ATHERTON, Calif. – The Rocky Mountain College volleyball team picked up another two victories on Friday during the first day of action at the Menlo Tournament. The Battlin' Bears defeated San Diego Christian (Calif.) in four sets to start the day and then came back to claim a four-set victory over William Jessup (Calif.) in the afternoon match.
 
With the two wins, Rocky is now 7-3 on the season and they carry a five-match winning streak into the second day of the tournament.
 
Olivia L'Ami led the Bears with 21 kills in the 21-25, 25-11, 25-8, 25-22 win over San Diego Christian. It was the second straight match with 20-plus kills for the junior and she was the only Rocky player in double figures.
 
Rocky hit .289 as a team in the win with 48 kills and only 11 errors. They forced SDCC into 29 errors and limited the Hawks to .091 hitting. Each team finished with seven service aces, but the Bears had a 12-5 advantage in total blocks.
 
The Bears' second match of the day saw them defeat William Jessup 25-10, 25-20, 19-25, 25-18. L'Ami again led the offensive attack with 17 kills and .412 hitting. Daniella Russell added 10 kills and Holland Fergurson recorded 26 digs.
 
The defense came through in the win by holding William Jessup to .102 hitting and forcing 27 hitting errors. Rocky also had an edge in the serve game with a season-high 11 aces, including three apiece from Natalie Hilderman and Jalyn Anderle.
 
Rocky will put its winning streak on the line Saturday afternoon when they face No. 7 Westmont (Calif.) at 2 p.m. MT in their first match of the day. They will close the weekend trip at 6 p.m. MT against tournament host, Menlo (Calif.).