The No. 19 Montana Tech volleyball team continues Frontier Conference action this week hosting Montana Western Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the HPER Complex. The Orediggers travel to Montana State Northern on Saturday. The match in Havre starts at 6 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium.

The Orediggers (15-6, 3-0) opened the Frontier Conference schedule with three straight wins and are on top of the conference standings as the only undefeated team in conference action. Last week the Orediggers defeated Carroll College 3-2 and Rocky Mountain 3-0. Olivia Muir led the Orediggers with 27 kills in the two matches last week with 17 in the sweep against Rocky. McKenna Kaelber had 91 assists in the two matches.

The Orediggers lost to the Bulldogs in a sweep during the Frontier Conference Preseason Tournament in Billings earlier this season. The matches at the tournament do not count in the conference standings. It was the first loss to the Bulldogs for 11^th year head coach Brian Solomon.

The Bulldogs (9-10, 1-2) lost their last match by a sweep at home to MSU-Northern. Western is tied with the Saints in fourth in the Frontier Conference standings. The Bulldogs are second in the Frontier in kills per set averaging 11.94 and rank third in blocks averaging 2.13 stops at the net per set.

Outside hitter Kaylee Kopp leads the attack for the Bulldogs averaging 2.65 kills per set with 180 total on the season. The junior is sixth in the conference in kills and has a .169 hitting percentage on the season. Sophomore outside hitter Jazi Smith is ninth in the league averaging 2.51 kills per set. Western's sophomore setter Kaylee Frtz is third in the conference in assists per set averaging 8.16. Middle blocker Peyton Vogl is fifth in the conference in blocks averaging .99 per set.

MSU-Northern (10-6, 2-1) went 0-4 at the Frontier Conference Preseason Tournament but started the conference schedule 2-1 winning their last two matches against the University of Providence 3-1 and sweeping Montana Western. The Skylights are third in the conference averaging 11.73 kills per set and are fourth in blocking averaging 2.1 per set.

Sophomore outside hitter Jessalyn Chvilicek leads the Skylights offense and ranks fifth in the conference in kills per set averaging 2.69. Junior middle Alana Graves is seventh in the conference in kills per set (2.61) and ranks second in hitting percentage (.250). Senior libero Kaitlin Murdock is third in the conference averaging 5.02 digs per set.

Olivia Muir and McKenna Kaelber were named Frontier Conference/Erck Hotels Volleyball Players of the Week. Muir, a 5-foot-11 senior outside hitter, was named the Frontier Attacker of the Week. The Smoot, Wyoming native averaged 3.38 kills per set last week finishing with 27 total kills in the two matches. Muir recorded 17 kills and just one hitting error against Rocky on Saturday finishing with a .571 hitting percentage for the match.

Muir is starting to hit her stride during Frontier Conference action. In the first three conference matches, Muir has hit double digit kills in every match with a .311 hitting percentage. Muir ranks fourth in the conference in just Frontier contests in kills per set averaging 3.33.

Kaelber, a 5-foot-11 setter from Pasco, Washington, was named the Frontier Setter of the Week. The senior averaged 11.38 assist per match last week. Kaelber had a season high 50 assists against Carroll College and had 91 assists in the two matches.
Kaelber is second in the Frontier during conference matches in assists per set (11.17) and leads in total assists with 134.

Senior middle blocker Taylor Henley continues to lead the conference in blocks and is ranked third in the nation averaging 1.39 blocks per set. Henley has 103 blocks this season. Last week Henley had three solo blocks and three block assists.

The match against Montana Western Wednesday is the last home match until October 22^nd when the Orediggers host the University of Providence.