GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A dramatic change needed to happen for Lady Argo volleyball to turn around its season. UP entered its home match against Carroll College 0-3 in conference play including two straight 3-0 losses, but something happened in the second set that turned the Lady Argos back into the team that went 13-4 in non-conference play and brought the team to a 3-2 (12-25, 26-24, 16-25, 31-29, 16-14) win.
 
"That was huge. After  an 0-3  start in conference, just to pick up a win against a really good opponent feels great," Head Coach Arunas Duda said. "That win was much needed."
 
There was nothing that felt good about UP's performance in the first set. Carroll's offense totally overwhelmed the Lady Argos, keeping the home team from getting into any kind of rhythm. The Saints had 19 kills in the first set, with just 1 attacking error, while UP had just 8 kills.
 
Carroll made more mistakes in the first 3 points of the second set than in the entire previous set. The Saints started the set with a service error and then had an attacking error while UP got off to a 3-0 lead.
 
That little gleam of hope sparked the team's competitive nature that won them so many non-conference matches. The set turned into a nail-biter. The Lady Argos still made a few more mistakes thank preferred, but this time Carroll matched those mistakes.
 
With UP leading the set 22-21, an attacking error from junior Korie Milan gave Carroll a point to tie the match. The Saints responded with a service error, which was answered by a service error from the Lady Argos. Another UP hitting error gave Carroll set points at 24-23, at which point the Saints committed another serving error.
 
The calamity was put to an end by Lady Argo junior Melissa Gonzalez who gave UP set point at 25-24 with her sixth kill of the set. A kill from senior Mariah Diaz the finally ended the set to tie the match at 1-1.
 
"I think at first we started off a little bit timid but after the reality of possibly losing another match hit, we sort of shifted gears and started to give it everything we had," Gonzalez said.
 
Set 3 was almost as bad as the first for the Lady Argos. UP hit for a percentage of .000 and only managed 7 kills. Things didn't look much better through most of the third set and eventually, the Saints got out to a 22-15 lead.
 
Two straight kills from Gonzalez turned the momentum and sparked a 5-0 run for the Lady Argos that got them right back into the match.
 
Despite that run, the Saints still got to set point first at 24-22, but for the second time, the Lady Argos stole it. Another Gonzalez  kill  and then one from freshman Sydney Andersen brought the score toe 24-24. Then a ridiculous back-and-forth kept the set going till it reached 29-29.
 
UP finally ended the extended third set with a kill from Diaz and a huge block from Gonzalez and freshman Kailey Rashford.
 
Following the pattern of the match, Carroll responded by getting out to a 5-0 lead in the fifth set. Two big kills from Andersen and another from Milan got the Lady Argos back into it and from there, the tiebreaker set was a battle.
 
This time, UP held set point first and Carroll tied at 14-14. The Lady Argos didn't let it go any further than, however, going to Andersen for a kill and then sealing the match an ace from sophomore Emily Stoker.
 
The match was the eighth time the Lady Argos have gone to a fifth set in 2017, and the team is now 5-3 in such matches. Coach Duda said that experience was helping the eighth time around.
 
"Early on we had a bunch of five-set matches and we won a bunch of them, and the recently we lost a couple of 5-set matches. But the experience form all of them collectively is invaluable when you get to conference," Duda said. "We know how important it is to stay the course. You saw us start 0-5 and for us to have the confidence to stay the course and finish it was awesome."
 
While a number of Lady Argos put up big numbers and made crucial plays, Gonzalez played a nearly flawless match. In 39 attempts, the junior had 15 kills and just 1 attacking error while also added a team-leading 3 block assists and 3 digs to her total.
 
Gonzalez may have been the most efficient UP hitter, but Andersen led the team with 16 kills.
 
Sophomore libero Brooke Foth led the team with 20 digs, her fifth straight match with double-digit digs, and also finished with 7 assists, the highest total of any non-setter on the team.
 
Setters Dani Norling and Ava Larkin split the assist numbers nearly down the middle with the senior Norling totally 25 and the freshman Larkin added 24. Norling was also second on the team with 13 digs, making it her fifth double-double of the year.
 
UP is now 14-7 (1-3) on the year and ends a four-match losing streak. The Lady Argos will stay home for their next contest when they will play Lewis-Clark State College on September 29 at 7 p.m.