BILLINGS, Mont. – A reprieve from conference play was a breath of fresh air for Lady Argo volleyball, getting a confident 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-17) win over Johnson & Wales University after a difficult few weeks. The match was a neutral site contest in hosted by Rocky Mountain College during the conference bye week. 

UGF entered the match having lost four of its last six matches, three of which were in straight sets. A chance to play an unfamiliar foe seemed to knock the Lady Argos back into rhythm, however, as the time clicked on all cylinders against the Wildcats. 

"We have been working extremely hard in practice the past few weeks and our defense, passing, and transition game looked a lot more in sync today," UGF Head Coach Arunas Duda said. "Today was an overall team effort and will hopefully allow us to gain some momentum heading into the second half of conference play."

All of the defensive and passing improvements led to a hot start for UGF in the first set, totaling 17 kills with just 3 errors in 34 attempts. While the Wildcats were relatively efficient in their own right offensively, JWU's 0.276 hitting percentage couldn't stand up to UGF's 0.412.

With the momentum of a 25-19 first set win and the offense clicking, UGF's defense tightened up as well. The Lady Argos went from 2 blocks in set 1 to 4 in each of the next two sets. The Wildcat's hitting percentage also dropped with each set, falling to 0.167 in set 1 and 0.000 in the third and final set.

That defensive performance at the net was an overall team effort, just like the rest of the match, but senior middle blocker Tiffany Marks led the way, getting a block assists on 6 of the team's 10 total blocks.

As good as UGF was defensively, the team was just as good on the attacking end, putting up its best hitting percentage (0.326) since a match on September 3. Leading the way was senior captain Madison Wilhelm with 13 kills and 10 blocks. 

While Wilhelm finishing a match with a double-double in kills and assists wasn't something new for UGF, what was new was the performance of middle blocker Josee Pendleton. The junior set personal season highs with 10 kills and a hitting percentage of 0.600. She also added 3 blocks assists for a total of 11.5 points. 

Making the Lady Argos particularly hard to key on defensively was a third hot hitting in junior right side hitter Mariah Diaz. The junior college transfer hit her best percentage since joining the Lady Argos with 8 kills, 0 errors, and a percentage of 0.800.

UGF's record now improves to 9-11 (2-4). The team will return to conference play with a road match against the University of Montana - Western on October 20 at 7 p.m.