ATHERTON, Calif. – University of Providence Volleyball Head Coach wanted his team to be tougher with a higher competitive spirit in 2017. On the second day of the Menlo Tournament, his girls proved they are plenty tough, winning two matches that either winning a tiebreaker set or extra-point sets. The day's first contest was UP's four 5-set win of the season, beating San Diego Christian College 3-2 (25-17, 20-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-7) followed by a 3-0 (27-25, 25-16, 27-25) win over Providence Christian College.
 
"We don't always make it easy on ourselves, but we are finding a way to win," Head Coach Arunas Duda said. "It feels great going 4-0 on a road trip, knowing that we will be in the comfort of our own gym next week."
 
UP looked poised to roll to a straight-set victory early on against San Diego Christian. The Lady Argos hit well and avoided too many errors on their way to a confident 25-17 first set win. Of the team's 27 attack attempts, 15 turned into kills, while only 5 failed to fall within the lines.
 
In the next two sets, however, the Hawks started to prey on UP's back line which struggled in serve receive and threw off the rest of the team's rhythm. San Diego Christian took sets 2 & 3 before the Lady Argos could regather themselves.
 
It wasn't UP's offense, but its defense that turned things around. While the team's offense continued to struggle with accuracy issues, the Lady Argo defense made things increasingly difficult for the Hawk's hitters. 
 
By the time the tiebreaker set came around, whenever San Diego Christian attacked it ended up in points for the Lady Argos more often than for the Hawks. While UP hitting over .200 for the first time since the first set, and the Hawks hitting in the negatives, the Lady Argos dominated the fifth set to pull out another 3-2 victory.
 
Freshman Kailey Rashford led UP's net defense with 5 block assists and was joined by seniors Mariah Diaz and Josee Pendleton who each had 3 block assists. Behind them, freshman Maddie Link and senior setter Dani Norling were quick to hit the floor for digs.
 
Norling led the Lady Argos with 13 digs and also had 23 assists and 2 aces for her double-double of the year. Link tied her career high for digs with 12 and also added 2 aces to her stat line.
 
Offensively, Ava Larkin provided an equally effective setting option next to Norling and led the team with 24 assists. Many of those sets went to freshman Sydney Andersen who led the team with 14 kills and only 4 errors.
 
While the battle of NAIA Providence schools was a 3-0 sweep for the University of Providence, it required a killer instinct in a tight spot as well. Two of the matches' three sets went into extra points before the Lady Argos eventually won them.

The turning point of the match came at the end of the first set. It was actually Providence Christian that first held set point at 25-24 after a UP service error. On the brink of falling behind a set, the Lady Argos fed Andersen who got two straight kills to turn the table. A PCC error on the next point won the set for the Lady Argos and the team cruised to a 25-16 win in the following set. 
 
Set 3 was again close, with UP holding a 25-24 set point and losing it before a kill from junior Melissa Gonzalez and another PCC error ended the match. 
 
Defense  was again the difference for the Lady Argos who had a distinct advantage in both blocks and digs. Rashford was the main reason for the team's 10 total blocks, playing a role in 8 of those 10. The freshman also added 6 kills and just 1 attacking error to her totals.
 
Link had another big game, as she begins to stand out among a group for five defensive specialists all with similar skill levels. She led UP with 16 digs, setting a new career high. 
 
With Andersen relatively quiet with just 6 kills, Gonzalez turned into the go-to-girl. She had two fewer attempts than Andersen, but twice as many kills with 12, and only 2 errors.
 
The two wins have the Lady Argos on a six-match winning streak and also has the team 12-1 against unranked opponents and 12-3 overall. All three of the team's losses have required at least four sets and two of those losses were against top 10 teams. For the first time since August 15, the Lady Argos will return home for a match.
 
UP will host the McLaughlin Center Unveiling Invite on September 7-9 as the University of Providence Athletic Department reveals a completely rebranded gym for the first time since the school changed its name and school colors over the summer. The Lady Argos will play an exhibition match against North Idaho on Thursday, September 7 before playing its first real match in the new gym on September 8 at 7 p.m. against Dickinson State.
 
Before the match, there will be a free unveiling party in the parking lot outside the McLaughlin Center. The festivities will begin at 5:30 with free food, drinks, and giveaways.