Griz host Bobcats Friday at Dahlberg Arena, seek season sweep
10/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The University of Montana volleyball team will have its first of two back-to-back single-match weekends when the Grizzlies host Montana State Friday at 7 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena. After facing the Bobcats, Montana will play at Sacramento State the following weekend, then close out its regular-season schedule Nov. 16-17 with home matches against Weber State and Idaho State.
Montana will enter Friday's match with an overall record of 8-14. The Grizzlies are 4-8 in Big Sky Conference play and alone in seventh place.
The Bobcats are currently 1-23, 0-12 in league play. MSU has lost 14 straight matches and sits alone in the Big Sky in ninth place.
Montana and Montana State both got swept last weekend on the Eastern Washington-Portland State road trip. The Grizzlies dropped a five-game decision against the Eagles and a four-game match against the Vikings. The Bobcats got swept at PSU, then lost in four at EWU.
What's at Stake: With four matches remaining, Montana State is attempting to avoid becoming the first Big Sky team since 2000 to go through Big Sky Conference play without a victory. Portland State had back-to-back 0-16 league finishes in 1999 and 2000.
The Bobcats will also be trying to avoid getting swept by Montana in the teams' regular-season series for the second straight year. The last time the Grizzlies swept the season series in back-to-back seasons was 1994 and '95.
Montana will attempt to keep its Big Sky Conference Tournament hopes alive. The Grizzlies are currently in seventh place with four matches remaining. The top six teams in the final regular-season standings advance to the post-season.
Montana is a game and a half behind Northern Arizona (5-6 BSC) for sixth place. The Lumberjacks host Eastern Washington on Thursday and Portland State on Saturday. Looking ahead, NAU closes out Big Sky play with road matches at Weber State and Idaho State, then concludes its regular season on Nov. 17 with a home match against Northern Colorado.
Coach Wagner's Take: "We certainly have our work cut out for us in our upcoming four matches, but we believe we still have a shot at making the Big Sky Conference Tournament. We'll need to be very good down the stretch, but I've been extremely happy with the effort and proud of the way the team has approached every match. They've given it every ounce of energy they had.
"We'll need the teams that are playing well at the top of the conference to continue to play well and help us get back into a position where we may have a chance at making the tournament. Certainly we need some help, but we also have a lot to play for in the upcoming three weeks."
This Week's Big Sky Conference Matches:
Thursday: PSU at UNC, EWU at NAU
Friday: MSU at UM, WSU at SAC
Saturday: EWU at UNC, PSU at NAU, ISU at SAC
Three Hours = Big Numbers: As would be expected for a three-hour match that featured three games that went to extra points, last Thursday's epic five-game match at Eastern Washington produced its share of impressive numbers. The Grizzlies lost to the Eagles, 26-30, 37-35, 38-40, 30-22, 15-17.
Montana came within four points of breaking an NCAA record for points in a single match. UM's 146 points were three shy of Marquette's record of 149, which the Golden Eagles had in a five-game victory over Duke in 2003.
Individually, freshman Amy Roberts had season highs in both kills (27) and digs (19), junior Jade Roskam had a career-high 19 kills and sophomore Taryn Wright had a career-high 79 assists and came within one kill of her first career triple-double.
Montana had its third-most kills (98) in a match in program history and third-most assists (89).
Bad Math: Over Montana's last six matches, the Grizzlies have out-hit (.242 to .210), out-dug (16.04/g to 15.12/g) and out-blocked (2.77/g to 2.35/g) their opponents.
Montana is 2-4 in those six matches.
Last Week: Montana went 0-2 on its road trip last weekend, falling to Eastern Washington (26-30, 37-35, 38-40, 30-22, 15-17) and Portland State (30-26, 15-30, 31-33, 27-30).
Against the Eagles, freshman Amy Roberts (27), junior Jade Roskam (19), junior Lauren Gustafson (16) and senior Jessica Petersen (13) all had double-figure kills, sophomore Taryn Wright had 79 assists, senior Jackie White had 32 digs and freshman Jaimie Thibeault had five blocks.
The Grizzlies hit .242 to Eastern's .224.
Montana had three game points in its game-three loss and match points at 14-12 and 14-13 in game five.
The Eagles defeated the Grizzlies for the 17th straight time.
After hitting .303 and winning game one, 30-26, against Portland State, the Griz allowed the Vikings to hit .483 in their game-two victory.
Montana trailed big in game three, 24-11, but rallied back to finally tie it at 28-28. The Grizzlies fought off three game points before PSU won the game on its fourth game point.
Game four had 19 ties, the final coming at 27-27. The Vikings closed out the match with three straight kills.
Roskam had 17 kills on .359 hitting, Wright had 46 assists, White had 15 digs and Thibeault had a season-high 10 blocks.
