Defense keys Montana's rally in Flagstaff
10/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The University of Montana volleyball team fought back from a 2-1 deficit to post a 17-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17, 15-12 victory at Northern Arizona Thursday night in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Grizzlies won for the sixth time in eight matches to improve to 4-2 in Big Sky Conference play, 8-9 overall.
The win was Montana???s fifth straight over Northern Arizona and gave the Lumberjacks (6-9, 2-3 BSC) their first loss at home this season in five matches.
The win allowed the Grizzlies to keep pace on the night with Big Sky leader Northern Colorado (14-4, 5-0 BSC), which won easily at home over Montana State in three sets.
Montana will face Northern Colorado Saturday night in Greeley, Colo.
After dropping into a 2-1 hole, Montana limited Northern Arizona to -.026 hitting in the fourth set to even the score.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the fifth set, fell behind 12-11 and after a timeout by coach Jerry Wagner scored the match???s final four points to cap the comeback.
Freshman Brooke Bray evened the score at 12 with a kill, then Bray and Thibeault teamed up on back-to-back blocks to make it 14-12.
Thibeault closed out the match with her team-leading 14th kill of the night.
???We???re just ecstatic to get out of here with a win, because I am certain we took Northern Arizona???s best shot,??? Wagner said.
???NAU came out with a revamped lineup that caused us to make some changes, so we did not play anywhere close to what we wanted to play like, but we found a way to win. It was a real gutsy effort on our part.???
In a match delayed 35 minutes because the referees were late arriving in Flagstaff after being involved in a car accident in Phoenix Thursday afternoon, the Grizzlies were slow to get rolling.
Montana hit -.027 in the opening set but hit .250 the rest of the match and used a dominant performance at the net to pull out the victory.
The Grizzlies had a lopsided 21 to 5 team blocking advantage. It was the eighth straight match Montana has out-blocked its opponent and the 13th time in 17 matches this season.
Thibeault was a force, finishing with a career-high 12 blocks, but she had plenty of help. Bray had a season-high nine blocks and junior Brittany Quick added seven.
When the Grizzlies were not blocking balls at the net, senior Brittney Brown, who spent nearly as much time on the floor as she did on two feet, was there in the back row. She finished with 26 digs.
Junior Amy Roberts added 13 digs.
Northern Arizona had the match???s two big hitters in Jen Wilson and Lauren Campbell, who both finished with 18 kills, but Montana had the better offensive balance.
Thibeault had 14 kills on .423 hitting, Roberts added 13 kills, Quick finished with 12 kills on .455 hitting and freshman Kayla Reno totaled 11 kills on .235 hitting.
Bray also added eight kills on .200 hitting.
Freshman setter Kortney James directed Montana to a .191 hitting performance. She totaled a season-high 52 assists while adding nine digs and four blocks.
Montana???s stout defense will face its biggest challenge of the season Saturday in Greeley. The Bears, who improved to 9-1 at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion with Thursday???s victory over the Bobcats, are hitting a Big Sky-best .253 for the season. UNC hit .330 Thursday against MSU.
The match starts at 7 p.m.
