GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Great Falls' volleyball team is nothing if not dramatic. The Lady Argos played some of their best and worst volleyball of the season in an epic 5-set match that eventually ended with a 3-2 (16-25, 27-25, 16-25, 25-22, 15-12) UGF victory over #25 University of Jamestown (N.D.).
"We showed a lot of grit. We showed the fight that we didn't have last weekend," UGF head coach Arunas Duda said. "We made it hard on ourselves at times, but I'll take it."
To put it simply, the Lady Argos needed this win. A trip to Nebraska the previous weekend for the Premier Labor Day Classic did not go as planned, with a 1-3 record in the tournament and lot of sloppy play. The match up vs. Jamestown was a lot of things; the team's home opener, a shot at redemption from the weekend before, a chance for a fourth win over a ranked opponent, and the last match before the start of Frontier Conference play.
UGF didn't rise to the occasion in the first set, looking essentially ineffective on defense. The Jimmies hit a ridiculous 0.615 hitting percentage in set 1, with 17 kills and just one error to win convincingly 25-16.
That lackluster performance seemed to rise the ire of the Lady Argos, who totally flipped the script in set 2. UGF improved its kill total from 12 in set 1 to 16 in set 2, but the real difference in the set was the defense holding Jamestown to just 9 kills and 8 errors.
Whatever switch turned on for UGF in set 2 turned off again for set 3, another 25-16 loss that saw the Lady Argos barely keeping their hitting percentage out of the negatives. Then the team found a hot hitter, sophomore middle blocker Maya Kiruluta.
Kiruluta was the best player on the court in set 4. Her timing with senior setter Bree Davis was flawless, leading to 6 of the team's 15 kills in the set without committing any errors. She also added UGF's only solo block in the entire match and another block assists, to account for 7.5 points.
Early in the tiebreaker set, the UGF roller-coaster was again on a down turn, falling into a 4-0 deficit. Once again it was Kiruluta breaking her team back, with 3 kills and two block assists over the next 11 points. With the Lady Argos still tied up 10-10 a total team effort led by senior captain Madison Wilhelm took control of the game and match.
Wilhelm three of the last four points for Great Falls, all of them off of kills assisted by Davis.
Davis played one her best matches of the season, with 41 assists, 1 setting errors, 5 kills, 0 hitting errors, 1 ace, and 6 digs. Her 41 assists set a new career high and her timing with Kiruluta, Wilhelm and sophomore Korie Milan was the driving force behind the UGF win.
Wilhelm and Milan, though part of UGF's inconsistency at times, were still forces to be reckoned with. As she has for most matches this season, Wilhelm led the Lady Argos in kills (17) and points (19.5). Her 17 digs also helped make up for 10 hitting errors. Milan, who had a breakout performance in the last match of the Labor Day Classic, was just behind Wilhelm in kills with 14. She also played a part in three UGF blocks and had a one ace.
The win brings UGF's record to 6-7 with four of those wins coming against ranked teams. It also marked the end of non-conference play for Great Falls besides a mid-October match up against Johnson & Wales University. The team's next six matches will be against conference foes, starting with the conference play opener against Montana Western at home on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.
