HAVRE, Mont. – The Lady Argo volleyball team continued its flair for the dramatic, taking another Frontier Conference match into the fifth set, and continued to come through in big moments, winning that fifth set. In the end, UGF defeated Montana State University – Northern 22-25, 26-24, 25-21, 20-25, 15-10 to wrap up their regular season.
The first set didn't quite go as planned, with UGF losing to the sixth ranked team in the conference. In the set the Lady Argos finished with their lowest hitting percentage of any set in the match with a percentage of .125.
While the UGF offensive became more efficient in the second set, so did the Skylight's as the teams needed an extra point to settle things.
The next two sets were steadily just below average offensively for UGF but their defense was much stronger in their 25-21 third set win than their 25-20 loss in the fourth. A strong hitting stretch in that fourth set from MSUN kept the Argos from taking the match.
All of this happened while UGF head coach Arunas Duda found time to play his entire roster throughout the match. With all the the players getting their court time before the postseason, UGF buckled down in the fifth set to pull out the 15-10 win.
The Lady Argos benefited from strong offensive games from their top two middle blockers. Senior Devon Bogart finished second on the team in kills with 15 while hitting over .350 percent and also added an ace.
The team's other top player at the position, junior Tiffany Marks, continued to be a dominant net defender with two solo blocks and two block assists while contributing 12 kills. Marks finishes the regular season ranked second in the Frontier Conference and 14th in the NAIA in blocks per game.
Junior libero Kennedy Chadwick led UGF in both digs, with 27 and aces, with three. Her three aces were half of the team's six total aces to MSUN's two.
The win completes UGF's regular season and gives them a final record of 25-9 (7-5). They rank fourth in the Frontier Conference and will begin postseason play on November 12 in Helena, Montana.Â