Bison top Grizzlies in tournament finale
8/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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The University of Montana volleyball team dropped the final match of the 2008 Montana Invitational to North Dakota State Saturday night at the West Auxiliary Gym, 3-0. The Bison picked up their second victory of the tournament with a 25-21, 25-23, 25-22 decision.
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Montana (3-1), UC Riverside (3-1) and North Dakota State (2-1) were declared tournament tri-champions after the Grizzlies defeated the Highlanders, the Highlanders dropped the Bison and the Bison topped the Grizzlies.
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Gonzaga (1-3) came in fourth and Bradley finished fifth (0-3).
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???I thought the tournament field this year was outstanding,??? Montana coach Jerry Wagner said after the final match. ???There were a lot of evenly matched teams, which makes for a great tournament.???
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The three tournament champions each had two players on the six-player all-tournament team. North Dakota State was represented by Jennifer Lopez and Brooke VandenBergh, Montana by junior Whitney Hobbs and sophomore Brittney Brown and UC Riverside by Brittney Murrey and Kelly Fink.
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Lopez was also named tournament MVP.
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Brown led Montana in digs for the tournament, averaging 3.47 per game. Hobbs averaged 2.67 kills per game on .235 hitting.
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???Brittney Brown was really an emotional player for us this entire weekend,??? Wagner said. ???She made some turning-point plays in our first match against Riverside that set the tone for the weekend. And Whitney was excellent on offense.???
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After hitting .215 against UCR and .153 against GU earlier in the tournament, the Bison hit .436 against Montana, finishing with 50 kills and just nine errors on 94 attacks.
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VandenBergh had 11 kills on .526 hitting, while Lopez finished with 11 kills on .409 hitting. Lopez also added 16 assists and eight digs.
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Montana hit .202 for the match after opening with a .067 effort in game one. The Grizzlies hit .210 for the tournament.
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Hobbs and sophomore Amy Roberts both had 10 kills.
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Junior Taryn Wright had 31 assists and six kills with no errors in eight attacks. She also added two of Montana???s 10 service aces.
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Senior Jade Roskam had four service aces, helping the Grizzlies to a 10-0 advantage in that category.
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Despite hitting poorly in game one, Montana was still even at 15-15 before North Dakota State went on a decisive 6-0 run to take control. The Bison scored four of their six points on UM attack errors and a Griz ball-handling error.
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NDSU took early control of game two, jumping out to a quick 11-3 lead.
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The lead appeared to be insurmountable at 22-13, but Montana would score 10 of the next 11 points to draw even at 23-23. Hobbs had two kills during the comeback and Roskam two service aces, including the ace that tied the score at 23-23.
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Lopez put a decisive end to any additional comeback, closing out the game for the Bison with back-to-back kills.
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Montana???s best game of the night was the third game when the Grizzlies hit .344.
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UM had a three-point lead late, 21-18, but the Bison, who hit .486 in the concluding game, couldn???t be stopped. They scored seven of the match???s last eight points to clinch a share of the tournament title.
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Montana will play at SMU???s tournament next weekend. The Grizzlies will face SMU and Stephen F. Austin Friday and New Orleans Saturday.
