BILLINGS, Mont. – Building momentum has been the theme for Lady Argo volleyball over the past two weeks, with UGF getting a third consecutive straight-sets win in the last eight days. Great Falls defeated Rocky Mountain College 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 27-25), showcasing a consistency that the team had been struggling to find earlier in the season.
 
Before the start of their current 3-match winning streak, the Lady Argos had lost three of their last four, all of them in straight sets. Then came the Frontier Conference bye week during which UGF beat non-conference opponent Johnson & Wales, rebuilding the team's confidence.
 
That confidence continued against the Battlin' Bears. UGF came out strong to start, going on a few runs to take a 17-10 lead in the 1st set. RMC closed within one point late in the game, but a growing killer instinct for the Lady Argos ended that effort, winning the set 25-22.
 
"Once again I thought we came in ready to compete and executed our game plan extremely well. We were the aggressors the whole night long," UGF Head Coach Arunas Duda said. "I'm extremely proud of these girls for changing their mindset and keeping after it the last couple weeks."
 
While UGF consistently played the aggressor, Rocky wasn't ready give up without and fight and took a 16-11 lead in the 2nd set. To answer back, UGF fed red hot outside hitter Korie Milan over and over again. The sophomore had 6 of her 11 total kills in the 2nd set without any hitting errors.
 
Milan cooled off a bit in the 3rd set, but not by much. While a slew of other Lady Argos pitched in on the team's 19 3rd set kills, Milan was still one of the two go-to gals down the stretch of an extra points set. Kills from senior captain Madison Wilhelm accounted for three of UGF's last five points in the match, but the final game winner came from the arm of Milan to win the set 27-25.
 
With a 11 kills, 1 error, and a 0.476 hitting percentage, Milan set new personal season highs in hitting percentage and kills in a 3-set match. She also added 5 digs to her stat line.
 
"Korie had a special day," Duda said. "Our middles also played a great match on offense and defense."
 
Those middles were senior Tiffany Marks and junior Josee Pendleton, who had played her best volleyball of the season in the last three matches. Marks was the stronger of the two offensively with 9 kills and a percentage of 0.313, while Pendleton was a force defensively at the net with 8 block assists on top of 8 kills.
 
Senior setter Bree Davis also played a strong all-around match. She had 41 of the team's 43 assists, finished third on the team with 10 digs, had 4 block assists and three kills. Her 4 block assists set a new season high for her, while the 10 digs tied a season high.
 
With a team leading 12 kills and 17 digs, Wilhelm's performance was solid, but seemingly pedestrian after reading double-digits in both categories for 8 of the last 10 matches.
 
The win gives UGF a .500 record at 11-11 (4-4) and has the Lady Argos T-4th in the Frontier Conference standings. Next up will be MSU-Northern at home on October 27 at 7 p.m.