Wildcat rally pushes Montana to the brink of elimination
11/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The University of Montana volleyball team squandered a 2-1 lead Friday night and lost a five-game decision to Weber State at the West Auxiliary Gym, 22-30, 31-29, 30-28, 27-30, 12-15. The Grizzlies entered the weekend in control of their own Big Sky Conference Tournament destiny: Win twice and they would be making their second straight post-season appearance. With the loss, UM's only chance of advancing is to defeat Idaho State on Saturday night and hope Northern Colorado wins at Northern Arizona. Both matches start at 7 p.m.
Idaho State defeated Montana State Friday night in four games.
Weber State, which improved to 14-12 overall and 10-5 in Big Sky play, assured itself of the No. 4 seed at next weekend's league tournament, which will be held at Sacramento State.
Montana dropped to 9-16 overall, 5-10 in league matches. Five of UM's 10 Big Sky defeats have come in five-game matches. The Grizzlies are 0-6 in five-game matches on the season.
Montana struggled offensively the entire night, hitting .176 to WSU's .237. The Grizzlies entered the match hitting .215 for the season, but hit better than .200 in just one of Friday's night's five games.
Freshman Jaimie Thibeault led Montana with 16 kills on .407 hitting and also added a team-high seven blocks.
Senior Jessica Petersen had 12 kills on .417 hitting and totaled six blocks.
Freshman Amy Roberts had 13 kills, junior Jade Roskam had 12 kills and 12 digs for her fifth straight double-double and 10th of the season while junior Lauren Gustafson had 11 kills and six blocks.
Sophomore Taryn Wright had her 11th double-double of the season with 60 assists and 14 digs. She also added three blocks.
Senior Jackie White had a match-high 23 digs.
Weber State also had five players finish with double-figure kills. Micah Lines had 17 kills, 18 digs and a match-high nine blocks, Chelsea Bair had 14 kills on .314 hitting, Leah Burmeister had 12 kills, Kolbie Murphey had 11 kills on match-high .348 hitting and added seven blocks and Brittney Bisaillon had 11 kills and seven blocks.
Kim Lissinna had 35 assists and 13 digs.
The Wildcats finished with a 16.0 to 14.0 team blocks advantage.
After hitting .108 to drop the opening game, Montana fell behind 8-2 in game two before rallying to tie it at 15-15 on a Thibeault service ace.
The Grizzlies would eventually extend their lead to 28-23. Facing game-point at 29-25, the Wildcats scored four straight, with Bisaillon in on back-to-back block assists and Burmeister adding a kill to make it 29-29.
Petersen stopped the rally with a kill and Roskam closed out the game with a kill.
Game three followed a similar pattern. After a bad set by WSU's Sierra Clark made it 28-22, the Wildcats scored six of the next seven to pull within one at 29-28. Petersen once again had the answer, closing the game with a kill.
The Grizzlies held the early leads in game four, but Weber State controlled play down the stretch. The Wildcats broke a 13-13 tie on a Montana service error and held the lead the rest of the way.
UM appeared poised to get over the fifth-game hump when the Griz jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead in the final game, but Weber State crawled back into it, eventually tying the score at 9-9 on a kill by Lines.
Roskam and Lines traded kills to make it 10-10, but that would be Montana's final share of the lead on the night. The Wildcats scored three straight to make it 13-10, and Lines would finish off the match with her 17th kill of the night.
Idaho State defeated Montana State Friday night in four games.
Weber State, which improved to 14-12 overall and 10-5 in Big Sky play, assured itself of the No. 4 seed at next weekend's league tournament, which will be held at Sacramento State.
Montana dropped to 9-16 overall, 5-10 in league matches. Five of UM's 10 Big Sky defeats have come in five-game matches. The Grizzlies are 0-6 in five-game matches on the season.
Montana struggled offensively the entire night, hitting .176 to WSU's .237. The Grizzlies entered the match hitting .215 for the season, but hit better than .200 in just one of Friday's night's five games.
Freshman Jaimie Thibeault led Montana with 16 kills on .407 hitting and also added a team-high seven blocks.
Senior Jessica Petersen had 12 kills on .417 hitting and totaled six blocks.
Freshman Amy Roberts had 13 kills, junior Jade Roskam had 12 kills and 12 digs for her fifth straight double-double and 10th of the season while junior Lauren Gustafson had 11 kills and six blocks.
Sophomore Taryn Wright had her 11th double-double of the season with 60 assists and 14 digs. She also added three blocks.
Senior Jackie White had a match-high 23 digs.
Weber State also had five players finish with double-figure kills. Micah Lines had 17 kills, 18 digs and a match-high nine blocks, Chelsea Bair had 14 kills on .314 hitting, Leah Burmeister had 12 kills, Kolbie Murphey had 11 kills on match-high .348 hitting and added seven blocks and Brittney Bisaillon had 11 kills and seven blocks.
Kim Lissinna had 35 assists and 13 digs.
The Wildcats finished with a 16.0 to 14.0 team blocks advantage.
After hitting .108 to drop the opening game, Montana fell behind 8-2 in game two before rallying to tie it at 15-15 on a Thibeault service ace.
The Grizzlies would eventually extend their lead to 28-23. Facing game-point at 29-25, the Wildcats scored four straight, with Bisaillon in on back-to-back block assists and Burmeister adding a kill to make it 29-29.
Petersen stopped the rally with a kill and Roskam closed out the game with a kill.
Game three followed a similar pattern. After a bad set by WSU's Sierra Clark made it 28-22, the Wildcats scored six of the next seven to pull within one at 29-28. Petersen once again had the answer, closing the game with a kill.
The Grizzlies held the early leads in game four, but Weber State controlled play down the stretch. The Wildcats broke a 13-13 tie on a Montana service error and held the lead the rest of the way.
UM appeared poised to get over the fifth-game hump when the Griz jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead in the final game, but Weber State crawled back into it, eventually tying the score at 9-9 on a kill by Lines.
Roskam and Lines traded kills to make it 10-10, but that would be Montana's final share of the lead on the night. The Wildcats scored three straight to make it 13-10, and Lines would finish off the match with her 17th kill of the night.
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