Thursday, October 8
Missoula, Mont.
7:00 PM
Montana
vs
Northern Arizona *
Griz open four-match home stand
10/7/2015 5:44:00 PM | Volleyball
The Montana volleyball team will open a four-match home stand this week when it plays Northern Arizona and Southern Utah at the West Auxiliary Gym. The Grizzlies will host the Lumberjacks on Thursday and the Thunderbirds on Saturday. Both matches are at 7 p.m.
Montana will face Idaho and Eastern Washington next week in the WAG before hitting the road for four straight matches.
Coverage: Free video streaming of this week's matches can be found on the Big Sky Conference page at EverSport.tv. Links to the streaming service and live stats can be found on the volleyball schedule page at gogriz.com.
Where they stand: Montana (4-12, 0-4 BSC) is the only Big Sky Conference team without a win through two weekends of league matches. The Grizzlies are in sixth place out of six teams in the Big Sky North Division. ... Northern Arizona (13-4, 3-1 BSC) is tied for second in the South Division. The Lumberjacks' lone league loss came in four sets at Sacramento State. ... Southern Utah (10-7, 1-3 BSC) is tied for fourth in the South Division. The Thunderbirds, who have lost six of eight after opening the season 8-1, won in straight sets at Portland State for their only Big Sky victory to date.
Montana vs. Northern Arizona: The Grizzlies lead the all-time series with the Lumberjacks 33-28, though NAU has been closing the gap the last few seasons. Northern Arizona has won five of the last six meetings. ... The Grizzlies are 17-11 against the Lumberjacks in Missoula. ... The teams, who are in opposite divisions, will play each other just once per season for the foreseeable future, switching between Missoula and Flagstaff. In last season's matchup at NAU, Northern Arizona won 26-24, 25-17, 25-10.
Montana vs. Southern Utah: The Grizzlies lead the all-time series with the Thunderbirds 4-2. All six meetings have come since 2011, and Montana has won the last three matchups. ... The teams have split their two matches played in Missoula. Southern Utah won in five sets in 2012. Montana won in straight sets in 2013. ... In last season's match at Cedar City, Montana pulled out a five-set victory.
Match Notes
* Montana is home for four straight matches after opening the season with 15 of its first 16 matches on the road. The Grizzlies' lone home match came back on Sept. 23 against Weber State, a 3-1 loss.
The Grizzlies played in tournaments at Air Force, Gonzaga, Temple and Denver, then last week made the long road trip to Grand Forks, N.D., and Greeley, Colo.
Lost in that schedule was something that could have most benefited this year's team under a first-year coach: practice opportunities. Rather than getting court time, Montana was getting airport and hotel time, with matches thrown in.
"We've only had one home match and have missed a number of practices the last five weeks because of it," said that first-year coach, Brian Doyon. "It makes it hard to get as well-prepared as we need to be.
"We're hoping with this home stand over the next two weeks we'll be able to get a lot accomplished and get the team where we need it to be."
* Though its league record may not show it, Montana is playing pretty well through four Big Sky matches. In the Grizzlies' 12 set losses to Weber State, Montana State, North Dakota and Northern Colorado, just three times have they not reached at least 20 points.
In the 3-1 loss to Weber State, the teams were tied 22-22 in set three, and the Wildcats won set four 30-28. Sets three and four at Montana State were both one-point differences late, and in Saturday's loss at Northern Colorado, set two was tied 21-21, set four was tied 20-20. Montana lost all those tight sets.
"In those final points, tensions are high on both teams," said senior middle blocker Capri Richardson. "It comes down to who has more willpower and mental toughness to push through to the end. With our team being a predominantly younger group, sometimes that does show up."
Doyon added, "We're in every battle. We just need that five percent more to finish those sets and get over the top. We're working as a group significantly better than we have all season. The wins will come."
* Senior Hannah Sackett joined the team in the summer after playing three seasons at West Virginia. That puts her in a unique position to be able to judge the team from an outsider's perspective while still being a part of it.
"The most difficult thing has been seeing how good of a team we can be but not being able to translate that into a match," she said. "You can see the talent that every player has in practice. We just haven't been able to put it together with six players on the court yet."
* Montana, through four of 16 matches, is a quarter of its way through its Big Sky schedule. The next four matches at home will get the Grizzlies to the midway point, at which point it will be time to take stock of their postseason chances.
So far (bad): Montana is off to a 0-4 start, and no matter how competitive those matches have been, at the end of the season they'll still be listed in the loss column.
So far (good): There are no easy wins for any team. The league is as balanced as it's maybe ever been, with no dominant teams and no teams that are sure W's. That should keep the pack within Montana's reach as the Grizzlies strive to move up the standings.
"There won't be any easy matches this season, because all the teams are playing at a high level," said Doyon, one of five new coaches in the Big Sky. "With all the coaching changes, there has been a significant increase in the level of play across the conference.
