BILLINGS, Mont. – Hitting problems continue to prevent (RV) Lady Argo volleyball from reaching its full potential. In team's second game of Frontier Conference play, UP hit for a disappointing percentage of .063 on the way to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-12) loss to (RV) Rocky Mountain College.
 
Throughout the 2017 season, UP's offense has been frustratingly inconsistent – playing deadly well in one set and then giving the other team handfuls of unearned points the next. That inconsistency simply turned into ineffective hitting against Rocky. The Lady Argos had 8 few kills than the team's previous season low, finishing with just 27 kills and 19 errors.
 
The lack of firepower allowed the Battlin' Bear attack to have its way. UP's usually potent blocking game and improving backline play were both put in a difficult spot and gave up the second-best hitting percentage (.266) by any 2017 opponent.
 
UP's best set was the second. In that set, the Lady Argos were able to take advantage of a few extra errors from the Battlin' Bears to pull within 4 points late in the set. That was about as close as they would get in the whole match though.
 
The one semi-effective hitter for the Lady Argos was freshman Sydney Andersen who tied for the team lead with 7 kills. She did that off of 24 swings but only committed 1 hitter error, the lowest total for any UP player with more than 5 attacks.
 
Junior Melissa Gonzalez was the other hitter with 7 kills, getting that total with 27 attempts and 3 errors. Freshman setter Ava Larkin led UP with 13 assists, while sophomore defensive specialist Olivia Snead led the team with 13 digs.
 
For the first time since 2014, the Lady Argos have lost the first two matches of conference play and now have a record of 13-6 (0-2). The team will hope that the friendly confines of the McLaughlin Center can turn things around as the team comes home for its next match, a 7 p.m. contest against Montana State University-Northern on September 21.