Griz start slow, fall in four sets to Duquesne

Saturday, September 12

Philadelphia, Pa.

8:00 AM (MT)

Montana

2-6

Duquesne

5-5

Montana

Duquesne

9/12/2015 10:56:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana dropped a 3-1 decision to Duquesne Saturday morning at Temple's Cherry and White Challenge in Philadelphia, 13-25, 20-25, 26-24, 16-25, in the Grizzlies' second match of the tournament.

Montana (2-6), which faces Binghamton (2-6) Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (MT) opened the tournament with a three-set loss to Temple Friday night.

Senior Hannah Sackett led the Grizzlies with 20 kills on .457 hitting, and sophomore Brianna Gardner continued her steady play in the middle with a season-high seven kills on .500 hitting and three blocks, but the match's 8 a.m. (MT) start time was evident in Montana's play.

Duquesne had 12 service aces, and Montana compounded it by making a season-high 11 service errors.

"We came out slow and struggled at the basic parts of the game today, and that's not something we normally do," said UM coach Brian Doyon. "Our serving and passing just weren't very sharp."

Montana slept-walked through the opening set, generating just six kills and getting aced four times, before the Grizzlies started showing some signs of life.

Montana matched Duquesne with 40 kills over the final three sets, reached .200 hitting for just the second time this season and out-blocked an opponent for the first time in seven matches, but unforced errors continued to plague the team.

The Grizzlies played their most error-free volleyball to rally from a 20-17 deficit to take set three, but three more service errors in the fourth set and three Duquesne aces allowed the Dukes to pull away and close out the match.

"We weren't as crisp as we needed to be, and Duquesne made us pay for those errors," said Doyon. "There were times when we battled with them point for point, but we never really got into a groove to be able to attack them well."

Sackett pounded out 20 of Montana's 46 kills for the match, her highest total since putting down 22 on Northeastern at the team's season-opening tournament at Air Force. Gardner, who had five kills on eight swings Friday against Temple, is hitting .550 through two tournament matches.

The rest of the team hit .038 against the Dukes.

Lacey Levers had 16 kills on 21 swings to hit .619 to lead Duquesne, which hit .301. Montana's last six opponents have hit .281 or better. Not surprisingly, the Grizzlies have dropped all six matches.