana Tech went 4-0 in the 4th annual Big Sky Volleyball Challenge hosted at the Butte Civic Center picking up wins over Northwest University, Bethel College, No. 12 College of Idaho, and Valley City State University. The two-day tournament featured teams from Montana, California, Oregon, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, and North Dakota. Five of the teams participating were ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
 
Hot Start to Conference
The Orediggers defeated No. 16 University of Providence and MSU-Northern in the first two matches of the Frontier Conference season. The Orediggers defeated the Argos 3-1 in Great Falls before sweeping the Lights in the Hall of Fame Weekend match held in Butte. 
 
Road Warriors
Montana Tech has a tough start to the Frontier Conference schedule playing four of their first six matches on the road. After hosting Northern, the Diggers next home match will be on October 2nd against Carroll College. After that match the Diggers won't play at home again until October 18th when they host University of Providence.
 
Setting Sensation
Oredigger  freshman setter  McKenna Kaelber was named the Frontier Conference Setter of the Week on Monday. The award was the third for Kaelber this season. Kaelber averaged 10 assists per set and 2.14 digs. She finished the Argo match with 40 assists and had 30 against the Skylights. Kaelber leads the Frontier in total assists (513) and assists per set (9.3).
 
Orediggers Atop the Standings
Montana Tech holds the best record in the Frontier Conference at 14-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The Diggers 14-2 start is their best start under head coach Brian Solomon who is in his eighth season.