Griz fall in season finale

Saturday, November 12

Cheney, Wash.

9:00 PM (MT)

Montana

5-21, 2-14BSC

Eastern Washington

13-12, 8-8BSC

Montana

Eastern Washington

11/12/2016 11:36:00 PM | Volleyball

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By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana volleyball team dropped its final regular-season match on Saturday night, losing in straight sets to Eastern Washington at Cheney, 25-20, 25-10, 25-21.

The Grizzlies end their season with a record of 5-21 and tied for 11th in the Big Sky Conference with Southern Utah at 2-14.

The Eagles (13-12, 8-8 BSC) will take the No. 7 seed into next week's Big Sky tournament at Grand Forks, N.D.

Eastern Washington hit .333, the 10th time this season an opponent has hit better than .300 against Montana, and had 15 more kills than the Grizzlies, who had just 24 for the match, one off their season low, and hit .125.

The Eagles raced out to a 7-1 lead in the first set and a 7-2 advantage in the second and never allowed the Grizzlies to get close while building a 2-0 lead.

"They were serving us tough, and we were having a hard time siding out," said UM coach Brian Doyon. "The girls were battling and playing hard, but we were having a hard time dealing with their serves."

Montana hit .192 in set three while holding Eastern Washington to its lowest percentage of the match. The Grizzlies built an early lead and didn't trail until the Eagles took a 21-20 lead on a bad set by Montana.

EWU closed out the set and the Grizzlies' season on a 6-1 run.

"I really liked how composed we were when we came back out for that third set," said Doyon. "We got composed after the halftime break and built some momentum, and that was exciting to see."

Sophomore Alexis Urbach had eight kills on .286 hitting to lead Montana. Senior setter Raegan Lindsey had 11 assists and three service aces, senior libero Sadie Ahearn dug a team-high eight balls.

Lindsey and Ahearn were the 2016 team's lone seniors. Ahearn finishes her career with 1,155 digs, a total that ranks ninth in program history. Lindsey totaled 1,799 assists to rank 10th in that category.

"For both of the seniors to be ranked like that shows how hard they've worked during their careers," said Doyon. "They are shining examples of how much hard work it takes but how much reward there is for that hard work."

Montana finishes with 20 or more losses for the fourth time in the last five seasons, but Doyon, who finishes his second year leading the Grizzlies, used a roster that was built for the future this fall. Every player but Ahearn and Lindsey were underclassmen, with eight freshmen.

"I couldn't be more proud of this young team and how hard they worked, the amount they've learned and the way they've grown this season," he said. "It's been tremendous.

"I'm excited for the future of the program because of how hard the athletes work and the things they do to make themselves better every day. Their attitude, their energy and their effort never wavered during the season, and I'm really proud of that."