Griz close season with two-match character test

The Montana volleyball team, eliminated from Big Sky Conference tournament contention, will conclude its season this week with matches against Idaho State and Montana State.

The Grizzlies will face the Bengals on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Pocatello, Idaho, and host the Bobcats at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the West Auxiliary Gym.

Where they stand: Montana (7-19, 3-11 BSC) is in fifth place in the Big Sky Conference North Division, 10th out of 12 teams overall. ... Idaho State (19-9, 11-3 BSC) is tied for second in the top-heavy South Division standings and tied for second overall behind league-leader Northern Arizona. ... Montana State (3-19, 1-13 BSC) is in sixth place in the North Division and tied with Weber State for last in the overall standings.

What's at stake: Neither Montana nor Montana State can make the eight-team Big Sky tournament. Idaho State long ago clinched a tournament spot. Last year's tournament host is out of the running to host again, so the Bengals are playing for tournament seeding and late-season momentum.

Tournament outlook: Montana won't be competing, but that doesn't mean the tournament isn't happening. With just one week of league matches remaining, the list of potential host schools has been reduced to Northern Arizona (23-4, 13-1 BSC) and Sacramento State (24-5, 11-3 BSC).

Sac State plays at NAU Thursday night in this week's marquee league matchup. If the Lumberjacks add to their 12-match winning streak, they will clinch the outright Big Sky regular-season title and host the tournament.

If the Hornets, who handed Northern Arizona its lone league loss back in September, win, Sacramento State would still need to win at Southern Utah (good chance) on Saturday and hope NAU losses at home to Portland State (no chance) to share the regular-season championship and host the tournament.

Only one of the eight tournament spots remains up for grabs, and it will come down to either Southern Utah (15-12, 6-8 BSC) or Portland State (8-18, 4-10 BSC). PSU plays at SUU Thursday night. If the Thunderbirds win just one set, the Vikings are eliminated, even if they win the match 3-1 or 3-2.

Seeds if the tournament was held today: 1) Northern Arizona, 2) Sacramento State, 3) Idaho State, 4) Idaho, 5) Eastern Washington, 6) Northern Colorado, 7) North Dakota, 8) Southern Utah.

Trending (Montana): 3 out of 10 ... The Grizzlies won three out of four matches in late October to put themselves in tournament contention but have since dropped three straight to tournament qualifiers. Montana fell in four sets on the road to Idaho, then lost last week at home to Northern Colorado in five sets and North Dakota in straight sets.

Trending (Idaho State): 7.5 out of 10 ... The Bengals have feasted on the teams below them in the standings this season but have struggled against the top two teams. ISU lost 3-1 and 3-0 to Northern Arizona this season and on Saturday lost in straight sets at Sacramento State.

Trending (Montana State): 1.5 out of 10 ... The Bobcats are on a 12-match losing streak but are trending slightly up because of their recent results. They lost in five sets at Eastern Washington two weeks ago, lost a more competitive match (four sets, with 23-25 losses in sets one and two) to North Dakota than Montana had against UND and on Saturday fell in five sets to Northern Colorado.

Why this week matters: Montana no longer has the carrot of the Big Sky Conference tournament to chase, so the Grizzlies will be going after more intangible goals this week, and the schedule-makers gave them a nice season-ending test.

On Thursday, Montana will get to face on the road one of the top three teams in the Big Sky. On Saturday, the Grizzlies will face a team below them in the standings but a team that beat them in the teams' first meeting. That remains Montana State's lone Big Sky victory this season.

"It's going to be a little bit of a gut check to find out what the character of this team is and what we're about," said first-year coach Brian Doyon. "We know the tournament is out of our reach, so now it's about pride and character and showing up and playing hard.

"Whether we win or lose really isn't the important part. It's about how well we battle and compete and play to our potential. These matches will define us in some ways."

Montana-Idaho State: The Bengals, who are really good offensively, will be a tough matchup for the Grizzlies, who have struggled slowing down the league's top teams or generating enough offense to hang with them.

In 14 Big Sky matches this season, Montana has held its opponent below .225 hitting just three times. The Grizzlies won all three matches. In its last three matches, Montana has allowed .264 hitting to Idaho, .311 to Northern Colorado and .283 to North Dakota.

In particular pay attention to senior outside hitter Tressa Lyman, last year's league MVP, who averages 4.01 kills, 2.82 digs and 0.54 blocks per set.

"It will be a challenging match for us, but we'll prepare well for them and get ready to play a really good team," said Doyon.

"Offensively they are putting up some good numbers. We'll have to see if we can slow them down, then generate some offense on our end. That's what we've struggled with over the last few matches."

History: Montana leads the all-time series with Idaho State 41-33, with a 22-12 advantage in matches played in Missoula. ... Idaho State has won the last five meetings.

Montana-Montana State: The Grizzlies and Bobcats met what feels like two seasons ago in Bozeman. It was Sept. 26 when MSU won 12-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-22.

Montana won the first set -- UM hit .476 and had a single attack error, MSU hit -.033 with 10 attack errors -- in what turned out to be an anomaly. Over the final three sets Montana State hit .304 to Montana's .106 to rally for the four-set victory.

Senior middle blocker Natalee Godfrey was the star of the match, finishing with 10 kills on .368 hitting and five blocks.

"The team is fired up for that match," said Doyon. "When we played there, I don't think we played very well, and they played very well. It will be the end of the season for both teams, so it will be gut check of who wants it more."

History: Montana and Montana State are tied 53-53 in their series history, with the Grizzlies holding a 26-20 advantage in matches played in Missoula. ... The Grizzlies have won 15 of the teams' last 19 meetings.

Senior Night: Playing their final matches at Montana Saturday night will be seniors Hannah Sackett and Capri Richardson. Both will be recognized before the match.

Sackett, who transferred from West Virginia, played just one season at Montana. She ranks second in the Big Sky in kills (4.25/s), and her 433 kills have moved her into the top 10 in program history.

Richardson is a fifth-year senior. She redshirted in 2011, played sparingly in 2012 and '13, then had a breakout season last fall when she was named second-team All-Big Sky Conference. She is hitting .315 this season, seventh in the Big Sky, and .294 for her career.

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Players Mentioned

Capri Richardson

Hannah Sackett

University of Montana Athletics