BILLINGS, Mont. - Rocky Volleyball celebrated eight seniors in its 2026 season finale at home Saturday evening.
The Battlin' Bears seized late momentum but couldn't pull off a reverse sweep, falling in four sets to Dickinson State.
How it happened
Rachel Whyte came out firing on Senior Night, spiking five kills in the first set. The Battlin' Bears held set point following a Dickinson State service error, but the Blue Hawks responded with a 4-1 run to flip the score to 26-25. A kill from Whyte tied the set at 26, but Dickinson State answered with back-to-back kills to swipe the opening frame, 28-26.
Dickinson State snagged early momentum in the second set with a 7-0 run to jump out to an 8-3 lead. Rocky never got within three points for the rest of the frame, falling behind 2-0.
The third set was back-and-forth throughout, but the Battlin' Bears found a late surge. Kaitlyn Wood and Ameliea Kisiel spiked two kills apiece to help Rocky finish on a 5-1 run and take the set.
The Blue Hawks came out firing in the fourth set, scoring seven straight points to open the frame. Facing a 24-17 match point, Rocky came alive, scoring six unanswered points to cut the deficit to one. However, Dickinson State finally secured the winning point, taking the fourth set 25-23 and the match.
Notable statistics
Seniors Kaitlyn Wood (.281) and Rachel Whyte (.222) led the Battlin' Bears with 11 kills and three blocks each. Zoey Albert surpassed 1,000 career digs on Senior Night, finishing with 28 to tie for the match high. Kristyn Mentink tallied 28 assists, three service aces and 17 digs.
Dickinson State outhit the Battlin' Bears .152 to .119, totaling 64 kills to Rocky's 50.
Aubrey Allison recorded a match-high 21 kills and 18 digs to lead Dickinson State.
The Battlin' Bears conclude the season with a 6-22 overall record and a 4-18 mark in conference play.
This content is sourced from
Rocky Mountain College
. It reflects the author's views and has not been edited by our newsroom. It may have been generated using AI assistance.
