DILLON, Mont. -- The 19th-ranked Montana Tech volleyball team saw its 13-match win streak at league rival Montana Western snapped Thursday night with a 25-17, 25-21, 25-17 sweep at the hands of the No. 17 Bulldogs.

Junior Kinnidi Willmore led the way with nine kills for Montana Tech (13-8, 5-3 Frontier Conference), while graduate student Jelena Jablanov anchored the defense with 16 digs. Sophomore Rhys Layton collected 30 assists.

The Orediggers struggled to figure out UMW's block from the outset, hitting just .057 as a team in the match. Western's defense tallied up 12 blocks. Tech also struggled with the serve, committing nine errors from the baseline.

Things began well for Montana Tech when the Diggers leapt out to a 3-1 lead in the first set following an Emmy Green ace. The Bulldogs used a 5-0 run to take the lead in the opener and force a Montana Tech timeout. The respite worked out for Tech; a Willmore kill knotted the score at 12-12, and the teams traded points until Western finished out the set on a 10-1 run.

In the second, Tech leapt out to an early lead again before the Bulldogs tallied up 11 straight points to take control of the stanza, 18-8. An Oredigger run cut the lead to a point at 19-18, but Western held on to take the set.

The Bulldogs never trailed in the third. Montana Tech kept the score close in the early going, but a 6-0 run midway through gave Western a 13-6 advantage it never relinquished. Jazi Smith led the way for UMW with 11 kills and 15 digs.

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