Griz with second straight long road trip

The Montana volleyball team, just days removed from the Northern Colorado-North Dakota road trip, will get back on an airplane this week for matches at Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.

The Grizzlies will face the Thunderbirds on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Cedar City and the Lumberjacks at 1 p.m. (MT) on Saturday in Flagstaff.

Where they stand: Montana is 4-14 overall, 1-7 in Big Sky Conference matches. ... Southern Utah is 3-17 overall, 1-7 in league. ... Northern Arizona is 17-4 overall, 7-1 in conference.

Trending (Montana): Down. The Grizzlies have lost six straight matches, four of them coming on the road. Montana has hit better than .130 just once during its losing streak.

Trending (Southern Utah): Mostly down. The Thunderbirds ended a 12-match losing streak with a 3-2 home win over a good Sacramento State team last week.

Trending (Northern Arizona): Up. The Lumberjacks are 35-5 in their last 40 matches dating back to last season. They are 15-2 since opening the season 2-2.

Most recently: Montana went on the road last week and dropped matches at Northern Colorado and North Dakota, both in straight sets.

The Grizzlies hit .176 against the Bears but allowed .355 hitting to fall 25-18, 25-21, 25-19.

Against the Fighting Hawks, Montana was point for point with North Dakota in the first set before losing 25-23. UND had 34 kills and just seven errors while hitting .321 to win 25-16 in sets two and three.

Weekly preview: Thursday's match in Cedar City will put the last-place team in the Big Sky North Division (Montana) against the last-place team in the South Division (Southern Utah).

Both teams have just one league victory this fall. Both came in five sets at home. Montana knocked off Idaho back on Sept. 24. At the time that was the Grizzlies' third win in four matches.

Southern Utah snapped a 12-match losing streak with a 3-2 victory over Sacramento State last Thursday, then lost in four sets to Portland State on Saturday. The Thunderbirds had five-set losses to Weber State and Idaho before their win over the Hornets.

"Southern Utah just beat Sac State, so you can't just look at their record and take them lightly," said second-year coach Brian Doyon. "They are a well-coached team that's been playing well at home, so we've got to be prepared."

Montana will face one of its toughest opponents of 2016 on Saturday afternoon in Flagstaff when the Grizzlies take on the Lumberjacks, last year's regular-season and tournament champions.

NAU has lost just twice since Labor Day, losing in five sets at Cal State Bakersfield and dropping a four-set Big Sky match at Eastern Washington.

Northern Arizona leads the Big Sky in hitting percentage (.275) and opponent hitting percentage (.153), a winning combination. The Lumberjacks also have 51 more service aces this season than any other league team.

"Northern Arizona has been hot all year," said Doyon. "They are big, they are physical, and they are well coached. They are really executing at a high level.

"The biggest thing with them is they don't have a weak area. They are strong top to bottom. The tempo they play isn't any higher or faster than anybody else in the conference, but they are a well-put-together team. They are low-error and play a nice, consistent game."

Montana left Missoula on Wednesday to start last week's road trip and returned home on Sunday. After short practices on Monday and Tuesday, the Grizzlies will depart again on Wednesday, arriving home on Sunday.

Four straight home matches, against North Dakota, Northern Colorado, Portland State and Montana State, await.

"October is one of the hardest times of the year, especially for young athletes,," said Doyon. "I call them the October blues. We've been playing nonstop for quite a while, and school gets more and more stressful, not only with midterms but from missed class time. It piles up and can hit right about now.

"It's more important for us to keep them fresh and focused and ready to play than it is to push too hard in practice now. We still do our scouting reports and the things we have to do to be mentally prepared, but you've got to keep your athletes in good spirits."

History: Montana holds a 4-3 advantage over Southern Utah in a series that dates back only to 2011. ... The Grizzlies have won on two of their three trips to Cedar City. ... SUU won last year's matchup in Missoula in straight sets, 25-22, 27-25, 25-10.

Montana leads the series against Northern Arizona 33-29, with NAU holding a 15-13 advantage in matches played in Flagstaff. ... The Grizzlies dominated the series from 2006-10, winning six times in straight sets, eight times in nine matches overall, but the Lumberjacks have had the upper hand since 2012, winning six of the last seven. ... NAU won 25-18, 25-20, 26-24 in Missoula last fall.

Ahearn reaches milestone: If senior libero Sadie Ahearn had two goals this fall -- reach 1,000 career digs, break into the career top 10 -- she accomplished the first last Thursday at Northern Colorado.

She had 12 digs against the Bears, then played a stellar match on Saturday against the Fighting Hawks. Despite the match going only three sets, she recorded a career-high 22 digs, with 17 coming in the final two sets.

That leaves her at 1,027 for her career. She needs 96 over the team's final eight matches to reach 1,123 and break into the Montana top 10, something she should do -- barring injury -- with ease.

Montana three-dot notes: Sophomore outside hitter Alexis Urbach is hitting .258 over Montana's last four matches. She hit .318 in Saturday's loss at North Dakota, the fourth time this season she has hit .300 or better in a match. ... It was a small sample size, but freshman middle blocker Janna Grimsrud had two kills on two swings against the Fighting Hawks. ... Putting down 21 kills on .409 hitting against Weber State and Northern Colorado must have brought sophomore outside hitter Lia Gaogao to North Dakota's attention. They limited her to two kills and a negative hitting percentage. ... Sophomore outside hitter Cassie Laramee is having a rough conference season. She ranks third on the team in kills (1.60/s), but she has more errors (56) than kills (48) and is hitting -.038. ... Freshman outside hitter Missy Huddleston has had 10 or more kills in three of the team's last four matches. ... Montana has hit better than .100 in four straight matches, the first time that's happened this season. ... The Grizzlies have more service aces than their opponents over the last four matches. That's pretty good for a team that was -32 through the season's first seven matches.

Around the Big Sky Conference: At the midway point of the conference season, North Dakota, 7-1 and atop the North Division, and Northern Arizona, 7-1 and atop the South Division, are looking like the top two teams in the Big Sky, with Northern Colorado (6-2 BSC) a step below.

The Lumberjacks host the Fighting Hawks the final week of the regular season in a match that could decide where the tournament is held. NAU will be tested before that, with four straight matches on the road, at Sacramento State, Portland State, Weber State and Idaho State, starting next week.

UND's biggest pre-NAU tests come this week, at Idaho State on Thursday and at Weber State on Saturday.

Thursday in the Big Sky: UM at SUU, MSU at NAU, UI at SAC, EWU at PSU

Non-Montana match to monitor: Eastern Washington at Portland State. Thought to be a dark horse at one point, the Vikings have dropped four of five and are clinging to the eighth and final tournament spot.

Friday in the Big Sky: UND at ISU, UNC at WSU

Match to monitor: North Dakota at Idaho State. The two hottest teams in the Big Sky. The Fighting Hawks have won six straight, the Bengals have won five straight after opening league 0-3. Put ISU's Rick Reynolds on the short list for Big Sky Coach of the Year.

Saturday in the Big Sky: UM at NAU, MSU at SUU, UNC at ISU, UND at WSU, UI at PSU, EWU at SAC

Non-Montana match to monitor: Northern Colorado at Idaho State or North Dakota at Weber State. Both have a lot of implications as the second half of the conference schedule begins.

Upcoming: Montana gets back-to-back home weekends, with North Dakota and Northern Colorado visiting first, then Portland State and Montana State. The Grizzlies travel to Idaho and Eastern Washington to wrap up the regular season.

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Players Mentioned

Sadie Ahearn

Janna Grimsrud

Missy Huddleston

Cassie Laramee

Alexis Urbach

University of Montana Athletics