If the Saints volleyball squad wants more teams to return to next year's Carroll College/University of Great Falls Classic, they might want to be a little nicer.

The host Saints (7-2) dominated Minot State (2-6) Friday night, sweeping the Beavers in three straight sets, 25-23, 25-19, 25-20 as Sammy Priddy finally found her groove in the offense in Carroll's home opener.

The 6-foot sophomore outside hitter powered through blocks and cut Minot's defense apart, attacking from the left side of the net and tying Haylee Otteson for a team-high nine kills.

Saints' head coach Moe Boyle was happy to see Priddy finally put up the points after struggling in the beginning of the season.

"It hasn't been open for her and tonight we really utilized her," Boyle said. "She was on the all-freshman team (last year), and there's a reason for that. You know it's going to come on with those girls, and tonight it really happened."

With Minot's blockers keying in on low, fast sets to middle hitters Christina Smetana and Otteson, Carroll's setters began feeding Priddy to the outside.

After the Saints let a three-point lead slip in the first game, Priddy scored two straight kills for Carroll, pulling them within one, 15-14, before they rallied off three straight points, thanks in part to the strong serves of Maureen Frauenholtz.

"There were holes in the blocks, so I just went for those," Priddy said. "They had me up against the setter for a lot of the blocking, and I was able to hit over her."

Again, the Beavers keyed in on Carroll's offense and sent two players to try to stop the spikes on the outside, but Priddy went around, or right through, the hands to get the points.

She capped off the second set with the winning kill and made back-to-back kills in the third as the Saints jumped to an 11-3 lead.

"For the first games, I just felt like I didn't have control with what I was doing," Priddy said. "This game, I think I decided I really wanted to have fun and play with my team, as a team."

Otteson and Smetana, meanwhile, kept up the play that has made them the Saints' leading hitters early in the season. Facing big blocks from the opposition, Otteson scored a number of her points by simply floating the ball over the Beavers fingertips, letting it hit the ground softly.

Smetana stood her ground, finishing with three of the team's four blocks.

Ashley Holmen led Minot with 12 kills and tied two others with three digs.

Mary Mahoney, in the libero position, led Carroll's ground defense with 15 digs while Ashlee Lupfer picked up 11.

Katie St. John and Caitlin Tocci, sharing setting duties, accounted for 19 and 15 assists, respectively.

"Tonight we saw our offense working more than it has." "If we can keep our defense as strong as has it's been and continue working on our offense, as the year goes on we're only get more solid."

Assistant Sports Editor

Jeff Windmueler: 447-4065 or jeff.windmueller@helenair.com