Rocky Mountain College sweeps Tech spikers

By The Standard Staff - 10/13/2006

BILLINGS — Montana Tech got off the van sluggish and never got its own motor running, getting swept 30-26, 30-22, 30-25 by Rocky Mountan College in a Frontier Conference women’s volleyball match played Thursday in the Fortin Center.

“We did not play well,” Orediggers head coach Marilyn Tobin said. “We were not not intense from the beginning of the match to the end of the match. We need to rectifiy that before we play again. We certainly are not going to win any more matches if we step out on the court like we did tonight. We know what we need to do as a team to do better.” Tobin did not elaborate on the designs for better play, but the offense has been struggling of late.

“As a team, we hit .019 and that is very poor,” Tobin said.

However, all-conference returnee Maria McNeil, who suffered an off night in the Orediggers’ five-game loss to Carroll on Wednesday, rebounded Thursday with 12 kills and a .261 percentage.

“Mo McNeil turned around her performance from (Wednesday night),” Tobin said.

Swiss standout Sara Schuepbach led Rocky Moutain with 16 kills while hitting a blistering .407. She also sank three aces and tied Jacque Walen for the team digs lead with 11.

True freshman Katie Daly notched nine kills for Montaan Tech, and Jodi Hogart notched 28 assists. Libero Kristi Witt led the Orediggers’ floor defense with 12 digs. Serving specialist Megan Wichman registered three aces.

“Rocky’s a good team and we mean to take nothing away from Rocky,” Tobin said. “They stepped out on the court and they played better than us. Sarah Schuepbach is a good player and it was hard to contain her.” The loss put the Orediggers at 3-5 in conference play and 8-12 for the season while Rocky Mountain improved to 5-3 and 12-4. Montana Tech will next play on Oct. 21, at home against Lewis-Clark State.

Rocky Mountain def. Montana Tech 30-26, 30-22, 30-25 KILLS — Rocky 23 (Sara Schuepbach 16, Sarah Madinger 7, Courtney Arthun 6, Jessica Eliasson 5, Kelly Fox 3, Erin Pehl 2, Hailey Pearce, Melissa St. John), Tech 30 (Maria McNeil 12, Katie Daly 9, Cassie Hodges 6, Janet Friesz 2, Kristi Witt, Jodi Hogart, CoreyAnne Russell); ASSISTS — Rocky 40 (St. John 20, Hailey Pearce 16, Madinger 2, Elisson, Jen Larson), Tech 32 (Hogart 28, Hodges 2, McNeil, Daly); ACES — Rocky 12 (Jacque Walen 4, Schuepbach 3, Pearce 2, Madinger 2, St. John), Tech 8 (Megan Wichman 3, McNeil 2, Hogart 2, Lacie Brenton); BLOCKS — Rocky 7 (Arthun 2.5, Pehl 2, Madinger 1.5, Schuepbach), Tech 7 (Daly 3, Hodges 1, Hogart 1, Liz Marsik 0.5, McNeil 0.5); DIGS — Rocky 41 (Walen 11, Schuepbach 11, St. John 6, Pearce 5, Madinger 3, Arthun 2, Pehl 2, Shanda Veldhuisen), Tech 38 (Witt 12 Brenton 6, Hogart 5, McNeil 4, Hodges 3, Russell 3, Jessiw Conner 2, Daly, Wichman).