Countdown to Griz volleyball :: Preseason prospectus
8/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The Montana volleyball team opens the 2014 season Friday morning with its first practice of the year. The preseason prospectus is a fan's first step in getting prepared for all things Grizzly.
Additional articles coming out this week will focus on a promotion within the team's coaching ranks, Montana's latest academic achievement and a season preview.
The Grizzlies will hold scrimmages on Saturday, Aug. 16, and Saturday, Aug. 23, at 2 p.m. in the West Auxiliary Gym before opening their season with the Montana Invitational. The four-team tournament, which includes Cal Poly, Washington State and Wyoming, will be held Aug. 29-30.
Montana is coming off a 16-win season, the most victories for the Grizzlies in the team's first eight years under coach Jerry Wagner. The team also won its first Big Sky Conference tournament match since 1996 with a 3-2 victory over Northern Arizona last November.
Of the 15 players on Montana's 2014 roster, 12 are either freshmen or sophomores in eligibility. Natalie Jones and Kelsey Schile are the team's only seniors.
Lost to graduation was last year's senior class of Brooke Bray, Kortney James, Megan Murphey and Kayla Reno. All four players, each of whom was a four-time Academic All-Big Sky Conference selection, appear in the Montana career record book.
Reno was voted first-team All-Big Sky Conference in 2013, Bray was named honorable mention.
