DES MOINES, Iowa – The Rocky Mountain College volleyball team opened play at the Grand View Tournament by splitting two matches on Friday. Rocky fell in three sets to No. 11 Grand View before coming back to sweep Peru State.
 
The Battlin' Bears (16-7) gave Grand View (20-6) a fight, but they weren't able to hold early leads in the 25-22, 25-22, 26-24 loss.
 
The host Vikings finished the match with a 48-40 edge in kills and they hit .275 while holding Rocky to .155. The Battlin' Bears used five service aces and 47 digs to keep themselves in the match.
 
Olivia L'Ami and Hailey Copinga led Rocky with nine kills apiece in the loss. Tess Hellerud added eight kills and hit .294. Natalie Hilderman totaled 34 assists and Holland Fergurson had 17 digs.
 
Rocky would split the day's matches with a 25-15, 25-19, 25-16 win over Peru State (10-14) to end the day.
 
In the win, Rocky complied a 49-3 advantage in kills and they hit .333. They notched at least 15 kills in every set and secured the sweep with 18 kills and .340 hitting in the third set.
 
Hellerud led the Battlin' Bears with 13 kills to tie her career high. Her first double-digit kill effort of the season came with .619 hitting and two blocks.
 
L'Ami added 12 kills in the win while Copinga, Daniella Russell and Andraya Hawks finished with eight kills apiece. Hilderman handed out 35 assists and Fergurson had 23 digs.
 
The Battlin' Bears have two matches slated for Saturday. They begin against William Woods at 8 a.m. MT before facing No. 1 Viterbo at noon MT.