Grizzlies Fall to No. 22 Eastern Washington
9/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The University of Montana gave Eastern Washington University all it could handle, but it wasn't enough as the Grizzlies fell in three games Friday night at the West Auxiliary Gym. Game scores were 30-28, 30-21, 30-26. It was the first Big Sky Conference match of the season for both clubs.
Eastern Washington, ranked No. 22 in this week's AVCA/USA Today Top 25 Poll, improved to 14-0 overall on the year and 1-0 in the league, while Montana dropped to 6-5 overall, 0-1 in the Big Sky.
Except for the second game, the Grizzlies matched the Eagles point for point. In Game 1, EWU's largest lead was three points, at 11-8 and 12-9. After that, there were 13 ties the rest of the game, with neither team never leading by more than two points. The game was tied at 28-28 when UM's Lizzie Wertz was blocked by the Eagles' Lindsay Page and Monica Lynch. Janelle Ruen the ended the game for EWU with a kill on the next point.
The Eagles grabbed an early 7-0 lead in the second game and never looked back. EWU stretched the margin to 12-1 before Montana found its rhythm again. The closest UM came the rest of the game was eight points.
Game 3 resembled the opening game, with neither team grabbing the momentum. Montana grabbed its largest lead of the game behind three service points from Audra Pearce to take a 17-14 lead. EWU then managed to tie the game at 18-18, the first of five ties.
Eastern Washington gained the upper hand with the score tied 22-22. Megan Kitterman served an ace, which was followed by two attack errors by Wertz, which gave the Eagles a 25-22 lead. UM pulled within two at 27-25 on a block by Alice Myers and Mary Forrest, but the Eagles scored three of the next four points to end the match.
Wertz paced the Grizzlies with 22 kills, her third 20-kill performance of the season. Whitney Pavlik added 15 kills. Libero Danae Thorsness had a team-high 17 digs, while Wertz and Pavlick chipped in with 12 and 10 digs, respectively. Myers and Forrest led UM defensively with six and five blocks each.
Page was the only Eagle in double figures in kills with 11.
Overall, Montana head coach Nikki Best was pleased with her team's performance against a nationally-ranked opponent.
"If we can compete that well and play that hard against a team like Eastern Washington, that's a sign of good things to come," Best said. "For us to hold them to a .200 attack percentage after they've been averaging quite a bit higher all year, that's a good sign. I thought we handled their tempo. We didn't seem to get faked out by what they were doing. We were very alert defensively. We got a lot of touches off our block. We're not a statistically strong blocking team, so I was pleased with seven blocks."
Montana will be back in action again Saturday night when the Grizzlies take on Portland State University. Match time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Eastern Washington, ranked No. 22 in this week's AVCA/USA Today Top 25 Poll, improved to 14-0 overall on the year and 1-0 in the league, while Montana dropped to 6-5 overall, 0-1 in the Big Sky.
Except for the second game, the Grizzlies matched the Eagles point for point. In Game 1, EWU's largest lead was three points, at 11-8 and 12-9. After that, there were 13 ties the rest of the game, with neither team never leading by more than two points. The game was tied at 28-28 when UM's Lizzie Wertz was blocked by the Eagles' Lindsay Page and Monica Lynch. Janelle Ruen the ended the game for EWU with a kill on the next point.
The Eagles grabbed an early 7-0 lead in the second game and never looked back. EWU stretched the margin to 12-1 before Montana found its rhythm again. The closest UM came the rest of the game was eight points.
Game 3 resembled the opening game, with neither team grabbing the momentum. Montana grabbed its largest lead of the game behind three service points from Audra Pearce to take a 17-14 lead. EWU then managed to tie the game at 18-18, the first of five ties.
Eastern Washington gained the upper hand with the score tied 22-22. Megan Kitterman served an ace, which was followed by two attack errors by Wertz, which gave the Eagles a 25-22 lead. UM pulled within two at 27-25 on a block by Alice Myers and Mary Forrest, but the Eagles scored three of the next four points to end the match.
Wertz paced the Grizzlies with 22 kills, her third 20-kill performance of the season. Whitney Pavlik added 15 kills. Libero Danae Thorsness had a team-high 17 digs, while Wertz and Pavlick chipped in with 12 and 10 digs, respectively. Myers and Forrest led UM defensively with six and five blocks each.
Page was the only Eagle in double figures in kills with 11.
Overall, Montana head coach Nikki Best was pleased with her team's performance against a nationally-ranked opponent.
"If we can compete that well and play that hard against a team like Eastern Washington, that's a sign of good things to come," Best said. "For us to hold them to a .200 attack percentage after they've been averaging quite a bit higher all year, that's a good sign. I thought we handled their tempo. We didn't seem to get faked out by what they were doing. We were very alert defensively. We got a lot of touches off our block. We're not a statistically strong blocking team, so I was pleased with seven blocks."
Montana will be back in action again Saturday night when the Grizzlies take on Portland State University. Match time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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