Montana
Northern Arizona
Griz continue move up standings with four-set win
10/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 21, 2011
Box score
Montana hit .254 and shook off an aberrant 25-9 loss in set three to record a 3-1 victory over Northern Arizona Friday night at the West Auxiliary Gym in Missoula, Mont. The Grizzlies rolled to decisive wins in the first two sets, 25-13, 25-20, then stumbled in set three before rallying for a 25-23 victory in set four.
The win was the fourth in five matches for Montana (7-10, 4-5 BSC) and moved the Grizzlies into a tie for sixth in the Big Sky Conference, one match out of fourth.
The Lumberjacks (13-5, 4-5 BSC) continued their slide down the standings. NAU opened the season 12-0 but has lost five of its last six.
Montana looked dominant in jumping out to a 2-0 lead. The Grizzlies hit .552 in the opening set and held Northern Arizona to .053 hitting in the second.
"We couldn't wait to get back on the court after playing so well last week, and it showed," UM coach Jerry Wagner said, referencing last Friday's 3-1 win over then Big Sky co-leader Sacramento State.
"I was really proud of how we prepared this week and what we accomplished those first two sets."
The third set opened with a Griz service error, and it got worse from there. Northern Arizona ran out to a 10-1 lead, using four service aces, a pair of kills, two Montana service errors and two Griz attack errors.
Montana's only point in the first 11 came on a Northern Arizona service error, and the Lumberjacks were never challenged.
After recording 29 kills through the first two sets, Montana had just four in the third set on -.091 hitting, while NAU hit .545.
"You really have to credit Northern Arizona," Wagner said. "When your back is up against the wall, you're going to respond in one of two ways.
"We carried the play in the first two sets, and they came out with the response they needed and put some pressure on us with their serve. It got them some easy points, and we aided them by not being able to run our offense."
NAU broke free from an 8-8 tie in the tense fourth set with three straight points, and the Lumberjacks would keep the lead until Montana rallied to tie it at 20.
The Grizzlies scored their third and fourth straight points on a kill by sophomore Kayla Reno and a block by sophomores Brooke Bray and Kortney James to go up 22-20, but a service error ended the run, and NAU's eighth service ace of the night evened the set at 22.
After the teams traded kills, a kill by freshman Kelsey Schile gave Montana match point, and Bray ended play with a solo block of NAU's Katie Bailey.
"(The fourth set) was a huge gut-check. We regained our composure (after set three) and hung in there and found other ways to score," Wagner said.
Schile was perfect in the final set, putting down six kills on six swings to hit 1.000. Bray had four kills on .500 hitting and had three of her four blocks, and senior Brittany Quick added two kills.
"Brooke, Kelsey and Brittany, those three changed the momentum in the deciding set," Wagner said. "We got our middles going in that set to match their middles, and that was key.
"And then Kelsey was on fire. She provided some emphatic kills that locked us back in to stay."
Montana hit .289 in the final set and recorded 4.0 of the team's 10.0 blocks for the night.
Quick and Bray combined for 17 kills on .471 hitting in the middle and eight blocks. Quick had 11 kills on .500 hitting, and Bray totaled six kills on .429 hitting. The pair had just a single attack error between them.
Montana's outside hitters all recorded 10 or 11 kills. Schile had 11 kills on .450 hitting, sophomore Kayla Reno finished with 11 kills on .233 hitting, and senior Amy Roberts added 10 kills.
Sophomore setter Kortney James had 43 assists and three blocks, sophomore libero Megan Murphey finished with a match-high 17 digs.
Sydney Kemper had 12 kills on .435 hitting and added a match-high six blocks for Northern Arizona.
Montana will host Big Sky Conference leader Northern Colorado (13-7, 7-2 BSC) Saturday at 7 p.m. The Bears won at Montana State Friday night in four sets and beat the Grizzlies in three quick sets when the teams met in Greeley, Colo., Sept. 15.
