Montana
Seattle
Seattle pulls out five-set victory over Montana
9/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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It was a little bit of Montana's slow starts and a lot of Seattle's Martina Samadan that helped the Redhawks post a 3-2 victory over the Grizzlies Thursday night at the West Auxiliary Gym, 26-24, 18-25, 25-18, 20-25, 15-10.
Samadan, SU's 6-foot-5 Croatian middle blocker, had 22 kills on just 31 swings to hit .645, and that was enough to keep Montana (0-11) winless on the season. The Grizzlies dropped to 0-4 at home and 0-4 in five-set matches.
And it spoiled one of Montana's best performances of the season. The Grizzlies hit .246 and got 17 kills on .382 hitting from sophomore Claire McCown and 16 kills on .317 hitting from freshman Janell Sparks.
"After the first set, we didn't make the errors we have been making, and I was really pleased to see that," said UM coach Jerry Wagner. "I thought we played very well tonight.
"We played four disciplined sets when we didn't have people running in front of their teammates and screening them out of plays. There was a lot of coaching and a lot of great play. We're down to just one thing that's costing us now. We haven't cleaned up the slow starts."
After falling in the tight opening set, Montana controlled set two, hitting .364 and limiting Seattle to a .000 percentage. That momentum vanished when the Redhawks raced out to an 8-1 lead in the third set on their way to a seven-point victory.
The Grizzlies came out and played well again in set four, hitting .346 to even the match at 2-2, but with the chance for a breakthrough victory on its home court, Montana had three early unforced errors in set five and fell into a 5-1 hole. It would prove to be insurmountable.
"We'll play great, then we'll come out and be down the next set 8-2, and those are momentum-swingers. We need to learn that the points at the beginning of the set are equally important as the last points of the set," said Wagner.
"If we give up a run, it has to be shorter, and we have to give up fewer of them. Otherwise I thought we played very well."
Behind McCown and Sparks, whose 16 kills were a season high, Montana had the better attack on the outside, but Samadan was the difference in the middle.
The Grizzlies' two middle blockers combined for just 10 kills on .185 hitting, and Seattle limited sophomore right-side hitter Michelle Robinson to nine kills on .103 hitting, a drop-off from the .231 she had been hitting entering the match.
Montana hit .082 in its five previous matches. With cleaner passing and more playable balls to set, senior Kelsey Schile and sophomore Raegan Lindsey helped the Grizzlies to their best hitting percentage since Sept. 5. Lindsey had 28 assists and eight digs, Schile 22 assists and a pair of blocks.
Getting the start at libero for concussed freshman Taylor Schile, redshirt freshman Brielle Rolle matched a season high with 13 digs.
Jelena Vujcin had 16 kills, nine digs and three service aces for Seattle, which improved to 4-7 and 2-0 on its current road trip. Kerry Lane had 50 assists and 11 digs.
Seattle, which won in five sets at Eastern Washington on Tuesday, will face Gonzaga Friday at 7 p.m. at the West Auxiliary Gym. Montana will play Gonzaga Saturday at 6 p.m.
