The Carroll College volleyball team adjusted to life without their usual conference height advantage just fine Saturday night, knocking off 11th-ranked Lewis-Clark State College in four tight sets at the Carroll P.E. Center to take sole possession of the Frontier Conference's best record.

The Saints (15-5, 6-1 Frontier) were able to find a slim advantage to close out three of the match's four tight sets with runs, winning 25-20, 17-25, 25-21, 25-21.

More often than not Saturday, that advantage was junior outside hitter Sammy Priddy.

"We've been pretty psyched about this match for about three weeks now," said Priddy, who finished with a team-high 17 kills on 40 attempts. "We knew it was going to be a big game and then we were playing for first, so that bumped the energy up a lot."

Carroll seemed to draw some extra energy from a nearly full house of fans to take the first set of the night, but nearly trailed wire-to-wire as the Warriors closed out the second set with a 7-3 run behind three late kills from outside hitter Anile Clemente.

LCSC (12-6, 5-2) often posted three six-footers on the front line, and the Saints' hits finally seemed to start finding the Warriors blockers in the second.

"We jumped on them, but they took that second set away from us," Carroll head coach Moe Boyle said. "One of the things I'm most proud of is the way the girls came back. We're trying to find our groove and not just stay comfortable. It's simple - when we're having fun we're playing well."

The Saints led wire-to-wire in the third, but only took a comfortable lead after Priddy took an errant LCSC set as her own, slamming down a kill back to the middle, drawing whoops from her teammates and capping a run of four straight points that put Carroll up 20-15

Priddy hit yet another crossing kill late in the set and come up with a clutch serving ace to help her team close out the stanza.

The two teams clawed to five ties before locking up 10-10 in the fourth.

Priddy accounted for five of Carroll's next six points, though, with hard hits, a soft touch kill down the line and a powerful block on Clemente.

Maureen Frauenholtz later served through five straight points to put Carroll up 24-20 on match point. It took two more serves before Christina Smetana's touch shot was mishandled to give the Saints the win.

"(Carroll has) so many offensive weapons that it's tough to try and prepare for them all," LCSC head coach Jen Greeny said. "That's what a good team does to you."

Junior hitter Kayla Hughes also had a big night on the outside for the Saints, converting 12 of her 26 attempts for kills.

Caitlin Tocci and Katie St. John added 25 and 22 assists, respectively.

"I think everybody played great," Priddy said. "Volleyball's such a team game that, since I had a big night, you know everybody was playing well."

Clemente led the Warriors with 14 kills on 40 attempts.

Carroll received the 30th-most votes in the most recent NAIA coaches poll, but may move into the rankings with the dominant win.

The Saints don't have much time to enjoy the victory, though, as they face fourth-ranked Columbia College (Mo.) on Thursday to open a stretch of six road games in three days.

Trent Makela: 447-4085 or trent.makela@helenair.com

Carroll College def. Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) 25-20, 17-25, 25-21, 25-21

Lewis-Clark leaders - Kills 54 (Anile Clemente 14); assists 54 (Lisa Davis 22); aces 4 (Katie Hinrichs 2); digs 71 (Hinrichs 22); blocks 4 (Jenika Bird 2).

Carroll leaders - Kills 58 (Sammy Priddy 17); assists 58 (Caitlin Tocci 25, Katie St. John 22); aces 3 (Tocci, Priddy, Maureen Frauenholtz); digs 77 (Frauenholtz 21); blocks 3 (Priddy 2).