Montana
Northern Colorado
Griz drop 3-0 decision to Bears in Greeley
11/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Box Score
Montana got off to a slow start and never recovered Thursday night against Northern Colorado in Greeley. The Grizzlies hit .061, their lowest hitting percentage of the season in league matches, and fell 12-25, 23-25, 21-25.
It was the second straight 3-0 loss for Montana (6-19, 6-7 BSC) against one of the Big Sky Conference's top teams -- the Grizzlies lost in straight sets to Idaho on Saturday -- but in the big picture the setback did not hurt the team's chances of making the postseason.
All three teams that entered the night one game behind Montana lost as well, leaving the Grizzlies alone in fourth place in the Big Sky's North Division and in sixth place overall, as teams jockey for the league's eight tournament spots. Teams have just three matches remaining.
But that's the big picture. In the smaller picture of Thursday night, the Grizzlies dropped an ugly first set, fell behind 8-1 in the second and never held a lead, then got outscored 6-2 in the third set after playing well enough to forge a 19-19 tie.
"To sum up the night, we started off slowly in absolutely every area, and that had us playing catch-up the entire match," said UM coach Jerry Wagner.
"Northern Colorado becomes a very good team when they have you on your heels like that. They were able to execute on a consistent basis all night. We showed signs, but we never could overcome the slow start."
Northern Colorado (16-9, 9-4 BSC), which hit .214, had 15 more kills than Montana, and that was the difference in the match. Brianna Strong had a match-high 11 kills on .476 hitting and five blocks, and Timarie Nymeyer had nine kills on .471 hitting.
Claire McCown had eight kills to lead Montana, but she also had nine attack errors and hit -.034.
Capri Richardson had seven kills on .333 hitting, Michelle Robinson had four service aces and 12 digs, both team highs, and Natalie Jones added six blocks.
Montana's road trip does not get any easier. The Grizzlies will play North Dakota Saturday night at Grand Forks.
UND has won 22 matches this season and is tied atop the North Division with Idaho at 10-3. Montana is 0-5 against North Dakota since UND joined the Big Sky Conference, with just a single set victory.
