Montana
Montana State
Griz rally, stay unbeaten in Big Sky matches
9/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Box Score
Montana rallied from a 2-0 deficit and stayed perfect through the opening week of Big Sky Conference matches with a 16-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-12 victory over Montana State at Bozeman Saturday night.
It was the second time in three years the Grizzlies (2-12, 2-0 BSC) came back from a 2-0 deficit to knock off the Bobcats (3-11, 0-2 BSC) on their home floor, and it extended Montana's winning streak in Bozeman to nine.
After going 0-12 through their nonconference schedule, the Grizzlies are one of five Big Sky teams to open league with a spotless 2-0 record, along with Idaho State, North Dakota, Northern Arizona and Southern Utah.
Montana, which won in five sets at Weber State Thursday night, is the only unbeaten to get there with a pair of road wins.
"I don't care what sport you play. To go on the road with a team that's growing up in all the right areas and have something like this to show for it, I couldn't be more proud of these guys," said UM coach Jerry Wagner, who improved to 15-2 against Montana State.
And it came in a match that hardly could have started any worse for Montana. The Grizzlies fell behind 9-2 in the first set and gave up a 9-3 run midway through the second to fall behind 2-0.
The Bobcats, backed by a boisterous crowd at Shroyer Gym of 1,504, hit .290 through the first two sets. The Grizzlies hit a listless .053.
"Thank goodness for that 10-minute break (between sets two and three). Those first two sets had us on our heels," said Wagner.
"I told them that this wasn't what we came here to do. Playing on our heels isn't what the Griz do anywhere, especially not here."
The Bobcats got out to a 3-1 lead early in set three. The Grizzlies' response set the tone for the rest of the match.
Montana started getting its middle blockers more involved offensively, and that freed up the team's outside hitters. Montana hit .198 the final three sets while holding Montana State to .088.
"Our passing was there all night, but we finally started doing the little things," said Wagner. "We started blocking and were able to use our middles, and that kept the momentum in our favor once we got it.
"The setters got us back into the tempo we wanted, and we couldn't do that without our passing."
Montana used a 10-2 run midway through set four to send the match to a fifth set, which is when sophomore Claire McCown took charge.
The outside hitter, who played just one ineffective set at Weber State on Thursday, had five of her 12 kills for the match in the final set, four down the stretch after Montana State had tied the score at 9-9.
"It was great to see Claire bounce back tonight," said Wagner. "Our middles became a pain for them as the match went along, and when that happens, it opens things up on the outside. That gave Claire an opportunity, and she stepped up."
Junior middle blocker Capri Richardson had 12 kills on .435 hitting and a match-high eight blocks, her best match since the Wyoming tournament earlier this month.
McCown totaled 12 kills and three blocks, and, with 10, was one of four players to record double-figure digs, along with sophomore Sadie Ahearn (14), sophomore Raegan Lindsey (10) and freshman Brielle Rolle (10).
Senior Kelsey Schile had 21 assists and four blocks, Lindsey added 20 assists, and senior Natalie Jones had six blocks to help Montana out-block Montana State 14-7.5.
Montana will play its first Big Sky Conference home matches next weekend when the Grizzlies host North Dakota and Northern Colorado at the West Auxiliary Gym.
