BUTTE — The Battlin' Bears are back on top.
Four players racked up double-digit kills as Rocky Mountain College overcame a one-set deficit to defeat Montana Western in four sets (23-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-13) in the Frontier Conference tournament championship match at Montana Tech's HPER Complex on Saturday afternoon.
That victory gave the Bears — which were the second-seeded team — their first tournament crown since 2015 and earned them the Frontier's automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament.
Bella Bryan and Makenna Bushman each leveled 13 kills for Rocky, and Taylor Wolf and Rhiannon Nez had 10 apiece. Blythe Sealey provided 49 assists and Ayla Embry supplied 34 digs.
The Bulldogs, who entered the tournament as the sixth and final seed, pulled out a pair of upsets on Friday to get to the championship. Western knocked off third-seeded Carroll College in the quarterfinals and then upended top-seeded Montana Tech in the semis.
Western was led by 10 kills from Jazi Smith, 39 assists from Kaylee Fritz and 26 digs from Kelsey Goddard.
