Grizzlies to Face Wolverines in 2004 Home Opener on Tuesday
9/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The University of Montana volleyball team will be at home for the first time in 2004 when the Grizzlies host Utah Valley State on Tuesday, Sept. 7. The match will be at 7 p.m. in the West Auxiliary Gym of the Adams Center.
Montana will enter play on Tuesday with a record of 0-3 after dropping five-game matches against all three of its opponents at the season-opening New Mexico Invitational. The Griz fell to Creighton, New Mexico and Northern Colorado.
Utah Valley State will enter Tuesday's match with a record of 0-1.
Tuesday's match can be heard live at MontanaGrizzlies.com with assistant sports information director Chris Geraghty on the call. Griz fans listening at home will also have access to live stats as the match progresses.
Griz at UC-Davis Invitational This Weekend: After facing the Wolverines on Tuesday, Montana will hit the road for another weekend tournament. The Grizzlies will play Brown, Nevada and UC-Davis at the UC-Davis Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
A release highlighting that tournament will be put out on Wednesday.
About Utah Valley State: The Wolverines will enter Tuesday's match with a record of 0-1. UVSC dropped its season opener on Sept. 1 at Utah, 3-0 (23-30, 19-30, 16-30). The Wolverines were out-hit by the Utes .301 to .034 in the match and out-blocked 19.5 to 6.0.
Senior outside hitter Alina Wallauer had 11 kills and 11 digs to lead UVSC, and sophomore setter Lacee Koelliker had 27 assists. Freshman middle blocker Jessica Endres had seven kills and finished with team highs in both hitting percentage (.353) and blocks (four).
The NCAA Division I independent located in Orem, Utah, returned four starters and seven letterwinnners from last year's 10-14 squad. This year marks the second year of NCAA affiliation for Utah Valley State after compiling a 628-232 record in 25 years at the NJCAA level.
The Wolverines are coached by Sam Atoa, who has a 148-46 record in his sixth year.
Utah Valley State-Montana Series Record: Tuesday will be the first meeting between the Grizzlies and the Wolverines.
Montana in Home Openers: The Grizzlies have gone 21-7 in home openers since the 1976 season. Montana is 3-1 in home openers under coach Nikki Best, including wins in its last three openers.
Griz Go 0-3 in New Mexico: Montana competed last weekend at the Comcast New Mexico Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque and went winless to finish in fourth place out of the four competing teams. Creighton, New Mexico and Northern Colorado all finished with identical 2-1 marks, with Creighton winning the tournament by tiebreak.
All three of Montana's losses came in five games.
Houle Earns All-Tournament Accolades: Sophomore Claudia Houle, playing in her first matches as a Montana Grizzly after transferring from Barton County (Kan.) Community College, earned all-tournament recognition at the New Mexico Invitational. The 5-10 outside hitter averaged 4.20 kills and 2.27 digs per game for Montana's three matches and hit .294.
Juniors Audrey Jensen and Diana Thompson and freshman Jackie White also played well at the tournament. Jensen ranked fourth among the teams in both hitting percentage (.310) and blocks (0.93 bpg), Thompson was fourth in assists (9.25 apg) and White finished fourth in digs (2.53 dpg).
Creighton 3, Griz 2: After winning the first two games against the Bluejays, 31-29, 30-28, Montana dropped its season opener on Friday when Creighton stormed back to win the final three games, 30-20, 30-21, 15-11.
Sophomore outside hitter Claudia Houle led both teams with 20 kills. Junior Audrey Jensen and sophomore EvaLyn Whitehead added 10 each.
Junior setter Diana Thompson had 45 assists and a team-high 15 digs, and Jensen added a team-best five blocks.
New Mexico 3, Griz 2: For the second straight match, Montana jumped out to a 2-0 lead only to see the opponent come back to win the final three games.
After winning the first two games, 30-25, 30-27, the Grizzlies dropped the next three, 24-30, 16-30, 11-15.
Sophomore Claudia Houle was once again Montana's top hitter, finishing with 26 kills and hitting .479. Freshman Micaela Parker, getting her first start of the season, had 18 kills.
Junior Diana Thompson had 56 assists and freshman Jackie White led four player in double-figure digs with 13. Junior Audrey Jensen had five blocks.
Northern Colorado 3, Griz 2: Tied at two games each, Montana dropped to 0-3 on the season when Northern Colorado pulled out a win in game five, 15-12.
Sophomore Claudia Houle totaled 17 kills, with freshman Leah Wissing adding 14 kills in her first start of the season. Sophomore Shelley Boyd, getting the start at setter, had 49 assists.
Houle and junior Ashley Gorham had a team-high 13 digs each.