* The ties that bind I: First-year Southern Utah coach Craig Choate spent five years (2008-12) as the head coach at Northern Arizona before stepping down amid concerns that he created an "unacceptable environment" for his players. It's a fine line, because those methods got results. The Lumberjacks won 24 matches in Choate's final season, including a pair of lopsided sweeps of Montana with some ugly set scores: 25-8, 25-11, 25-20, 25-13, 25-14, 25-18.
* The ties that bind II: Southern Utah sophomore outside hitter Remo Gaogao is the older sister of Montana freshman outside hitter Silerolia Gaogao. Remo is averaging 2.04 kills per set on .146 hitting and is second on her team in digs (3.07/s). Lia is averaging 1.42 kills and 1.48 digs and is third on the team with 10 service aces.
* Things to know about Northern Arizona: The Lumberjacks, picked second in the preseason coaches' poll, are strong again under third-year coach Ken Murphy. ... NAU has the Big Sky's best offense (.263) while still limiting its opponents to .178 hitting. ... Senior outside hitter Janae Vander Ploeg leads the Big Sky at 4.58 kills per set, junior setter Jensen Barton ranks fourth in assists (10.02/s). ... Of Northern Arizona's four losses, two came in five sets in road matches at James Madison and Indiana. A third came in four sets at then No. 10 Arizona State.
* Things to know about Southern Utah: The Thunderbirds, picked ninth in the preseason coaches' poll, looked like they might be the Big Sky's top team through the first few weeks of the season. They opened 8-1 while facing a decent schedule, with seven 3-0 sweeps. But SUU has since come back to earth, going 2-6 over its last eight, including a pair of home losses last week to Eastern Washington and NAU. ... The Thunderbirds are average offensively but hang their hats on defense. They've allowed their opponents to hit .156, the best mark in the Big Sky, and rank second in blocks and digs.
* Things to know about Montana: The Grizzlies rank last in the Big Sky in opponent hitting percentage at .237. Their first four Big Sky opponents have combined to hit .267, which won't lead to many wins. ... Senior middle blocker Capri Richardson ranks third in the Big Sky in hitting percentage at .335, senior outside hitter Hannah Sackett is tied for third in kills at 4.0 per set. In Big Sky matches, Richardson is hitting .342, Sackett, who had 24 in four sets Saturday at Northern Colorado, is averaging 4.67 kills. ... Freshman middle blocker Hailey Jackson got her third start of the season at UNC and had six kills on .308 hitting and five blocks. ... Trending: Raegan Lindsey, primary setter. And the people said amen.
Montana will face Idaho and Eastern Washington next week in the WAG before hitting the road for four straight matches.
Coverage: Free video streaming of this week's matches can be found on the Big Sky Conference page at EverSport.tv. Links to the streaming service and live stats can be found on the volleyball schedule page at gogriz.com.
Where they stand: Montana (4-12, 0-4 BSC) is the only Big Sky Conference team without a win through two weekends of league matches. The Grizzlies are in sixth place out of six teams in the Big Sky North Division. ... Northern Arizona (13-4, 3-1 BSC) is tied for second in the South Division. The Lumberjacks' lone league loss came in four sets at Sacramento State. ... Southern Utah (10-7, 1-3 BSC) is tied for fourth in the South Division. The Thunderbirds, who have lost six of eight after opening the season 8-1, won in straight sets at Portland State for their only Big Sky victory to date.
Montana vs. Northern Arizona: The Grizzlies lead the all-time series with the Lumberjacks 33-28, though NAU has been closing the gap the last few seasons. Northern Arizona has won five of the last six meetings. ... The Grizzlies are 17-11 against the Lumberjacks in Missoula. ... The teams, who are in opposite divisions, will play each other just once per season for the foreseeable future, switching between Missoula and Flagstaff. In last season's matchup at NAU, Northern Arizona won 26-24, 25-17, 25-10.
Montana vs. Southern Utah: The Grizzlies lead the all-time series with the Thunderbirds 4-2. All six meetings have come since 2011, and Montana has won the last three matchups. ... The teams have split their two matches played in Missoula. Southern Utah won in five sets in 2012. Montana won in straight sets in 2013. ... In last season's match at Cedar City, Montana pulled out a five-set victory.
Match Notes
* Montana is home for four straight matches after opening the season with 15 of its first 16 matches on the road. The Grizzlies' lone home match came back on Sept. 23 against Weber State, a 3-1 loss.
The Grizzlies played in tournaments at Air Force, Gonzaga, Temple and Denver, then last week made the long road trip to Grand Forks, N.D., and Greeley, Colo.
Lost in that schedule was something that could have most benefited this year's team under a first-year coach: practice opportunities. Rather than getting court time, Montana was getting airport and hotel time, with matches thrown in.