Montana in the Big Sky: The Grizzlies rank second in league play in both blocks (2.63/g) and service aces (1.49/g). Senior Jackie White ranks third in digs (4.84/g), sophomore Taryn Wright ranks third in assists (11.67/g) and freshman Jaimie Thibeault ranks third in blocks (1.43/g).
Montana will enter Friday's match with an overall record of 8-14. The Grizzlies are 4-8 in Big Sky Conference play and alone in seventh place.
The Bobcats are currently 1-23, 0-12 in league play. MSU has lost 14 straight matches and sits alone in the Big Sky in ninth place.
Montana and Montana State both got swept last weekend on the Eastern Washington-Portland State road trip. The Grizzlies dropped a five-game decision against the Eagles and a four-game match against the Vikings. The Bobcats got swept at PSU, then lost in four at EWU.
What's at Stake: With four matches remaining, Montana State is attempting to avoid becoming the first Big Sky team since 2000 to go through Big Sky Conference play without a victory. Portland State had back-to-back 0-16 league finishes in 1999 and 2000.
The Bobcats will also be trying to avoid getting swept by Montana in the teams' regular-season series for the second straight year. The last time the Grizzlies swept the season series in back-to-back seasons was 1994 and '95.
Montana will attempt to keep its Big Sky Conference Tournament hopes alive. The Grizzlies are currently in seventh place with four matches remaining. The top six teams in the final regular-season standings advance to the post-season.
Montana is a game and a half behind Northern Arizona (5-6 BSC) for sixth place. The Lumberjacks host Eastern Washington on Thursday and Portland State on Saturday. Looking ahead, NAU closes out Big Sky play with road matches at Weber State and Idaho State, then concludes its regular season on Nov. 17 with a home match against Northern Colorado.
Coach Wagner's Take: "We certainly have our work cut out for us in our upcoming four matches, but we believe we still have a shot at making the Big Sky Conference Tournament. We'll need to be very good down the stretch, but I've been extremely happy with the effort and proud of the way the team has approached every match. They've given it every ounce of energy they had.
"We'll need the teams that are playing well at the top of the conference to continue to play well and help us get back into a position where we may have a chance at making the tournament. Certainly we need some help, but we also have a lot to play for in the upcoming three weeks."
This Week's Big Sky Conference Matches:
Thursday: PSU at UNC, EWU at NAU
Friday: MSU at UM, WSU at SAC
Saturday: EWU at UNC, PSU at NAU, ISU at SAC
Three Hours = Big Numbers: As would be expected for a three-hour match that featured three games that went to extra points, last Thursday's epic five-game match at Eastern Washington produced its share of impressive numbers. The Grizzlies lost to the Eagles, 26-30, 37-35, 38-40, 30-22, 15-17.
Montana came within four points of breaking an NCAA record for points in a single match. UM's 146 points were three shy of Marquette's record of 149, which the Golden Eagles had in a five-game victory over Duke in 2003.
Individually, freshman Amy Roberts had season highs in both kills (27) and digs (19), junior Jade Roskam had a career-high 19 kills and sophomore Taryn Wright had a career-high 79 assists and came within one kill of her first career triple-double.
Montana had its third-most kills (98) in a match in program history and third-most assists (89).
Bad Math: Over Montana's last six matches, the Grizzlies have out-hit (.242 to .210), out-dug (16.04/g to 15.12/g) and out-blocked (2.77/g to 2.35/g) their opponents.
Montana is 2-4 in those six matches.
Last Week: Montana went 0-2 on its road trip last weekend, falling to Eastern Washington (26-30, 37-35, 38-40, 30-22, 15-17) and Portland State (30-26, 15-30, 31-33, 27-30).
Against the Eagles, freshman Amy Roberts (27), junior Jade Roskam (19), junior Lauren Gustafson (16) and senior Jessica Petersen (13) all had double-figure kills, sophomore Taryn Wright had 79 assists, senior Jackie White had 32 digs and freshman Jaimie Thibeault had five blocks.
The Grizzlies hit .242 to Eastern's .224.
Montana had three game points in its game-three loss and match points at 14-12 and 14-13 in game five.
The Eagles defeated the Grizzlies for the 17th straight time.
After hitting .303 and winning game one, 30-26, against Portland State, the Griz allowed the Vikings to hit .483 in their game-two victory.
Montana trailed big in game three, 24-11, but rallied back to finally tie it at 28-28. The Grizzlies fought off three game points before PSU won the game on its fourth game point.
Game four had 19 ties, the final coming at 27-27. The Vikings closed out the match with three straight kills.
Roskam had 17 kills on .359 hitting, Wright had 46 assists, White had 15 digs and Thibeault had a season-high 10 blocks.
Montana in the Big Sky: The Grizzlies rank second in league play in both blocks (2.63/g) and service aces (1.49/g). Senior Jackie White ranks third in digs (4.84/g), sophomore Taryn Wright ranks third in assists (11.67/g) and freshman Jaimie Thibeault ranks third in blocks (1.43/g).
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