Griz Picked for Eighth in Big Sky: After finishing in eighth place in the league standings in 2003, Montana was picked by the Big Sky's coaches for an eighth-place finish in 2004.
Sacramento State picked up three first-place votes and 45 total points to finish atop the poll. The Hornets were followed by Idaho State (three first-place votes, 42 points), Eastern Washington (two first-place votes, 39 points), Montana State (34), Portland State (22), Weber State (17), Northern Arizona (15) and Montana (8).
Montana Faces Challenging Nonconference Schedule: The Grizzlies will play in three early-season tournaments and will face a total of 11 nonconference opponents. Six of those 11 teams finished above .500 last year, with four winning over 20 matches.
The toughest of the Grizzlies' tournaments may be the Boise State Invitational. After opening with Boise State on Sept. 17, Montana faces Washington and Florida A&M on Sept. 18. The Huskies, who are ranked No. 6 in this week's USA Today/CSTV Top 25 poll, went 23-9 last year and advanced to the regional finals of the NCAA tournament. The Rattlers went 27-4 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Eleven Players, Five Newcomers: When the Grizzlies take the court this season, five of the 11 players on the UM roster will be making their first appearance in the maroon and silver: sophomore Claudia Houle and freshmen Jessica Petersen, Leah Wissing, Micaela Parker and Jackie White.
Houle and Petersen will see time in the starting lineup, while White should be Montana's primary libero in 2004.
While five of the players are newcomers, Houle, Petersen and Wissing all enter the season with one year of collegiate experience under their belts.
Houle played last year at Barton County (Kan.) Community College, where she won an NJCAA national championship with the Cougars.
Petersen practiced with the Grizzlies the entire 2003 season but did not compete while using a redshirt season.
Wissing started the 2003 season at the University of Cincinnati and saw playing time in two early-season matches but ended up redshirting after suffering an injury.
Coach Nikki Best: Nikki Best (Nebraska, '94) is in her fifth season as coach of the University of Montana volleyball team. She has led the Grizzlies to a mark of 35-70 during her tenure, including a spot in the Big Sky Conference tournament in her first season in 2000. Best's league record stands at 13-45.
Best's previous head coaching experience came at South Dakota Tech, where she led the Hardrockers to a two-year mark of 53-33 during the 1994 and '95 seasons. Best's two-year stay at the Rapid City school included a Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC-10) championship in '94.
Best played collegiately at the University of Nebraska, where she capped her career (1990-93) with a 1993 Big 8 Conference Player of the Year award after leading the Huskers to a four-year mark of 106-20.
After coaching at South Dakota Tech, Best returned to Nebraska and spent four years as an assistant coach for the Huskers prior to taking the Montana job on Feb. 1, 2000. During Best's four-year coaching stay in Lincoln (1996-99), the Huskers won three Big 12 Conference titles, twice advanced to the national semifinals and had an aggregate record of 116-19.
Last Year: In 2003, Montana finished the regular season with an overall mark of 7-19 (3-9 at home, 1-9 on the road and 3-1 in neutral site matches). The Grizzlies went 2-12 (2-5 at home, 0-7 on the road) in league play to finish in eighth place in the eight-team Big Sky Conference.
Montana won the UMKC Kangaroo Classic in early September, with Lizzie Wertz being named tournament MVP and Whitney Pavlik and Audrey Jensen earning all-tournament honors. In two other non-conference tournaments, the Griz went 1-2 at the Indiana State Invitational as well as the Montana Invitational. Pavlik and Mary Forrest were named to the all-tournament team at ISU, with Pavlik picking up UM's lone honor in its own tournament.
Wertz was the only Montana player to be recognized by the Big Sky Conference during the season, picking up a Player of the Week award on Nov. 10 and earning honorable mention all-conference honors.
Last Year in the Big Sky: Eastern Washington rolled through the Big Sky Conference a year ago, finishing with a 13-1 league mark. The Eagles hosted the conference tournament, which included No. 2 seed Sac State, No. 3 Idaho State, No. 4 Montana State, No. 5 Northern Arizona and No. 6 Portland State.
The tournament played to form until the championship match when Sac State upset the Eagles to get the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Hornets dropped their first-round game, losing in straight games to Stanford.
Grizzlies on the Internet: Complete information on the University of Montana volleyball team, along with coverage of all 14 Grizzly intercollegiate sports, can be found at MontanaGrizzlies.com. Volleyball's weekly releases, game recaps, box scores and statistics and student-athlete and coach bios are all available.
The official University of Montana Athletic Department website is maintained by the The Bookstore at The University of Montana.
