HELENA, Mont. – The 23rd-ranked Rocky Mountain College volleyball team opened Frontier Conference Tournament play with a 3-0 sweep of Montana Western in quarterfinal action at the Carroll PE Center on Friday evening.
 
Rocky – the tournament's No. 2 seed – won for the third straight outing with the 25-20, 25-15, 25-16 decision. They are now 22-10 on the season after defeating No. 7-seed Montana Western (9-17) for the third time this year.
 
The Battlin' Bears had a balanced effort on both sides of the net on Friday as they racked up 43 kills and .201 hitting. They held Western to .061 hitting and 32 kills. Rocky finished with a 3-1 edge in service aces to go with 92 digs and six blocks.
 
Daniella Russell led Rocky with 13 kills and .480 hitting. Her 13th double-digit kill effort of the season featured only one hitting error and six digs.
 
Sydney Matheny added 11 kills and three blocks for the Battlin' Bears. Hailey Copinga finished with nine kills and 16 digs.
 
Natalie Hilderman extended her double-double streak to 10 straight matches with 36 assists and 12 digs. Holland Fergurson had 25 digs.
 
Montana Western got 10 kills from Abagale Croninger while Dylan Fowler posted 35 digs.
 
The win puts Rocky into a semifinal match on Saturday against Carroll College at 1 p.m. The winner plays for the title against the winner of Montana Tech and Providence on Saturday at 7 p.m.