The Carroll College volleyball team is making its last drive toward the end of the regular season with two conference matches at home beginning today.

The Saints host No. 11 Lewis-Clark State at 7 p.m. in the P.E. Center before taking on Westminster Friday.

Lewis-Clark State brings with it the best record in the Frontier Conference (11-1, 24-1 overall) and already have a three-set, 25-17, 25-14, 25-18, win over the Saints (8-4, 18-7).

“They’re really solid, they have a tremendous outside hitter in Anile Clemente,” Saints head coach Moe Boyle said Wednesday. “They don’t make many mistakes, they just play the game, keep the ball in play and let you shoot yourself in the foot.”

Clemente leads the conference in both kills (3.7 per set) and aces (0.6 per set).

Carroll has its own big guns with junior Christina Smetana and sophomore Haylee Otteson at the middle hitter positions. Smetana leads the squad with 2.8 kills per set while Otteson is the leading blocker in the conference with 1.3 per set.

While the Saints traditionally run their offense through the middle, setters Katie St. John and Caitlin Tocci are spreading the ball around better.

Outside hitter Sammy Priddy is tied with Otteson with 2.1 kills per set and others are having big matches every week.

“Our middle attack is what we’ve lived and died by,” Boyle said. “We have had people come right along both on the outside and the right side.”

Carroll is currently tied for third with the University of Great Falls in the Frontier standings and hopes to hold on for a better seed before the Frontier Conference tournament.

“I hope that we play our game at home. I think that we have shown a lot of pride, I think we’ve shown a a lot of improvement as the season’s gone on,” Boyle said. “We’re a far cry from where we were a year ago and these girls have a lot of pride in what they’ve done.”

Men’s Basketball

The Carroll men’s basketball team (2-0) is hoping to produce more magic against NCAA Div. I programs after beating Eastern Washington University, 58-56, Saturday.

The Saints play Cal State Fullerton tonight and Cal State Northridge on Saturday.

Both games are scheduled to start at 8 p.m.

Fullerton shared part of a three-way tie with Northridge and UC Santa Barbara for the Big West Conference championship last season. This season the Titans were picked by both media and coaches to finish fourth in their conference while Northridge is expected to repeat as champions.

It will be the first game of the season for the Titans while the Matadors are coming off an 82-49 win over La Verne, Calif., on Monday. They were led by Tremaine Townsend, who picked up 17 points and 10 rebounds in just 15 minutes of play.

Women’s Basketball

The Carroll women’s basketball team (2-0) heads to Oakland, Calif., this weekend for a three-game road trip, where they’ll play Holy Names (0-1) tonight and Saturday and Bethany on Friday.

“Both teams have more experience than we do,” Saints head coach Shawn Nelson said. “They ‘re also quite a bit more athletic.”

Holy Names is a lanky team that can provide match-up problems for the Saints. Meanwhile, Bethany penetrates and kicks to open shooters.

“We did a great job in all of our new rolls last weekend,” Nelson said. “I’m excited for this weekend. We should do well.”

Derek Gengenbacher contributed to this report.