Montana
Washington State
Cougars sweep Grizzlies in three sets
8/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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Washington State hit .302 and picked up its first win of the season with a 3-0 victory over the Grizzlies Saturday afternoon at the Montana Invitational in Missoula.
The Cougars (1-1) pulled out a tight 26-24 win in set one, then rolled to 25-11 and 25-16 wins in sets two and three to keep Montana (0-2) winless at its home tournament.
Chelsey Bettinson had 16 kills on .583 hitting and six blocks, all match highs, to lead Washington State. Natalie Jones, who is hitting .478 through the first two matches of her redshirt senior season, had four kills on .444 hitting and a pair of blocks for Montana.
Wyoming (2-0) defeated Cal Poly (1-1) in four sets Saturday morning. The Cowgirls will face the Grizzlies Saturday night with the tournament title already clinched. Washington State and Cal Poly will also play Saturday evening, with the winner finishing in second place, the loser in third.
Montana's best chance to push Washington State, which was swept in three sets on Friday by Wyoming, was in the opener.
The Grizzlies were slow to get going in the first set, falling behind 8-2, but they rallied back to even the score at 16-16 and had a chance to pull out the victory after Jones and sophomore Claire McCown teamed up for a block on Bettinson to put Montana up 24-23.
But back-to-back kills for the Cougars made it 25-24, and a Montana attack error gave Washington State its first set victory of the season.
WSU used the serving of Shawna Lum, who had five aces for the match, and .333 hitting in sets two and three to pull away. The final two sets had just two lead changes in 77 points, and after hitting .270 in the opener, the Grizzlies hit .067 over the final two sets.
McCown and redshirt freshman Tess Hellerud both led Montana with seven kills, but they were limited to .105 hitting. Sophomore Michelle Robinson had six kills on .176 hitting.
Ninth-year coach Jerry Wagner went with an all-underclassmen setter unit, using both sophomore Raegan Lindsey and freshman Jace Henderson. Freshman Taylor Schile, who had eight digs and a service ace, got the nod at libero.
Montana hit .159 after hitting .225 Friday night in its 3-1 loss to Cal Poly.
