BOX SCORE

SPOKANE, Wash. – Despite a six-kill performance by junior Claire Bailey, Corban's women's volleyball team dropped its opening match of the season against Montana Western, 3-0 (23-25, 14-25, 19-25), Thursday at the Red Lion Cascade/Frontier Challenge inside The HUB.

With today's result, Corban falls to 0-1 and Montana Western improves to 1-0.

Along with Bailey, senior Olivia Shropshire added five kills to go along with a four-kill, 10-assist performance by freshman Payton Wilcox. Senior Jenny Harman and freshman Mackenzie Purnell also added four kills each, while junior Katherine Salness anchored the Warriors' defense with 14 digs. At the net, Wilcox led the charge with two blocks to go along with another block by Purnell for the Warriors' total.

The opening set would be a back-and-forth battle, as Montana Western jumped out to a five-point lead (8-3) on a Warrior hitting error. Following a timeout by head coach Tracy Smith, Corban used an 18-13 run to tie the set at 21-21 on a kill by Bailey. Back-to-back hitting errors by the Bulldogs would give the Warriors a two-point lead (23-21) before Montana Western closed out the set on a 4-0 run to take the victory (25-23).

Set #2 would belong to Montana Western from the opening serve, as the Bulldogs built a quick 3-0 lead before pushing their advantage to 10 points (18-8) on a kill by Mitchell Brea that forced a Corban timeout. The Warriors would pull within seven points (20-13) on a service ace by Salness before seeing Montana Western closed out the middle set on a 5-1 run resulting in a 25-14 victory.

The third and final set would once again begin with Montana Western pulling ahead by five points (8-3) before the Bulldogs increased their lead to 10 points (18-8). Corban would use a 10-2 run to pull within two points (20-18) on another service ace by Salness before Montana Western scored five of the set's final six points en route to earning a 25-19 victory and three-set sweep.

Montana Western was led by Mitchell with a match-high 11 kills, while Bailey Branson and Emily Erickson added nine and eight kills respectively. Rachele Chamberlain handed out a match-high 22 assists for the Bulldogs, while three UMW players – Jami Flink, Breanne Kelley, and Branson – all tallied double-digit dig totals with 13, 12, and 11 respectively.

Corban will return to action later today – August 22nd – against Great Falls beginning at approximately 5:00 p.m. inside The HUB in Spokane, Washington.