Follow Griz Home Matches Live: A majority of the Montana home volleyball matches this season will be broadcast live over MontanaGrizzlies.com, with assistant sports information director Chris Geraghty on the call. Fans listening online will also have the advantage of live stats for UM home matches.
Montana will enter play on Tuesday with a record of 0-3 after dropping five-game matches against all three of its opponents at the season-opening New Mexico Invitational. The Griz fell to Creighton, New Mexico and Northern Colorado.
Utah Valley State will enter Tuesday's match with a record of 0-1.
Tuesday's match can be heard live at MontanaGrizzlies.com with assistant sports information director Chris Geraghty on the call. Griz fans listening at home will also have access to live stats as the match progresses.
Griz at UC-Davis Invitational This Weekend: After facing the Wolverines on Tuesday, Montana will hit the road for another weekend tournament. The Grizzlies will play Brown, Nevada and UC-Davis at the UC-Davis Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
A release highlighting that tournament will be put out on Wednesday.
About Utah Valley State: The Wolverines will enter Tuesday's match with a record of 0-1. UVSC dropped its season opener on Sept. 1 at Utah, 3-0 (23-30, 19-30, 16-30). The Wolverines were out-hit by the Utes .301 to .034 in the match and out-blocked 19.5 to 6.0.
Senior outside hitter Alina Wallauer had 11 kills and 11 digs to lead UVSC, and sophomore setter Lacee Koelliker had 27 assists. Freshman middle blocker Jessica Endres had seven kills and finished with team highs in both hitting percentage (.353) and blocks (four).
The NCAA Division I independent located in Orem, Utah, returned four starters and seven letterwinnners from last year's 10-14 squad. This year marks the second year of NCAA affiliation for Utah Valley State after compiling a 628-232 record in 25 years at the NJCAA level.
The Wolverines are coached by Sam Atoa, who has a 148-46 record in his sixth year.
Utah Valley State-Montana Series Record: Tuesday will be the first meeting between the Grizzlies and the Wolverines.
Montana in Home Openers: The Grizzlies have gone 21-7 in home openers since the 1976 season. Montana is 3-1 in home openers under coach Nikki Best, including wins in its last three openers.
Griz Go 0-3 in New Mexico: Montana competed last weekend at the Comcast New Mexico Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque and went winless to finish in fourth place out of the four competing teams. Creighton, New Mexico and Northern Colorado all finished with identical 2-1 marks, with Creighton winning the tournament by tiebreak.
All three of Montana's losses came in five games.
Houle Earns All-Tournament Accolades: Sophomore Claudia Houle, playing in her first matches as a Montana Grizzly after transferring from Barton County (Kan.) Community College, earned all-tournament recognition at the New Mexico Invitational. The 5-10 outside hitter averaged 4.20 kills and 2.27 digs per game for Montana's three matches and hit .294.
Juniors Audrey Jensen and Diana Thompson and freshman Jackie White also played well at the tournament. Jensen ranked fourth among the teams in both hitting percentage (.310) and blocks (0.93 bpg), Thompson was fourth in assists (9.25 apg) and White finished fourth in digs (2.53 dpg).
Creighton 3, Griz 2: After winning the first two games against the Bluejays, 31-29, 30-28, Montana dropped its season opener on Friday when Creighton stormed back to win the final three games, 30-20, 30-21, 15-11.
Sophomore outside hitter Claudia Houle led both teams with 20 kills. Junior Audrey Jensen and sophomore EvaLyn Whitehead added 10 each.
Junior setter Diana Thompson had 45 assists and a team-high 15 digs, and Jensen added a team-best five blocks.
New Mexico 3, Griz 2: For the second straight match, Montana jumped out to a 2-0 lead only to see the opponent come back to win the final three games.
After winning the first two games, 30-25, 30-27, the Grizzlies dropped the next three, 24-30, 16-30, 11-15.
Sophomore Claudia Houle was once again Montana's top hitter, finishing with 26 kills and hitting .479. Freshman Micaela Parker, getting her first start of the season, had 18 kills.
Junior Diana Thompson had 56 assists and freshman Jackie White led four player in double-figure digs with 13. Junior Audrey Jensen had five blocks.
Northern Colorado 3, Griz 2: Tied at two games each, Montana dropped to 0-3 on the season when Northern Colorado pulled out a win in game five, 15-12.
Sophomore Claudia Houle totaled 17 kills, with freshman Leah Wissing adding 14 kills in her first start of the season. Sophomore Shelley Boyd, getting the start at setter, had 49 assists.
Houle and junior Ashley Gorham had a team-high 13 digs each.
Griz Picked for Eighth in Big Sky: After finishing in eighth place in the league standings in 2003, Montana was picked by the Big Sky's coaches for an eighth-place finish in 2004.
