Women's Volleyball | 9/22/2023 10:04:00 PM

Box Score GREAT FALLS, Mont. The Ordiggers of Montana Tech have started the Frontier Conference with a 3-1 win over the University of Providence in Great Falls.

The 11^th ranked Orediggers are now 12-2 overall, and 1-0 in conference play with a big win on the road Friday night. The Orediggers grabbed the first set 25-18, fell 25-23 in the second, they rebounded for a 25-17 win in the third, followed by a 25-21 win in the fourth and final.

"We are very happy to have played so well to open conference. It was an incredible road environment and we had several great rallies throughout the match." Montana Tech Volleyball coach Brian Solomon.

The Orediggers came out firing on all cylinders. Leading 9-5, they went on a 7-0 run to stretch their lead to 16-5, Senior outside hitter Olivia Muir getting three kills in that 7-point stretch.

Where the first set had some good runs, the second set was a back-and-forth affair. The Orediggers' largest lead in the second was four points (13-9), the Argos largest lead came on the final two points, when they closed out the set 25-23.

The third and fourth sets was heavily influenced by the Oredigger seniors, - Olivia Muir, Taylor Henley, and Maureen Jessop.

"Jessop and Muir stepped up at critical moments on offense and our blocking and defense made really big plays in the fourth set."

The last five Oredigger kills all were recorded by Jessop. She finished with a match leading 18 kills on 48 attempts, hitting .250. Muir wrapped up the night hitting .368, with 17 kills on 38 attempts. Olivia is also credited with three aces. Taylor Henley added 7 kills, hitting .353.

"Our passing and serving were very strong throughout the match as well."

Rhys Layton tallied 28 assists, and McKenna Kaelber was back on the floor with 18 assists, and 8 digs after missing a couple of matches due to injury.

As a team, Montana Tech finished with 54 kills on 143 total attacks, hitting .266 as a team.

Providence was led by Jenna Thorne, Nina Janjic, and Allyah Tokelau, each tallying 10 kills in the match.

The Orediggers are now off until next Friday when they will be back home to host MSU Northern on Friday, and Rocky Mountain College on Saturday.