Grizzlies back home after three straight weekends on the road
9/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The University of Montana volleyball team will play two Big Sky Conference home matches this week, the Grizzlies' first home matches since opening the season with the Ruby's Montana Invitational on Aug. 24-25. Montana (5-7, 1-1 BSC) will host league-leading Portland State (8-4, 2-0 BSC) Thursday at 7 p.m. and Eastern Washington (2-9, 1-1 BSC) Saturday at 7 p.m. Both matches will be held in the Adams Center's West Auxiliary Gym.
The Grizzlies wrapped up a stretch of nine straight matches away from home with a split of the Northern Colorado-Northern Arizona road trip last week. Montana fell to the Bears in three games, then rebounded with a three-game victory at Northern Arizona two nights later.
Over the last three weekends the Grizzlies have played in Peoria, Ill., Spokane, Wash., Brookings, S.D., Greeley, Colo., and Flagstaff, Ariz.
"The positives from our extended travel over the last three weeks are that we are definitely road tested and that we still like each other after being together that long," Montana coach Jerry Wagner said Monday. "I'm amazed at the team's ability to keep a handle on their academics in that type of travel situation.
"For us to get a split on the road this last weekend certainly says a lot about us coming together as a team and being able to play hard through a difficult portion of the schedule. I commend them highly on playing consistently on a very tough road trip and coming through with something to show for it (with a win at Northern Arizona)."
The Grizzlies will be at home two of the next three weekends, with just four matches during that stretch. After hosting PSU and EWU this week, Montana has back-to-back single-match weeks, with a match at Montana State on Friday, Sept. 28, and a home match with Big Sky Conference-favorite Sacramento State on Friday, Oct. 5.
"We're very excited to be home," Wagner said. "It was everything we could do (this last weekend) to not talk about being home and stay focused on the task at hand. The players are anxious to get back into an academic routine. Now they'll be able to return to being student-athletes to the fullest."
Web Coverage: MontanaGrizzlies.com will offer a live stats package for this weekend's two matches. Audio broadcasts will not be available this week.
About Portland State: Through one weekend of Big Sky Conference play, the Vikings and Northern Colorado are both tied atop the conference at 2-0. PSU swept both Idaho State and Weber State at home last weekend.
Against the Bengals, Portland State hit .294, with senior Michelle Segun totaling 11 kills on .474 hitting. Against the Wildcats, the Vikings hit just .200 but limited WSU to .092 hitting in a match that took just 79 minutes.
Segun leads the team in kills (3.30 kpg), hitting (.322) and blocks (1.68 bpg). The latter leads the Big Sky Conference. Sophomore Dominique Fradella ranks second in the league in assists (11.76 apg).
Portland State is coached by Michael Seemann, who is in his first season. Seemann, the associate head coach for the Vikings the last two seasons, swapped roles with former PSU coach Jeff Mozzochi, who is now the associate head coach.
Portland State went 21-7 in 2006, finishing second in the Big Sky at 14-2. The Vikings lost to Eastern Washington in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Jessica Brodie was the 2006 BSC MVP.
Series History: Portland State leads the all-time series 37-14 and has won eight of the last nine matchups, including a sweep of the two 2006 meetings. UM maintains a 10-8 advantage in matches at Missoula.
About Eastern Washington: The Eagles are one of four league teams who split last weekend and sit at 1-1 in Big Sky play. EWU lost to Weber State in four games last Thursday, then came back to down Idaho State in four games Saturday.
The Eagles and Wildcats split 30-27 decisions in games one and two, then WSU posted 32-30 and 31-29 wins in games three and four to earn the victory. Eastern Washington dropped the opening game to the Bengals on Saturday but came back to win the next three, with sophomore Hayley Hills recording 30 kills on .344 hitting.
Junior Mandy Daniels leads the Big Sky in digs at 4.85 per game, Hills ranks third in kills (3.90 kpg) and sophomore Amanda Yausie ranks fourth in assists (10.11 apg).
The Eagles are hitting just .133 as a team through 11 matches, which ranks last in the conference. Eastern Washington is also next to last in blocking (1.72 bpg).
With successful coach Wade Benson moving on to Auburn last summer, Irene Matlock is filling in as interim head coach. As head coach of the Community Colleges of Spokane between 1986 and 2004, Matlock posted a record of 715-246.
Eastern Washington went 20-9 in 2006, its sixth straight 20-win season. The Eagles finished third in conference play at 10-6, then defeated Weber State and Portland State in the conference tournament before falling to Sacramento State in four games in the title match.
Series History: Montana leads the all-time series 38-28, 18-10 at home, but Eastern Washington has dominated recently, winning the last 15 meetings and 21 of the last 22. The Eagles have won seven straight times at Missoula, with six of those victories coming in 3-0 sweeps.
Coach Wagner on the Vikings, Eagles: "Both teams coming in this weekend may have new coaches in name, but the spirit of those teams remains intact, so I'm not reading too much into the fact they have new coaches. They still have strong programs, and we'll need to be ready to establish ourselves on both nights."
Notes: Sophomore Taryn Wright posted her 1,000th career assist at Northern Arizona and also matched career highs with five kills, 16 digs and three blocks. ... Despite last weekend's split, Montana out-hit its opponents .161 to .118 and out-blocked them 20.0 to 11.5. ... Freshman Amy Roberts averaged a team-high 4.00 kills per game against UNC and NAU, senior Jessica Petersen hit .400 and freshman Jaimie Thibeault totaled 12 blocks. ... Thibeault ranks third in the Big Sky Conference at 1.37 blocks per game.
