BELLEVUE, Neb. – After a strong showing in the previous weekend's tournament in Butte, Montana, Lady Argo volleyball lost its swagger, dropping two games at the Premier Labor Day Classic hosted by Bellevue University. UGF first lost to Briar Cliff 3-1 (25-20, 25-15, 21-25, 25-17) and then continued to struggled against RV Grandview College in a 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-18) loss.
The Lady Argos came out flat to start, letting up a 6-0 run early in the first set against BCU and never fully recovered. The team hit well in that set, running a relatively clean offense that came away with 15 kills to just 4 errors. Those number plummeted, however, in set 2 with the team's hitting percentage dropping to 0.025. It rose to 0.261 in set 3, which the Lady Argos managed to win 25-21, before dropping again to 0.152 in a 25-17 set 4 loss.
While UGF's hitting accuracy went for a ride on a roller coaster, the Chargers managed a steadier, and ultimately more effective pattern. BCU stayed above 0.200 in all four sets, including hitting over 0.300 in sets 1 and 4.
Great Falls did manage to out block the Chargers 9-3 but 37 total errors in the match more than negated that advantage.
Senior
Madison Wilhelm led UGF with 18 kills while finished second on the team in digs (11) and total blocks (2).
Wilhelm and almost all of the Lady Argos struggled against Grandview. The Vikings keyed on UGF's star senior forcing into 7 hitting errors and only allowing her to earn 8 kills. As a team, UGF hit for a 0.073 percentage.
The one Lady Argo who was able to find ways around the Viking defense was senior middle blocker
Tiffany Marks. Marks, who was nationally ranked in blocks in 2015, continued to showcase an improved offensive game in 2016. She led UGF with 11.5 total points coming from a team leading 8 kills and five block assists. She was the only Lady Argo to hit for a percentage better than 0.150, finished with an average of 0.278.
Marks was a big part of UGF's only major advantage, blocks. She had 5 of the team's 20 total block assists, which was tied with GVC's block total. Sophomore
Maya Kiruluta was also a major contributor in the defensive effort at the net, adding another 5 block assists to the team's total.
The losses drop UGF's record back below .500 at 4-6. In order to even the wins with the losses, the Lady Argos will have to pull an upset in Day 2 of the Premier Labor Day Classic. The first of two opponents on Sept. 3 will be #5 Hastings College at Noon MT followed by Culver-Stockton (Mo.) at 4 p.m. MT.
