Montana
Northern Arizona
Lumberjacks make postseason with victory over Griz
11/14/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 14, 2013
Box Score
Northern Arizona clinched the fourth of six spots to the Big Sky Conference tournament with a 3-1 victory over Montana Thursday night at the Rolle Activity Center in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Lumberjacks won 25-19, 25-20, 21-25, 26-24.
The Lumberjacks (18-8, 12-5 BSC), who are advancing to the postseason for the second straight year, will join Portland State, North Dakota and Idaho State at Portland in two weeks.
Montana (12-14, 9-8 BSC) is still in control of its postseason fate, but the Grizzlies still have some work to do, starting Saturday night when they face a resurgent Southern Utah team in Cedar City, Utah.
Not many teams have pushed Northern Arizona in Flagstaff like the Grizzlies did Thursday night, but the Lumberjacks, who are 8-1 in home Big Sky matches with six 3-0 sweeps, were good enough to down Montana in four sets for the second time this season.
Janae Vander Ploeg had 17 kills on .267 hitting and 18 digs, and NAU limited Montana to .158 hitting. The Grizzlies, who did not have a set-point opportunity in the decisive fourth set, hit .119 in their three set losses.
"I'm still looking for us to be better early in sets, and we're just not starting off matches as well as I think we should," UM coach Jerry Wagner said.
"It's unfortunate we're still a bit of a work in progress. It's going to happen on a more consistent basis than this for us, and that will be the last little bit we need."
Northern Arizona trailed just once in the first two sets and hit .291 to jump out to a 2-0 lead. In a surprising turnabout, Montana hit .321 and never trailed in set three to make it 2-1.
"We didn't give up any runs like we did in the first two sets, and our offense took off," Wagner said. "On virtually every point we gave ourselves a chance."
The fourth set was the tightest of the match, with eight ties and four lead changes, but it looked like a blowout early. Northern Arizona led 11-5 and 17-11 before the Grizzlies scored seven straight points to go up 18-17.
Sparking Montana's run was its defense -- senior Kayla Reno and junior Natalie Jones blocked NAU's Sydney Kemper on back-to-back points -- and freshman right-side hitter Michelle Robinson, who had her only two kills of the match during the seven-point string.
Montana fought off Northern Arizona's first match point when freshman Claire McCown put down a kill to even the score at 24-24.
Vander Ploeg made it 25-24 with her final kill of the night, and NAU setter Jensen Barton closed out the match when her tricky back set found the floor just over the net.
"Things could have been different had we started off the way we competed in sets three and four," Wagner said. "We've got to find a way to be better. We can't spot teams early leads like that.
"I'm happy we were able to extend the match and play pretty well against a solid team at home, but it's time to break through. We have the team that can do it."
Despite the loss, Reno was arguably the best player on the court. She led Montana in kills (15), digs (15) and blocks (5) and tied for the team lead in service aces.
Senior Brooke Bray had 11 kills on .370 hitting and four blocks, senior Kortney James had 37 assists, and senior Megan Murphey and freshman Sadie Ahearn both had 14 digs.
Montana's magic number to make its first tournament since 2010 is still two. The Grizzlies can knock that number down on Saturday night when they face a suddenly frisky Southern Utah team, recently a loser of 14 straight matches, on the Thunderbirds' senior night.
SUU (4-24, 3-14 BSC), which defeated Northern Arizona last week, improved to 2-2 over its last four matches with an impressive 3-1 win over Montana State Thursday night at home.
"We're going to do what a good team does," Wagner said. "A good team dusts itself off and moves on to its next opportunity. We still control our season, and we want to remain in control.
"I think we'll be a focused group and ready to commit our all."