Sacramento State picked up three first-place votes and 45 total points to finish atop the poll. The Hornets were followed by Idaho State (three first-place votes, 42 points), Eastern Washington (two first-place votes, 39 points), Montana State (34), Portland State (22), Weber State (17), Northern Arizona (15) and Montana (8).
Montana Faces Challenging Nonconference Schedule: The Grizzlies will play in three early-season tournaments and will face a total of 11 nonconference opponents. Six of those 11 teams finished above .500 last year, with four winning over 20 matches.
The toughest of the Grizzlies' tournaments may be the Boise State Invitational. After opening with Boise State on Sept. 17, Montana faces Washington and Florida A&M on Sept. 18. The Huskies, who are ranked No. 6 in this week's USA Today/CSTV Top 25 poll, went 23-9 last year and advanced to the regional finals of the NCAA tournament. The Rattlers went 27-4 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Eleven Players, Five Newcomers: When the Grizzlies take the court this season, five of the 11 players on the UM roster will be making their first appearance in the maroon and silver: sophomore Claudia Houle and freshmen Jessica Petersen, Leah Wissing, Micaela Parker and Jackie White.
Houle and Petersen will see time in the starting lineup, while White should be Montana's primary libero in 2004.
While five of the players are newcomers, Houle, Petersen and Wissing all enter the season with one year of collegiate experience under their belts.
Houle played last year at Barton County (Kan.) Community College, where she won an NJCAA national championship with the Cougars.
Petersen practiced with the Grizzlies the entire 2003 season but did not compete while using a redshirt season.
Wissing started the 2003 season at the University of Cincinnati and saw playing time in two early-season matches but ended up redshirting after suffering an injury.
Coach Nikki Best: Nikki Best (Nebraska, '94) is in her fifth season as coach of the University of Montana volleyball team. She has led the Grizzlies to a mark of 35-70 during her tenure, including a spot in the Big Sky Conference tournament in her first season in 2000. Best's league record stands at 13-45.
Best's previous head coaching experience came at South Dakota Tech, where she led the Hardrockers to a two-year mark of 53-33 during the 1994 and '95 seasons. Best's two-year stay at the Rapid City school included a Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC-10) championship in '94.
Best played collegiately at the University of Nebraska, where she capped her career (1990-93) with a 1993 Big 8 Conference Player of the Year award after leading the Huskers to a four-year mark of 106-20.
After coaching at South Dakota Tech, Best returned to Nebraska and spent four years as an assistant coach for the Huskers prior to taking the Montana job on Feb. 1, 2000. During Best's four-year coaching stay in Lincoln (1996-99), the Huskers won three Big 12 Conference titles, twice advanced to the national semifinals and had an aggregate record of 116-19.
Last Year: In 2003, Montana finished the regular season with an overall mark of 7-19 (3-9 at home, 1-9 on the road and 3-1 in neutral site matches). The Grizzlies went 2-12 (2-5 at home, 0-7 on the road) in league play to finish in eighth place in the eight-team Big Sky Conference.
Montana won the UMKC Kangaroo Classic in early September, with Lizzie Wertz being named tournament MVP and Whitney Pavlik and Audrey Jensen earning all-tournament honors. In two other non-conference tournaments, the Griz went 1-2 at the Indiana State Invitational as well as the Montana Invitational. Pavlik and Mary Forrest were named to the all-tournament team at ISU, with Pavlik picking up UM's lone honor in its own tournament.
Wertz was the only Montana player to be recognized by the Big Sky Conference during the season, picking up a Player of the Week award on Nov. 10 and earning honorable mention all-conference honors.
Last Year in the Big Sky: Eastern Washington rolled through the Big Sky Conference a year ago, finishing with a 13-1 league mark. The Eagles hosted the conference tournament, which included No. 2 seed Sac State, No. 3 Idaho State, No. 4 Montana State, No. 5 Northern Arizona and No. 6 Portland State.
The tournament played to form until the championship match when Sac State upset the Eagles to get the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Hornets dropped their first-round game, losing in straight games to Stanford.
Grizzlies on the Internet: Complete information on the University of Montana volleyball team, along with coverage of all 14 Grizzly intercollegiate sports, can be found at MontanaGrizzlies.com. Volleyball's weekly releases, game recaps, box scores and statistics and student-athlete and coach bios are all available.
The official University of Montana Athletic Department website is maintained by the The Bookstore at The University of Montana.
Follow Griz Home Matches Live: A majority of the Montana home volleyball matches this season will be broadcast live over MontanaGrizzlies.com, with assistant sports information director Chris Geraghty on the call. Fans listening online will also have the advantage of live stats for UM home matches.
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