Thursday, October 1
Grand Forks, N.D.
6:00 PM (MT)
Montana
at
North Dakota *
Montana faces tough opponents on the road
9/29/2015 7:15:00 PM | Volleyball
Griz play at North Dakota Thursday, at Northern Colorado on Saturday
The Montana volleyball team faces one of the Big Sky Conference's toughest road trips this week when it travels to North Dakota and Northern Colorado. The Grizzlies will face UND Thursday at 6 p.m. (MT) in Grand Forks and the Bears at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Greeley.
Coverage: Both matches will have free video streaming through EverSport and live stats. Links to all available services can be found on the volleyball schedule page at gogriz.com.
Where they stand: Montana (4-10, 0-2 BSC) opened its Big Sky Conference schedule last week with a pair of four-set losses, at home to Weber State and on the road at Montana State. ... Saturday's loss to the Bobcats was the Grizzlies' first loss in Bozeman since 2005. ... The setbacks extended Montana's losing streak against Big Sky opponents to eight dating back to last season.
North Dakota (12-6, 1-1 BSC), picked third in the preseason coaches' poll with three first-place votes, opened its Big Sky schedule on the road last week. After getting surprised in a three-set sweep at the hands of Eastern Washington, UND came back to split the trip with a five-set victory at Idaho.
Northern Colorado (4-11, 0-2 BSC), picked fourth in the preseason coaches' poll behind North Dakota and receiving a pair of first-place votes, is off to an un-Bears-like start this season, partly due to injury, partly due to a pre-conference schedule that included three matches against ranked teams and partly because it lost a pair of first-team All-Big Sky Conference middle blockers to graduation. ... UNC lost in four sets at Idaho and got swept by Eastern Washington last week on the road, hitting just .127 in the two matches.
History: Montana's history with North Dakota has been mostly hammer and nail. Since Montana won the teams' first meeting in 2009 in five sets, UND has won nine straight, seven in straight sets. The Grizzlies have taken just one set in the teams' last eight meetings and are 0-4 in matches at Grand Forks, all 3-0 sweeps. ... North Dakota defeated Montana three times last season, in four sets at Missoula, in straight sets at Grand Forks and in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament at Pocatello in what would be former coach Jerry Wagner's last match. ... The teams have played 22 sets since North Dakota joined the Big Sky prior to the 2012 season. Montana has failed to reach 20 points in 14 of those 22 sets.
Montana has had more success against Northern Colorado. Since first meeting in 2004, the Grizzlies trail in the series 11-9. ... Success in Greeley has been hard to come by, where Montana is 2-7. ... In last year's matches, the Bears won 3-1 in Missoula and 3-0 at Greeley.
Match Notes
* Can Montana put a complete match together? The Grizzlies were dynamite offensively in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Weber State, hitting a season-high .279, but Montana also had 13 service errors and got aced a dozen times to undo its offensive advantage.
In Saturday's 3-1 loss at Montana State, the Grizzlies cut their service errors in more than half to six (while keeping the five service aces they had against WSU) and their receiving errors to three to match a season low. But they also were limited to .168 hitting, the team's first time under .200 in seven matches.
"The pieces are in place, and the players are making the plays, at times. So we know everything is there. It's just putting a complete match together and playing strong from start to finish," said first-year coach Brian Doyon.
"One week it's been one thing, then the next week it's something completely different. We seem to find one solution, then something else pops up. It's mostly getting the players to understand that they're really good, and that they can do great things."
* North Dakota, which joined the league in 2012, and Northern Colorado, a member since 2006, are relative newcomers to the Big Sky, but both wasted little time setting up residence in the penthouse.
UND made the Big Sky tournament its first season, then tied for first with Portland State in 2013 and won the North Division last year (while finishing second overall behind South Division champion Idaho State). That success has not yet translated to postseason success. North Dakota has just one tournament win in three appearances.
Nine seasons as a member, and Northern Colorado has not missed the Big Sky tournament. The Bears won the outright league title in 2011 and shared it with Portland State in 2010. UNC won the tournament in 2009, 2011, 2012 and last season. Three of those four years Northern Colorado won it seeded No. 3 or lower.
* Four times this season Montana has lost in four sets after jumping out to a 1-0 lead. It happened during the Grizzlies' pre-Big Sky schedule, against Utah and Wyoming, and it happened twice last week.
Montana jumped on Weber State 25-19, then lost 25-19, 25-22, 30-28. Three nights later the Grizzlies won 25-12 to open their match at Montana State. The Bobcats won the next three sets 25-20, 25-21, 25-22. Winning the first set is a sweet trend. Dropping the next three? Not so much.
