Volleyball: Carroll seniors turn out Lights

October 30, 2009

By JEFF WINDMUELLER Independent Record

The Carroll College volleyball team was having so much fun during Senior Night that it decided to play a little longer.

After blowing out MSU-Northern in the first two games of their match Thursday night, the Saints (23-7 overall, 9-2 Frontier Conference) slipped in the third and had to play catchup to finally put away the Skylights 25-18, 25-15, 30-32, 25-20 in the Carroll P.E. Center.

"That's why keeping momentum is so important," Saints head coach Moe Boyle said. "Once it shifts, and it can shift pretty fast, it's hard to get back."

After sailing smoothly through the first two games, thanks to quick hits and some untimely errors for the Skylights (5-12, 2-9), the Saints took as much as a seven-point lead in the third game and were serving for match point at 24-21.

But Northern rallied back to take the lead on four straight points, thanks in part to three errors by the Saints.

Kayla Hughes cracked a kill from the right side of the net to make it 25-25, and the two teams went back-and-forth from there.

After junior Sammy Priddy's kill attempt went long, Northern's Taya Tokarsi's weak hit from the left side fell to the floor for the game winner.

Northern's momentum carried into the final game, but the Saints, who trailed the most at 16-12 suddenly turned their game around as senior Ashley Lupfer took the serve.

She served on eigtht straight points, including two aces, and made a key dig, popping the ball up before hitting the set from the middle of Carroll's court to Northern's floor.

"In clutch situations I tend to kind of buckle down," Lupfer said. "I get a little more focused and a little more intense. You can see it in the way we all play."

The final point on her serving run came on a monster block by senior Mary Mahoney. After a hard dig sent the ball flying over the net, Mahoney saw Northern's Sierra Diehl look for the quick put-back and shoved it back at her.

"I think after time outs you try to take a deep breath, but for us a lot of times it takes a big kill or a block to get us going again," Smetana said. "Momentum is everything in volleyball."

Smetana, who finished with a game-high 19 kills, took it upon herself to finish off the Skylights.

She smashed a low-set by sophomore Caitlin Tocci past Northern blockers, then had two shots at the final point. After her first attempt - a soft tip to the center of the floor - came back, Smetana was set up again by Tocci and crushed the ball away from her opponents.

"I was actually kind of glad she got my tip up because as soon as I touched it, I was like 'Ah, I really didn't want to tip the last ball,' " Smetana said. "Then she set it to me again and I hit it. Right after that I was like 'I'm so thankful.' "

The seniors said they were most thankful for pulling out the win, which ties them with the University of Great Falls for the Frontier Conference lead. The Saints host the Argos (14-9, 9-2) Saturday at 2 p.m.

"It couldn't work out better," Lupfer said. "Our last home game is against the other team we're tied with for the conference. That's why you play college sports.

"We worked our butts off all season and preseason for a game like Saturday."

Jeff Windmueller: 447-4065 or

Carroll def. Northern 25-18, 25-15, 30-32, 25-20

Kills - MSUN 43 (Brittany Baker 12, Tasha Dyrland 12), CC 56 (Christina Smetana 19, Sammy Priddy 9); Assists - MSUN 43 (Nahe Keanaaina 28, Jordan Merrill 10), CC 56 (Caitlin Tocci 25, Katie St. John 19); Aces - MSUN 7 (Sierra Diehl 3, Baker 2), CC 7 (Priddy 3, Ashlee Lupfer 2); Digs - MSUN 71 (Taya Tokarski 16, Jenna Frankino 16, Dyrland 12), CC 87 (Maureen Frauenholtz 25, Priddy 19, Lupfer 16); Blocks - MSUN 4 (Kaylee Bossert 2, Diehl 2), CC 7 (Smetana 3, Markki Otteson 2).

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