Griz competing in final pre-Big Sky tournament

The Montana volleyball team will play its final pre-Big Sky Conference matches this week when the Grizzlies compete at the Denver Invitational Friday and Saturday. Montana will face Abilene Christian at 4 p.m. on Friday, and Denver at noon and Illinois-Chicago at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The Grizzlies will open Big Sky Conference play on Wednesday with a 6 p.m. home match against Weber State.

Coverage: All three of Montana's matches this weekend can be tracked through live stats. Links are available on the volleyball schedule page at gogriz.com. Saturday's match against Denver will be carried on Altitude 2 and online at denverpioneers.com.

At a glance: Montana is 2-7 and has dropped seven straight since opening the season 2-0. The Grizzlies lost to Temple in three sets, Duquesne in four sets and Binghamton in five sets last weekend in Philadelphia at Temple's Cherry and White Challenge.

Abilene Christian is 0-10 and has won just five sets this season while playing an early schedule that has included TCU, Arizona and Texas A&M. … Denver is the best team in the tournament field. The Pioneers are 8-3, with losses at San Francisco and New Mexico State, and a neutral-site loss to Oklahoma. … Illinois-Chicago is 5-5. Three of those wins came two weeks ago of UIC's home tournament.

History: Montana will be facing Abilene Christian and Illinois-Chicago for the first time this week. The Grizzlies are 0-1 against Denver, with a 3-0 loss to the Pioneers at DU's tournament in 2005, the final year of the Nikki Best coaching era.

More on Abilene Christian: The Wildcats went 6-24 last season and finished 12th out of 13 teams in the Southland Conference with a 4-12 league mark. … ACU was picked to finish 12th again this season in the conference's preseason poll. … Abilene Christian is under second-year coach Jason Bibler. … ACU's opponents are hitting .265 this year. That's a mark the Grizzlies have yet to reach in nine matches, which makes this the right matchup at the right time.

Whom to fear: Senior outside hitter Jennifer Loerch. She is averaging 3.44 kills (but on .110 hitting, which most opposing coaches will take).

More on Denver: The Pioneers are really good and may not drop a set this weekend. … DU won its other home tournament two weeks ago, with wins over Texas-Arlington, Air Force and Villanova. … Denver went 27-7 last year and made its first NCAA tournament appearance in program history. The Pioneers lost in three sets at Colorado State in the first round. … Four starters and 10 letterwinners returned from that team. … DU went 13-3 in the Summit League last season to finish first. Denver was picked to repeat in 2015. … The Pioneers are led by fourth-year coach Jesse Mahoney and have just a single senior on their team. … Denver hit .266 last season, which is excellent, and is at it again. The Pioneers are hitting .250 through 11 matches.

Whom to fear: Senior middle blocker Sarah Schmid. She is averaging 1.30 blocks and has just 15 errors on 164 swings this year to hit .433.

More on Illinois-Chicago: The Flames went 14-17 a year ago and finished sixth in the Horizon League with a 7-7 league mark. … UIC was picked fourth in this year's poll. … Sophomore setter Nicole Johnson, who is averaging 11.18 assists, which is more than Montana is generating as a team (10.8/s), was last year's Horizon League Freshman of the Year. … The Flames added transfers from Toledo and Purdue in the offseason.

Whom to fear: Senior middle blocker Stephanee Yancy, last season's Horizon League co-Player of the Year (which is impressive for a team that finished in sixth place). The Western Michigan transfer is averaging 3.95 kills on .358 hitting and leads the team in blocks.

What ails Montana:

1. All this travel. The Grizzlies have played tournaments in Colorado Springs, Spokane, Philadelphia and now Denver. That schedule takes its toll.

"We've faced some very good competition this season that has challenged our game, but being on the road for three weeks, with one more road trip before we finally get back home, becomes a lot of stress," said first-year coach Brian Doyon.

2. Hitting errors and giving its opponents points they don't have to work to create. The Grizzlies' opponents have put down 16 more kills this season, which over 35 sets is pretty negligible. But Montana has 56 more attack errors, which is why the Grizzlies are hitting .170 to their opponents' .247.

Another area that is hurting Montana's chances to win tight matches is the service line. Its opponents have 70 service aces this year, while the Grizzlies have just 31.

According to Doyon, No. 1 and 2 are directly related. "We're a little too high-error right now, but I think a lot of that is not having enough quality time in the gym to get some kinks worked out."

3. A crisis of confidence. This is still the team that went 6-23 last year and had just two wins that did not require five sets.

"With the program's history and what the players have brought with them from previous experiences, we are trying to change that mindset and culture," said Doyon. "I know they have a lot more success in them then they're willing to put out there right now.

"We may not be getting the results we want, but our training and the things they're doing to increase their talent level has been tremendous. The big thing is to get through this test and come out a little more hardened and ready for conference. That's going to be the big key for us."

The good: Senior middle blocker Capri Richardson is hitting .322, which ranks sixth in the Big Sky Conference. She is coming off a match against Binghamton in which she had 13 kills on .417 hitting, the third time this season she has hit better than .400 for a match. … Sophomore middle blocker Brianna Gardner ranks ninth in the Big Sky with a .296 hitting percentage. She has hit better than .200 in Montana's last seven matches. She had 17 kills and just two attack errors last weekend to hit .441. … Senior outside hitter Hannah Sackett ranks eighth in the Big Sky in kills at 3.43 per set. She has had 18 kills (Wyoming), 20 kills (Duquesne) and 18 kills (Binghamton) in three of Montana's last four matches. … Junior libero Sadie Ahearn, at 3.44 per set, ranks eighth in the Big Sky in digs. She had 18 against Binghamton in Montana's most recent match, her most since going 21 and 20 against Air Force and Northeastern to open the season.

Around the Big Sky Conference: Welcome back to relevancy Sacramento State. After a few lean years, the Big Sky's most historically successful program is off to an 11-1 start under Ruben Volta, gogriz.com's favorite opposing coach (now that ISU's Chad Teichert is no longer around. A close second to Volta: UNC assistant Jenny Glenn.) The Hornets are rolling opponents again -- 10 straight wins, none taking more than four sets -- and it just feels right. … Add an emerging Sac State to the Big Sky South Division and it makes the league that much more lopsided, with Northern Arizona and Idaho State also in the South. … Southern Utah is limiting its opponents to .108 hitting. That percentage ranks third in the nation. … North Dakota, at 8-4, is the only team in the North Division with a winning record.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sadie Ahearn

Brianna Gardner

Capri Richardson

Hannah Sackett

University of Montana Athletics