"There have been adjustments made by those teams (after the first set), but not adjustments that have required a big change by us," said Doyon. "They might be doing something different, and we've got to keep up with them, and we haven't been able to do that."
* Montana's use of a two-setter offense, with junior Raegan Lindsey and redshirt freshman Rachel DeArman, has mostly proved to be successful. Through their first seven matches of the season, the Grizzlies hit .200 or better just once. Over the last seven matches Montana is hitting .225, with Saturday's .168 hitting percentage the team's only sub-.200 performance.
* Maybe not coincidentally, senior outside hitter Hannah Sackett, a West Virginia transfer, has posted 16 or more kills in all seven of those matches. She hit .237 or better in six straight matches before being held to .182 hitting at MSU. Sackett ranks fifth in the Big Sky in kills (3.84/s).
* Senior middle blocker Capri Richardson ranks fourth in the Big Sky in hitting percentage at .327. She had hit .382 over a five-match stretch before being mostly neutralized Saturday. Montana State limited her to five kills and four errors on just 12 swings (.083). She did match a season high with seven blocks.
* Montana continues to get out-served, or at least out-aced. The Grizzlies have 55 service aces this season to their opponents' 107. Teams have had 10 or more aces against Montana six times this year.
Big Sky Conference standings
North Division
Eastern Washington: 2-0 BSC ... 7-6 overall
North Dakota: 1-1 BSC ... 12-6
Montana State: 1-1 ... 3-7
Idaho: 1-1 ... 4-10
Montana: 0-2 ... 4-10
Northern Colorado: 0-2 ... 4-11
South Division
Sacramento State: 2-0 ... 15-2
Idaho State: 2-0 ... 10-6
Northern Arizona: 1-1 ... 11-4
Southern Utah: 1-1 ... 10-5
Weber State: 1-1 ... 5-8
Portland State: 0-2 ... 4-10
Thursday's schedule: UM at UND, MSU at UNC, SAC at ISU, PSU at WSU, UI at NAU, EWU at SUU
Saturday's schedule: UM at UNC, MSU at UND, PSU at ISU, SAC at WSU, SUU at NAU, UI at EWU
Match of the week: Sacramento State, picked 10th in the preseason coaches' poll, continued its resurgence last week with home wins over Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Now the Hornets go on the road and face last season's regular-season champion, Idaho State, and this year's preseason favorite.
Upcoming: Montana will host Northern Arizona and Southern Utah Oct. 8 and 10 at the West Auxiliary Gym.
Coverage: Both matches will have free video streaming through EverSport and live stats. Links to all available services can be found on the volleyball schedule page at gogriz.com.
Where they stand: Montana (4-10, 0-2 BSC) opened its Big Sky Conference schedule last week with a pair of four-set losses, at home to Weber State and on the road at Montana State. ... Saturday's loss to the Bobcats was the Grizzlies' first loss in Bozeman since 2005. ... The setbacks extended Montana's losing streak against Big Sky opponents to eight dating back to last season.
North Dakota (12-6, 1-1 BSC), picked third in the preseason coaches' poll with three first-place votes, opened its Big Sky schedule on the road last week. After getting surprised in a three-set sweep at the hands of Eastern Washington, UND came back to split the trip with a five-set victory at Idaho.
Northern Colorado (4-11, 0-2 BSC), picked fourth in the preseason coaches' poll behind North Dakota and receiving a pair of first-place votes, is off to an un-Bears-like start this season, partly due to injury, partly due to a pre-conference schedule that included three matches against ranked teams and partly because it lost a pair of first-team All-Big Sky Conference middle blockers to graduation. ... UNC lost in four sets at Idaho and got swept by Eastern Washington last week on the road, hitting just .127 in the two matches.
History: Montana's history with North Dakota has been mostly hammer and nail. Since Montana won the teams' first meeting in 2009 in five sets, UND has won nine straight, seven in straight sets. The Grizzlies have taken just one set in the teams' last eight meetings and are 0-4 in matches at Grand Forks, all 3-0 sweeps. ... North Dakota defeated Montana three times last season, in four sets at Missoula, in straight sets at Grand Forks and in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament at Pocatello in what would be former coach Jerry Wagner's last match. ... The teams have played 22 sets since North Dakota joined the Big Sky prior to the 2012 season. Montana has failed to reach 20 points in 14 of those 22 sets.
Montana has had more success against Northern Colorado. Since first meeting in 2004, the Grizzlies trail in the series 11-9. ... Success in Greeley has been hard to come by, where Montana is 2-7. ... In last year's matches, the Bears won 3-1 in Missoula and 3-0 at Greeley.