The Grizzlies wrapped up a stretch of nine straight matches away from home with a split of the Northern Colorado-Northern Arizona road trip last week. Montana fell to the Bears in three games, then rebounded with a three-game victory at Northern Arizona two nights later.
Over the last three weekends the Grizzlies have played in Peoria, Ill., Spokane, Wash., Brookings, S.D., Greeley, Colo., and Flagstaff, Ariz.
"The positives from our extended travel over the last three weeks are that we are definitely road tested and that we still like each other after being together that long," Montana coach Jerry Wagner said Monday. "I'm amazed at the team's ability to keep a handle on their academics in that type of travel situation.
"For us to get a split on the road this last weekend certainly says a lot about us coming together as a team and being able to play hard through a difficult portion of the schedule. I commend them highly on playing consistently on a very tough road trip and coming through with something to show for it (with a win at Northern Arizona)."
The Grizzlies will be at home two of the next three weekends, with just four matches during that stretch. After hosting PSU and EWU this week, Montana has back-to-back single-match weeks, with a match at Montana State on Friday, Sept. 28, and a home match with Big Sky Conference-favorite Sacramento State on Friday, Oct. 5.
"We're very excited to be home," Wagner said. "It was everything we could do (this last weekend) to not talk about being home and stay focused on the task at hand. The players are anxious to get back into an academic routine. Now they'll be able to return to being student-athletes to the fullest."
Web Coverage: MontanaGrizzlies.com will offer a live stats package for this weekend's two matches. Audio broadcasts will not be available this week.
About Portland State: Through one weekend of Big Sky Conference play, the Vikings and Northern Colorado are both tied atop the conference at 2-0. PSU swept both Idaho State and Weber State at home last weekend.
Against the Bengals, Portland State hit .294, with senior Michelle Segun totaling 11 kills on .474 hitting. Against the Wildcats, the Vikings hit just .200 but limited WSU to .092 hitting in a match that took just 79 minutes.
Segun leads the team in kills (3.30 kpg), hitting (.322) and blocks (1.68 bpg). The latter leads the Big Sky Conference. Sophomore Dominique Fradella ranks second in the league in assists (11.76 apg).
Portland State is coached by Michael Seemann, who is in his first season. Seemann, the associate head coach for the Vikings the last two seasons, swapped roles with former PSU coach Jeff Mozzochi, who is now the associate head coach.
Portland State went 21-7 in 2006, finishing second in the Big Sky at 14-2. The Vikings lost to Eastern Washington in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Jessica Brodie was the 2006 BSC MVP.
Series History: Portland State leads the all-time series 37-14 and has won eight of the last nine matchups, including a sweep of the two 2006 meetings. UM maintains a 10-8 advantage in matches at Missoula.
About Eastern Washington: The Eagles are one of four league teams who split last weekend and sit at 1-1 in Big Sky play. EWU lost to Weber State in four games last Thursday, then came back to down Idaho State in four games Saturday.
The Eagles and Wildcats split 30-27 decisions in games one and two, then WSU posted 32-30 and 31-29 wins in games three and four to earn the victory. Eastern Washington dropped the opening game to the Bengals on Saturday but came back to win the next three, with sophomore Hayley Hills recording 30 kills on .344 hitting.
Junior Mandy Daniels leads the Big Sky in digs at 4.85 per game, Hills ranks third in kills (3.90 kpg) and sophomore Amanda Yausie ranks fourth in assists (10.11 apg).
The Eagles are hitting just .133 as a team through 11 matches, which ranks last in the conference. Eastern Washington is also next to last in blocking (1.72 bpg).
With successful coach Wade Benson moving on to Auburn last summer, Irene Matlock is filling in as interim head coach. As head coach of the Community Colleges of Spokane between 1986 and 2004, Matlock posted a record of 715-246.
Eastern Washington went 20-9 in 2006, its sixth straight 20-win season. The Eagles finished third in conference play at 10-6, then defeated Weber State and Portland State in the conference tournament before falling to Sacramento State in four games in the title match.
Series History: Montana leads the all-time series 38-28, 18-10 at home, but Eastern Washington has dominated recently, winning the last 15 meetings and 21 of the last 22. The Eagles have won seven straight times at Missoula, with six of those victories coming in 3-0 sweeps.
Coach Wagner on the Vikings, Eagles: "Both teams coming in this weekend may have new coaches in name, but the spirit of those teams remains intact, so I'm not reading too much into the fact they have new coaches. They still have strong programs, and we'll need to be ready to establish ourselves on both nights."
Notes: Sophomore Taryn Wright posted her 1,000th career assist at Northern Arizona and also matched career highs with five kills, 16 digs and three blocks. ... Despite last weekend's split, Montana out-hit its opponents .161 to .118 and out-blocked them 20.0 to 11.5. ... Freshman Amy Roberts averaged a team-high 4.00 kills per game against UNC and NAU, senior Jessica Petersen hit .400 and freshman Jaimie Thibeault totaled 12 blocks. ... Thibeault ranks third in the Big Sky Conference at 1.37 blocks per game.
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