By The Carroll College volleyball team advanced to the Frontier Conference Tournament, 6-3 in the conference, ranked third in the conference standings, and would play Montana Western in their opening game on Friday, Nov. 11, in Butte, Montana.
Carroll’s season came to an unfortunate end, losing a heartbreaking five-set match to the sixth-seeded Bulldogs of Montana Western.
The Saints jumped out to an early advantage in a 25-12 first-set win but lost the second and third sets putting Carroll in serious jeopardy.
Carroll would go on to win the fourth set in convincing fashion, 25-16 to force a fifth and deciding set.
After going down early, and finding themselves in a 14-9 hole, the Saints would battle back and tie the set at 14-14, before the Bulldogs scored the final two points to win the set 16-14 and end Carroll’s season.
Elizabeth Heuiser, a sophomore nursing major from Helena, Montana, led the Saints with 16 kills on Friday afternoon. Julia Carr, a junior computer information systems major from Portland, Oregon, had a game-high 34 digs, and Hannah Schweikert, a sophomore civil engineering major out of Columbia Falls, Montana finished with 47 assists.
The Saints volleyball team finished their season 6-4 in the conference, and 14-12 overall.
Frontier Conference Commissioner, Kent Paulson, announced the 2022 Frontier Conference All-Conference volleyball team, the All-Freshman team, and individual award winners.
Carroll College had four players recognized for their performance in the 2022 season.
Three Saints players were named First Team All-Conference, including libero Carr, middle hitter Heuiser, and outside hitter Katherine McEuen, a senior biochemistry major from Spokane, Washington. Also recognized was Sidney Gulick, a freshman from Kalispell, Montana; this newcomer was named to the All-Freshman team.
It is Carr’s third straight year being named to the Frontier Conference All-Conference Volleyball team. As a freshman, she was recognized to the Second Team, and in her sophomore and junior seasons was named First Team All-Conference.
“I’m very blessed to be recognized for this award, but I owe it to my teammates for putting up a block that feeds me the ball,” said Carr. “I owe it to them and Coach Moe for pushing me in practice to improve my defense, serve receive, serving, and giving me the gift of playing the sport I love.”
About wrapping up the 2022 year, Carr looks forward to taking on more challenges next season..
“With it being the end of our season, I mean it’s always tough to say goodbye to the seniors and lose the roles they contributed to the team,” said Carr. “On a positive note though, I saw a lot of improvement and growth with our younger players which really excites me for the 2023 season. There’s a lot of work to be done to get where we want to be, but I trust in the group of players and coaching staff we have to have a successful season next fall!”
McEuen, one of four seniors graduating from the Carroll volleyball program, has excelled not only in volleyball but in academics as well. She plans to attend Medical School in the fall of 2023.
The Saints tied with Montana Tech for the second-most first-team selections (3), following only Rocky Mountain College (4).
Carroll volleyball graduates four seniors: Kylie Kackman, a senior business major from Colfax, Washington, Madison Boles, a senior business major from Kalispell, Montana, Abbie Peterson, a senior anthrozoology major from Princeton, Minnesota, and McEuen.
Saints fans have plenty to be excited about.
With a roster loaded with underclassmen talent, Carroll will look to make a deep run at the Frontier title in 2023. Carroll will return three of the four players named to the All-Conference teams: Heuiser, Carr, and Gulick. The Saints will also return standout junior Lauren Sehenuk, an elementary education major from Inglewood, California.
Head Coach, Moe Boyle was proud of the team’s accomplishments this season and looks forward to next year.
“With tremendous leadership, we grew immensely as a team and improved so much on the court,” said Boyle. “It’s not the way we wanted to end our season; however, we do have a core group returning next season, and with some recruiting in the meantime, we are looking to make our mark in the conference beginning next fall. It’s been since 2016 that we were at the top of the Frontier, and that’s too long ago – we have some work to do, but I’m excited to embark on the journey to return to the top.”
