BUTTE, Mont. -- The 17th-ranked Montana Tech volleyball team is Iowa bound!

The Orediggers rolled to a 25-23, 25-15, 29-27 sweep of visiting Bushnell Saturday in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament on Kelvin Sampson Court to cement their spot in pool play of the title push. Montana Tech (20-10) will head to Sioux City, Iowa and the Tyson Events Center to continue its postseason run starting December 4.

Olivia LaBeau and Megan Benton led the Oredigger attack with nine kills each. LaBeau, Alexis Umland, and Rhys Layton each contributed three blocks. Layton tacked on 28 assists and eight digs to her line, while Jelena Jablanov collected a team-best 19 digs.

Things did not look promising for Tech in the early going. Bushnell (19-13), an at-large selection out of the Cascade Conference, used a 6-0 run in the first set to take an 11-6 advantage and force a Montana Tech timeout. Tech trimmed the lead to 14-11, but another Beacons barrage put the visitors ahead, 18-11, to force a second Oredigger timeout. Trailing 21-13, Montana Tech woke up. A double-hit call sparked the Tech offense, and the Orediggers rattled off a 12-2 run to claim the opening set. Benton had four kills to lead the way in the opener.

The second was all Orediggers. A Kinnidi Willmore kill and an ace from Jablanov set the tone early, and the Diggers used a 5-0 run to take control of the stanza at 12-7. LaBeau and Benton put down three kills each as Tech cruised to the 25-15 win and put Bushnell on the brink of elimination.

In the third, Montana Tech ripped off another early five-point run to take a 6-2 lead. Bushnell clawed back to take an 11-10 lead and force an Oredigger timeout. Tech responded to tie the set at 16 apiece, but three straight points by the Beacons forced Tech to take its second and final timeout trailing 19-16.

Facing a 21-17 deficit, three straight Bushnell errors let the Orediggers back in the battle. The teams found themselves tied at 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 before a Beacons service error and a match-clinching block by LaBeau and Layton sent Montana Tech through to the next round.

The Orediggers ran their home winning streak to five with the victory; three of those wins have come against teams that were either ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA coaches' poll.

Montana Tech advances to the pool play portion of the tournament for the second-consecutive season; the Orediggers defeated College of Idaho in the opening round last year and went 1-1 in Sioux City, topping Valley City State before bowing out against national semifinalist Eastern Oregon.

The NAIA national office will announce the 2024 pool play assignments Sunday at noon.

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