BUTTE, Mont. – After a mistake riddled 5-set loss to (10) Grand View the previous day, which saw UP commit 39 hitting errors, the Lady Argos cleaned up their act on the way to two 3-set victories. Providence started the final day of the Big Sky Challenge with a 3-0 (29-27, 25-21, 25-19) win over Saint Francis (Ind.) and followed it up with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-18) sweep of The Evergreen State College.
 
"Non-conference play is all about learning and improving, and I think our team is right on track. After that tough loss last night, the girls came in today and corrected some things and competed extremely well," Head Coach Arunas Duda said. "Today was a lot of fun and I'm excited by our growth."
 
Against Saint Francis, the first set was a scrappy battle with neither offense ever truly finding a groove. UP's attack, while dangerous with 19 kills, showed some of the problems that cost them the Grand View match with 10 hitting errors. The one player that was hitting on all cylinders was UP's junior hitter Korie Milan who had 6 kills in the set. 
 
Those mistakes made the opening set a close one, but with a 23-19 lead, it looked like the Lady Argos had it wrapped up before a 3-point Cougar rally closed the gap. UP held set point four times before they finally won 29-27.
 
After scratching out that first set win, the Lady Argos were off to the races. The team's hitting percentage leaped from .180 in set 1, to .419 in set 2, and to .440 in set 3.
 
In both of the final two sets, UP turned a fairly close score into a confident  lead  with a 7-0 rally with sophomore Brook Foth serving.
 
Milan and freshman Sydney Andersen tied for the team lead with 11 kills, though Andersen had a better percentage at .476. Freshman Maddie Link led UP in digs for the first time in her career with 12 digs, followed by sophomore Emily Stoker with 11. Freshman Ava Larkin led the team in assists with 25.
 
While Foth's serving had a big impact against the Cougars, UP's serving as a team was the driving force behind the team's 3-0 win over Evergreen. The Lady Argos finished the match with 13 kills, the team's highest total in that category since August 23, 2012, against Northwest Christian.
 
Admittedly, a hand full of those  aces  were gifted to UP by way of rotation errors on the Geoducks, but even when the  serves  didn't find the floor, they were often still enough to keep Evergreen off its offensive rhythm.
 
Keep the Geoducks on their heels made the team's offense predictable, allowing UP to tally up 9 blocks and keep its own offensive cadence.
 
Offensively, freshman Sydney Andersen led the way with 10 kills, followed by junior Korie Milan with 9 and junior Melissa Gonzalez with 8. 
 
Freshman middle blocker Kailey Rashford had 5 block assists while sophomore Emily Stoker led UP with 10 digs.
 
The Lady Argos are now 8-3 on the season and will get a few days rest before traveling to Menlo College for another tournament starting on September 1.