Griz fall to Utes to open Gonzaga Invitational

Friday, September 4

Spokane, Wash.

7:00 PM (MT)

Montana

2-2

Utah

4-1

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Utah	19	25	25	25	3
Montana	25	16	20	18	1

9/4/2015 10:05:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana volleyball team opened strong against a team sitting just outside of the nation's top 25, but Utah came back for a 19-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-18 victory over the Grizzlies Friday night at the Gonzaga Invitational in Spokane, Wash.

Behind Adora Anae's 15 kills, the Utes (4-1) hit .308 to overcome their early deficit. Senior Capri Richardson and sophomore Janell Sparks led Montana with 10 kills each.

"I was very happy with the team and our performance tonight. I think we did some really nice things," said first-year UM coach Brian Doyon. "We executed our game plan at a pretty high level, and for most of the match we held our composure and did a nice job."

Montana (2-2) hit .385 in the opening set to grab an early advantage. The Grizzlies scored the match's first three points and led for most of the set, with Sparks, senior Hannah Sackett and freshman Silerolia Gaogao combining for 11 of the team's 14 kills.

Utah bounced back with a strong second set to even the match, and the teams were tied 18-18 in the third, which turned out to be the match's turning point. The Utes went on a three-point run with a service ace and a pair of blocks, and went on to win 25-20.

Utah never trailed in winning the fourth set 25-18.

"Sets two and three were tough for us. We had a tough time siding out and got ourselves in some trouble. We gave them a few more errors than we wanted to," said Doyon.

Despite dropping the fourth set, the Grizzlies, after hitting .075 in sets two and three, hit .231 to finish at .190 for the match, their second-best percentage of the young season.

"In the fourth set we started to play a little bit better and get some more swings. After sets two and three we settled right back in," said Doyon.

Sparks had her best performance of the season, finishing with 10 kills on .421 hitting, as did Gaogao, who put down nine kills with just one error on 20 swings to hit .400. Richardson had 10 kills and a team-high three blocks, sophomore Brianna Gardner had four kills on .571 hitting.

Junior Raegan Lindsey had 18 assists, redshirt freshman Rachel DeArman 17, and junior Sadie Ahearn led Montana in digs for the fourth time in four matches.

Utah out-blocked Montana 11.5 to 6 and served up 10 more aces than the Grizzlies, who had just a single ace while committing nine service errors.

"We need to be a little bit tougher than that. We don't necessarily need to limit our errors. We just need to serve a little bit tougher," said Doyon.

Montana will face the host Bulldogs (3-1) at 11 a.m. (MT) and Wyoming (3-1) at 6 p.m. (MT) on Saturday.