Griz hoping to stay strong heading into Gonzaga

The Montana volleyball team heads to Spokane, Wash., this week with two wins under its belt and hopes to fare well against some tough competition at the Gonzaga Invitational. The team will face Utah Friday at 7 p.m. (MT), Gonzaga Saturday at 11 a.m. (MT) and finish with Wyoming Saturday at 6 p.m. (MT).

History:
Utah: The Grizzlies have an 8-8 record against Utah. Notably, the last time these two teams saw one another was in 1993, when Montana took the match 3-1 under coach Dick Scott, who went 19-11 that season and had a 21-year career with Griz volleyball.

Gonzaga: Montana has played Gonzaga a whopping 42 times and holds a 28-14 record with the Bulldogs. The teams first began playing one another in 1979 and last faced each other in 2014, when the Griz lost in three straight matches under coach Jerry Wagner.

Wyoming: The Griz hold a 4-6 record against the Cowgirls. These two teams last faced off in 2014 when Wyoming twice beat out Montana in three straight sets.

The Opponents:
Utah: The Utes went 20-13 in 2014 and even made a short 1-1 run at the NCAA Tournament, however, the team has since lost six seniors and will only return three seniors in 2015. Utah has been ranked 10^th in the 2015 Pac 12 preseason poll, but began in the same position last season and surged late to pull a seventh-place spot by the end of the year.

During their trip to the NCAA Tournament, the Utes beat Kansas State in straight sets before falling in five sets to 11^th ranked Nebraska. The team played at the Utah Classic this last weekend where it left with the same starting record as Montana with wins against Idaho State and Cal State Northbridge, and a loss to Lipscomb.

Possibly the most interesting fact about Utah is that its recruiting coordinator for the last six years was none other than Montana's new head coach, Brian Doyon. Coach Doyon is excited for the match and looks forward to seeing the girls that he recruited in his time there, but will no doubt face some friendly harassment.

Gonzaga: The Bulldogs were chosen fourth in the West Coast Conference preseason poll for the 2015 season, the highest ranking the team has received in its seven-year run under head coach Dave Gantt.

Their 6'3" senior Savannah Blinn was voted to the 2015 preseason All-WCC team for the third season in a row and led the WCC in 2014 in kills, kills per set, points and points per set, and will likely be a strong adversary come Saturday.

Gonzaga had a 17-12 record in 2014 and was placed in the NCAA's top 10 in assists and top 20 in kills and kills per set. In addition, the Bulldogs return all seven of their starters and only graduated one senior in 2014.

Wyoming: The Cowgirls were picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West preseason poll for the 2015 season, a spot lower than they placed just a year ago in 2014 when the team went 23-8.

But taking little stock in the coaches' poll, the Cowgirls pulled off a win for the ages last weekend against 14^th ranked Ohio State in three straight sets and went on to win the tournament, also beating out South Dakota and Butler.

Wyoming returns nine letterwinners and six starters from the 2014 season, one being senior outside hitter Bridget Shanahan who was named to the All-Mountain West preseason team for the second time.

Last Weekend:
The Grizzlies competed at the Falcon Classic last weekend at Air Force where they went 2-1 to start the 2015 season. The team faced Air Force for five sets Friday to pull a 3-2 win and Northeastern on Saturday winning 3-1, before falling to New Mexico State in three straight sets Sunday.

"I was really happy with the effort and the attitude that we had this weekend. There were times I was really excited about us doing some great things. Our ability to adjust to another team's styles and adjust our game plan was one of the things I was most proud of," said Coach Doyon of the weekend.

The Griz went 6-23 in 2014 and had to wait 28 days before catching a win, meaning a win in the first game of the season this year had to feel good for returning players.

"It's always good to win. It makes everything feel better. But I was really just happy to see how well they came out and performed. They performed well under some really big tests," said Doyon.

What Montana's been up to this week:
The team returned late Sunday evening before heading to the first day of the fall semester at UM on Monday morning and first day back on the court for practice that afternoon.

The Griz learned much this weekend that they hope will help them narrow down their weaknesses and prepare for the tough tournament ahead.

"There are going to be some exciting matches. There will be some tough ones. All three teams we'll be playing are doing really well. They are really strong, so we're going to have to raise our level of play and push hard," said Doyon in preparation for the weekend.

The team plays in Spokane, Wash., this weekend, just a three-hour drive from Missoula, and Coach Doyon hopes to see a good Griz fan turnout being so close to home.

"I'm really hoping we can get some fans over there and get a cheering section. We'll have quite a bit of support in the area so I'm hoping that will help us out."

The Griz have tasted a win and feel more focused than ever going into Gonzaga. The team and staff have hammered home the fundamentals all throughout the preseason and are ready to apply what they've learned over the weekend.

"The service line is one of the key areas where we can improve. We've got to serve tough and be able to challenge all of these teams to get them out of system, and that starts with the serve," said Coach Doyon.

Upcoming:
The Griz will travel next week to Philadelphia for the Hilton Penns Cherry & White Challenge. Montana will open with host Temple, then face Duquesne and Binghamton.

University of Montana Athletics

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