Montana opens Denver Invitational with 3-1 win

Friday, September 18

Denver, Colo.

4:00 PM

Montana

3-7

Abilene Christian

0-11

Abilene Christian

Montana

9/18/2015 8:06:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana volleyball team snapped a seven-match losing streak and opened the Denver Invitational with a 3-1 victory over Abilene Christian Friday evening at DU's Hamilton Gymnasium.

Led by senior Hannah Sackett's 18 kills on .282 hitting, the Grizzlies (3-7) hit a season-best .221 to win 25-19, 27-25, 22-25, 25-22.

"It was a nice way to start off the tournament," said first-year coach Brian Doyon. "The team played well.

"Abilene Christian played a lot of good defense and served well, a little better than we anticipated. They challenged us, but the team responded really well and kept its composure as the match went along."

Montana hit .357 in the opening set, then fought off a set point for the Wildcats (0-11) in the second to go up 2-0. ACU hit .312 to win the third, and the Grizzlies broke away from a 9-9 deadlock in the fourth to win for the first time since Aug. 29.

"We came out and started to dictate the pace early on and establish the way we wanted things to happen," said Doyon, whose team lost to Binghamton last Saturday after building a 2-0 lead.

"Without coming away with some wins the last two weeks, I think it might have affected us. Can we win? Do we know how to win? The fourth set we really came out and showed that we've got the composure to play at a high level and finish things and get the win."

Montana had one of its most well-rounded offensive matches of the season. In addition to Sackett's big night, sophomore Janell Sparks had 13 kills on .258 hitting on the right side, and senior middle blocker Capri Richardson finished with 12 kills on .292 hitting.

Sackett has now had 18 or more kills in four of Montana's last five matches, all on .238 hitting or better.

Freshman Lia Gaogao, playing the second left-side hitter position behind Sackett, had a season-high 11 kills and added seven digs and a pair of service aces.

"Lia did a great job today," said Doyon. "We moved her into the L2 position and got her passing a lot more in all six rotations, and she held up well. And our setters distributed the ball really well."

Junior Raegan Lindsey had 23 assists and added a team-high 11 digs. Redshirt freshman Rachel DeArman dished out 15 assists, as the Grizzlies averaged more than 14 kills per set, their second-highest mark of the season.

Montana also cut down on its mistakes. The result was a season-high hitting percentage and a 5-5 draw in service aces. The Grizzlies entered the match allowing 39 more aces than they had produced this season.

"We just needed to manage ourselves better," said Doyon. "Lowering our errors was a very specific focus in practice this week, and the team responded well."

Montana will face Denver (8-3) at noon and Illinois-Chicago (5-5) at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The Pioneers and Flames played the late match Friday night.