Montana
North Dakota
North Dakota tops Montana in straight sets
11/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Box Score
North Dakota hit .302 and improved to 6-0 against Montana since joining the Big Sky Conference with a 25-14, 25-19, 25-14 victory over the Grizzlies Saturday night at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks.
UND, which clinched a Big Sky tournament spot Thursday night with its victory over Montana State, won its fifth straight match and improved to 11-3 in league play. North Dakota entered the match tied with Idaho atop the North Division.
Montana (6-20, 6-8 BSC) remains in control of its postseason fate entering the final week of regular-season matches, but the Grizzlies also are now on a three-match losing streak, with three straight 3-0 losses to three of the five teams that have clinched spots to the eight-team Big Sky tournament.
Montana, which hit .061 Thursday in its 3-0 loss at Northern Colorado, struggled again offensively. The Grizzlies had just eight fewer kills for the match than North Dakota, but they had 16 more attack errors and finished with a 083 hitting percentage.
Montana never led in the opening set and did not hold a lead deeper into a set than the 5-4 advantage the Grizzlies built in the second.
"It may not look like it in the scores, but we made them earn the victory tonight," said UM coach Jerry Wagner.
"We were solid in a number of areas, but nothing came easy for us. We had a hard time terminating balls, and they seemed to win all the long rallies."
Sophomore Claire McCown once again led Montana in kills, but for the second straight match it came on a low hitting percentage. The outside hitter had nine attack errors Thursday against the Bears and seven more Saturday. She finished with 10 kills on .081 hitting.
Nobody for Montana hit better than .158.
On the other side of the net, Anna Pioski had 10 kills on .714 hitting, and Faith Dooley added nine kills on .364 hitting and a match-high six blocks.
North Dakota out-blocked Montana 11-2 as the Grizzlies' leader in that category, redshirt junior Capri Richardson, was held without a block for the first time this season. The team's two blocks matched a season low.
Redshirt freshman Brielle Rolle had a team-high 15 digs, and freshman setter Jace Henderson got her first significant series of plays since September. She totaled nine assists and five digs in two sets.
Montana will host South Division leader Idaho State (19-8, 13-1 BSC) Thursday at 7 p.m. and Montana State (5-21, 2-12 BSC) Saturday at 7 p.m. next week as the Grizzlies wrap up their regular season.
