GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The #15 University of Providence volleyball team defeated #18 Rocky Mountain College in four sets to win the Frontier Conference Tournament Championship. The win marks the third straight season the program has won the tournament championship.

"It's just so much fun," head coach Arunas Duda said. "This is such a great group to accomplish this with. What a great night. It's nice that after graduating such a big part of our team last year that with a relatively newer group we were able to accomplish the same thing. That means we're on the right track."

The Battlin' Bears (17-4, 15-3) got the hot start, jumping out to a big lead to start the game and forcing the Argos (20-2, 18-2) to use their two timeouts early in the set. The Bears eventually took the set 25-17. The Argos made some substitutions in the second game, putting in Isaura Santos and Bailey Christensen, who helped the Argos get some momentum.

"It was really cool to see Isa come off the bench and contribute the way she did, as well as Bailey," Duda said. "I thought she had some key blocks for us and some timely putaways. It was just really cool to see those girls come off the bench and have such an impact. That's exactly what we needed. I think we had four players hitting in the negative in that first set. They were kind of like a shot in the arm to get us going and it really helped."

The Argos raced out to big lead in the second set and never looked back, winning the second set 25-17. The two teams had an intense, back and forth battle in the third set until Caleigh Cookson led a long run from behind the service line. After winning the third set 25-21, the Argos were hitting on all cylinders, cruising to a 25-10 victory in the fourth set to clinch the championship. 

"Our assistant coach Drew said it best talking to our girls afterwards when she said it was very fitting that we had to fight through adversity with Rocky getting us that first set," Duda said. "We fought through and found our own. That's kind of been our M.O. on the year. It's nice to be able to do it the same way that it's been happening all year long."

Defensive was the name of the game and no one played better defense than libero Sacha Legros. Legros saved several critical points throughout the match with her energetic plays to set up the offense. Per usual, she led the team with 34 digs on the night. Cydney Finberg-Roberts recorded 13 digs defensively, Taylor Christensen had 12 while Renae Davis recorded 10 digs. Sadie Lott led the team with five blocks, while Ember Schwindt and B. Christensen recorded four and three respectively.

Offensively the Argos were carried by Sadie Lott and Santos, who both recorded double-doubles on the night. Lott led the way with 13 kills and 19 digs while Santos chipped in 11 kills and 12 digs. Davis also added eight kills. Finberg-Roberts was her usual self, recording 39 assists.

The win also marks the 18^th straight win for the Argos, who last on Feb. 6. They'll hope to carry the momentum next week in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament, which they'll host in Great Falls on Saturday at 7 p.m.

"It just means that we're definitely heading in the right direction," Duda said. "We have goals that are above this. We want to get to that final site. That's where we'll be able to reach for our goals for the postseason. I'm excited to see who we play and who we match up against. I'm a little nervous for it. It's a brand new experience for us with that first round game but what a great group to do it with."