Match Notes
* Can Montana put a complete match together? The Grizzlies were dynamite offensively in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Weber State, hitting a season-high .279, but Montana also had 13 service errors and got aced a dozen times to undo its offensive advantage.
In Saturday's 3-1 loss at Montana State, the Grizzlies cut their service errors in more than half to six (while keeping the five service aces they had against WSU) and their receiving errors to three to match a season low. But they also were limited to .168 hitting, the team's first time under .200 in seven matches.
"The pieces are in place, and the players are making the plays, at times. So we know everything is there. It's just putting a complete match together and playing strong from start to finish," said first-year coach Brian Doyon.
"One week it's been one thing, then the next week it's something completely different. We seem to find one solution, then something else pops up. It's mostly getting the players to understand that they're really good, and that they can do great things."
* North Dakota, which joined the league in 2012, and Northern Colorado, a member since 2006, are relative newcomers to the Big Sky, but both wasted little time setting up residence in the penthouse.
UND made the Big Sky tournament its first season, then tied for first with Portland State in 2013 and won the North Division last year (while finishing second overall behind South Division champion Idaho State). That success has not yet translated to postseason success. North Dakota has just one tournament win in three appearances.
Nine seasons as a member, and Northern Colorado has not missed the Big Sky tournament. The Bears won the outright league title in 2011 and shared it with Portland State in 2010. UNC won the tournament in 2009, 2011, 2012 and last season. Three of those four years Northern Colorado won it seeded No. 3 or lower.
* Four times this season Montana has lost in four sets after jumping out to a 1-0 lead. It happened during the Grizzlies' pre-Big Sky schedule, against Utah and Wyoming, and it happened twice last week.
Montana jumped on Weber State 25-19, then lost 25-19, 25-22, 30-28. Three nights later the Grizzlies won 25-12 to open their match at Montana State. The Bobcats won the next three sets 25-20, 25-21, 25-22. Winning the first set is a sweet trend. Dropping the next three? Not so much.
"There have been adjustments made by those teams (after the first set), but not adjustments that have required a big change by us," said Doyon. "They might be doing something different, and we've got to keep up with them, and we haven't been able to do that."
* Montana's use of a two-setter offense, with junior Raegan Lindsey and redshirt freshman Rachel DeArman, has mostly proved to be successful. Through their first seven matches of the season, the Grizzlies hit .200 or better just once. Over the last seven matches Montana is hitting .225, with Saturday's .168 hitting percentage the team's only sub-.200 performance.
* Maybe not coincidentally, senior outside hitter Hannah Sackett, a West Virginia transfer, has posted 16 or more kills in all seven of those matches. She hit .237 or better in six straight matches before being held to .182 hitting at MSU. Sackett ranks fifth in the Big Sky in kills (3.84/s).
* Senior middle blocker Capri Richardson ranks fourth in the Big Sky in hitting percentage at .327. She had hit .382 over a five-match stretch before being mostly neutralized Saturday. Montana State limited her to five kills and four errors on just 12 swings (.083). She did match a season high with seven blocks.
* Montana continues to get out-served, or at least out-aced. The Grizzlies have 55 service aces this season to their opponents' 107. Teams have had 10 or more aces against Montana six times this year.
Big Sky Conference standings
North Division
Eastern Washington: 2-0 BSC ... 7-6 overall
North Dakota: 1-1 BSC ... 12-6
Montana State: 1-1 ... 3-7
Idaho: 1-1 ... 4-10
Montana: 0-2 ... 4-10
Northern Colorado: 0-2 ... 4-11
South Division
Sacramento State: 2-0 ... 15-2
Idaho State: 2-0 ... 10-6
Northern Arizona: 1-1 ... 11-4
Southern Utah: 1-1 ... 10-5
Weber State: 1-1 ... 5-8
Portland State: 0-2 ... 4-10
Thursday's schedule: UM at UND, MSU at UNC, SAC at ISU, PSU at WSU, UI at NAU, EWU at SUU
Saturday's schedule: UM at UNC, MSU at UND, PSU at ISU, SAC at WSU, SUU at NAU, UI at EWU
Match of the week: Sacramento State, picked 10th in the preseason coaches' poll, continued its resurgence last week with home wins over Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Now the Hornets go on the road and face last season's regular-season champion, Idaho State, and this year's preseason favorite.
Upcoming: Montana will host Northern Arizona and Southern Utah Oct. 8 and 10 at the West Auxiliary Gym.
Players Mentioned
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