BUTTE, Mont. – The Big Sky Challenge brought a mixed bag for Lady Argo volleyball. The team had to adjust to not having its freshman class for the first match and worked its top returner in kills from 2016 back into the lineup while defeating Multnomah 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-16) and falling to (10) Grand View University 3-2 (25-21, 25-15, 20-25, 22-25, 15-12).
 
UP was without its freshman class against Multnomah due to school orientation events, but the upperclassmen did just fine without them. It was a balanced overall team effort in the sweep of the Lions.
 
In the beginning of the first set, the Lady Argos  were  clearly still adjusting to the absence of three freshmen starters. They let Multnomah hang around for a while, but somewhere in the middle of the set, things started to click. With sophomore defensive specialist Emily Stoker server, UP rallied off 8 straight points to go from up 16-14, to holding set point at 24-14.
 
Strong serves, particularly from Stoker, continued to keep the Lions off balance and UP's defense took it from there. In all three sets, the Lions hit for an average of exactly .000, having as many kills as attacking errors. UP's defense also earned the team some valuable points with 7 total blocks, including 1 solo block and 3 block assists from sophomore Isabelle Parker.
 
Meanwhile, the Lady Argos hit over .200 in every set including .421 in the third. With UP's kills leader, freshman Sydney Andersen, missing, junior hitter Mariah Diaz stepped up offensively. She dominated the second set with 6 kills and finished the match with 9 kills in 18 attempts. She also added 3 block assists to her stat line.
 
Beyond the win, the big team news was the return of junior Korie Milan who was supposed to be the team's starting outside hitter before getting injured early in preseason practice. She didn't enter the match against Multnomah until the third set, but she finished the match with 3 kills in 4 swings.
 
For the second match of the day, UP had all hands-on deck, including full minutes from Milan. They needed all of that talent against the tenth ranked team in the country and once again the Lady Argos started off slow.
 
The Vikings rallied off the first 6 points of the match and eventually ballooned that to a 20-9 lead. A 5-point Lady Argo rally closed the gap a little bit and two more mini runs narrowed it to 24-21 but there just wasn't enough time to complete the comeback.
 
UP struggled throughout the match to place the ball on the court when they attacked. The team hit in the negatives in the first two sets but simply climbing above .050 was enough to turn around the match. The Lady Argos hit .167 and .077 in sets three and four, each of which the team won.
 
Helping the offense was a strong defensive effort at the net, which continues to be a strength for the Lady Argos. UP out blocked Grand View 10-8 in the match and received a particularly strong performance in that department from senior middle blocker Josee Pendleton who led the team with 6 block assists.
 
Eventually, UP was able to force a fifth set, the team's fourth in nine matches. In the team's previous three tiebreaker sets, the Lady Argos came out victorious. Despite a hitting percentage over .400, however, it wasn't to be this time, as Grand View took the fifth set 15-12.
 
Despite the loss, the Lady Argos proved that they are the only thing holding themselves back. UP has played two top-10 opponents in 2017, taking one set from (1) Hastings, and then coming 3 points shy of beating (10) Grand View despite committing 48 errors.
 
Grand View did an excellent job of keying on Andersen and forcing UP to go elsewhere for kills. The freshmen finished the match with just 6 kills, her lowest total of the year.
 
With Andersen taking the focus of the Viking defense, UP looked to feed Milan who looks as powerful as ever but still showed some rust. She led the team with 15 kills but also 9 hitting errors.
 
Diaz was UP's most efficient hitter with 8 kills and a percentage of .238. Junior Zuri Meehan led UP with 11 digs, while Ava Larkin led in assists with 20.
 
UP's record goes to 6-3 on the year with two more matches to go in the Big Sky Challenge. On day two of the tournament, the Lady Argos will take on Saint Francis (Ind.) at 1 p.m. and The Evergreen State College at 5 p.m.