"We've only had one home match and have missed a number of practices the last five weeks because of it," said that first-year coach, Brian Doyon. "It makes it hard to get as well-prepared as we need to be.
"We're hoping with this home stand over the next two weeks we'll be able to get a lot accomplished and get the team where we need it to be."
* Though its league record may not show it, Montana is playing pretty well through four Big Sky matches. In the Grizzlies' 12 set losses to Weber State, Montana State, North Dakota and Northern Colorado, just three times have they not reached at least 20 points.
In the 3-1 loss to Weber State, the teams were tied 22-22 in set three, and the Wildcats won set four 30-28. Sets three and four at Montana State were both one-point differences late, and in Saturday's loss at Northern Colorado, set two was tied 21-21, set four was tied 20-20. Montana lost all those tight sets.
"In those final points, tensions are high on both teams," said senior middle blocker Capri Richardson. "It comes down to who has more willpower and mental toughness to push through to the end. With our team being a predominantly younger group, sometimes that does show up."
Doyon added, "We're in every battle. We just need that five percent more to finish those sets and get over the top. We're working as a group significantly better than we have all season. The wins will come."
* Senior Hannah Sackett joined the team in the summer after playing three seasons at West Virginia. That puts her in a unique position to be able to judge the team from an outsider's perspective while still being a part of it.
"The most difficult thing has been seeing how good of a team we can be but not being able to translate that into a match," she said. "You can see the talent that every player has in practice. We just haven't been able to put it together with six players on the court yet."
* Montana, through four of 16 matches, is a quarter of its way through its Big Sky schedule. The next four matches at home will get the Grizzlies to the midway point, at which point it will be time to take stock of their postseason chances.
So far (bad): Montana is off to a 0-4 start, and no matter how competitive those matches have been, at the end of the season they'll still be listed in the loss column.
So far (good): There are no easy wins for any team. The league is as balanced as it's maybe ever been, with no dominant teams and no teams that are sure W's. That should keep the pack within Montana's reach as the Grizzlies strive to move up the standings.
"There won't be any easy matches this season, because all the teams are playing at a high level," said Doyon, one of five new coaches in the Big Sky. "With all the coaching changes, there has been a significant increase in the level of play across the conference.
* The ties that bind I: First-year Southern Utah coach Craig Choate spent five years (2008-12) as the head coach at Northern Arizona before stepping down amid concerns that he created an "unacceptable environment" for his players. It's a fine line, because those methods got results. The Lumberjacks won 24 matches in Choate's final season, including a pair of lopsided sweeps of Montana with some ugly set scores: 25-8, 25-11, 25-20, 25-13, 25-14, 25-18.
* The ties that bind II: Southern Utah sophomore outside hitter Remo Gaogao is the older sister of Montana freshman outside hitter Silerolia Gaogao. Remo is averaging 2.04 kills per set on .146 hitting and is second on her team in digs (3.07/s). Lia is averaging 1.42 kills and 1.48 digs and is third on the team with 10 service aces.
* Things to know about Northern Arizona: The Lumberjacks, picked second in the preseason coaches' poll, are strong again under third-year coach Ken Murphy. ... NAU has the Big Sky's best offense (.263) while still limiting its opponents to .178 hitting. ... Senior outside hitter Janae Vander Ploeg leads the Big Sky at 4.58 kills per set, junior setter Jensen Barton ranks fourth in assists (10.02/s). ... Of Northern Arizona's four losses, two came in five sets in road matches at James Madison and Indiana. A third came in four sets at then No. 10 Arizona State.
* Things to know about Southern Utah: The Thunderbirds, picked ninth in the preseason coaches' poll, looked like they might be the Big Sky's top team through the first few weeks of the season. They opened 8-1 while facing a decent schedule, with seven 3-0 sweeps. But SUU has since come back to earth, going 2-6 over its last eight, including a pair of home losses last week to Eastern Washington and NAU. ... The Thunderbirds are average offensively but hang their hats on defense. They've allowed their opponents to hit .156, the best mark in the Big Sky, and rank second in blocks and digs.
* Things to know about Montana: The Grizzlies rank last in the Big Sky in opponent hitting percentage at .237. Their first four Big Sky opponents have combined to hit .267, which won't lead to many wins. ... Senior middle blocker Capri Richardson ranks third in the Big Sky in hitting percentage at .335, senior outside hitter Hannah Sackett is tied for third in kills at 4.0 per set. In Big Sky matches, Richardson is hitting .342, Sackett, who had 24 in four sets Saturday at Northern Colorado, is averaging 4.67 kills. ... Freshman middle blocker Hailey Jackson got her third start of the season at UNC and had six kills on .308 hitting and five blocks. ... Trending: Raegan Lindsey, primary setter. And the people said amen.
Players Mentioned
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