BILLINGS, Mont.- A marquee matchup went the full five sets in Rocky's home opener, with the Battlin' Bears ultimately coming up just short in a hard-fought battle against MSU-Northern.
Both squads went toe-to-toe on the stat sheet all night. Rocky slightly out-hit the Skylights overall, .152 to .150, while the two teams combined for 121 total kills across five action-packed sets.
How it happened
The opening set was a neck-and-neck affair until a 16-16 deadlock. MSU-Northern seized control from there, putting together a decisive 6-0 run to force a Battlin' Bear timeout. Rocky trimmed the deficit back down to two, but consecutive service aces from the Skylights closed out the first set, 25-20.
Rocky answered swiftly in set two. Ella Kincaid sparked a 5-1 rally with a pair of kills, pushing the Battlin' Bears ahead 16-12. A late kill from Kaitlyn Wood followed by a Kristyn Mentink service ace secured a 25-17 set win to level the match at 1-1. Rocky capitalized on 11 Skylight attack errors throughout the frame.
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The Battlin' Bears maintained their rhythm in set three, hitting .200 as a unit. A four-point surge fueled by three consecutive kills put Rocky ahead 18-14. MSU-Northern fought back to knot the score at 22-22 following a pair of Rocky errors, but an Olivia Fauth kill and a solo block from Ella Kincaid sealed a 25-22 victory for the home team.
Set four remained tight throughout. Rocky appeared primed to close out the match after a Kincaid kill earned match point at 24-23, but the Skylights responded with three unanswered points to steal the set 26-24 and extend the night to a fifth set.
MSU-Northern surged early in the final frame, recording four early kills to build a 7-2 advantage. Amelia Kisiel and Lindsay Lawrence sparked a dramatic comeback effort, as Lawrence dropped back-to-back aces and Kisiel pounded three kills during a 7-0 run that flipped an 8-5 deficit into an 11-8 Rocky lead. However, momentum swung one final time, as the Skylights got key kills from four different players to execute a late rally, pulling out a 15-13 set victory and clinching the match.
Notable statistics
Sadie Meier anchored the Battlin' Bear offense with a career-high 13 kills while hitting .214. Amelia Kisiel added 11 kills (.206), and Ella Kincaid chipped in 10. The setting duties were evenly split as Rylee McMillan and Kristyn Mentink each recorded 24 assists. Defensively, Zoey Albert finished with a career-high 37 digs.
While Rocky held a slight edge in hitting percentage (.152 to .150), MSU-Northern tallied 62 kills compared to Rocky's 59. The Battlin' Bears recorded a season-high seven service aces in their first five-set match of the year.
For MSU-Northern, Macy Uffelman posted a game-high 16 kills to go along with 23 digs.
The Battlin' Bears (2-4, 0-2) return home to host No. 7-ranked University of Providence on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. MT.
