Griz host Bulldogs Saturday afternoon

The Montana volleyball team, in its only single-match week of the season, will host Gonzaga Saturday afternoon at the West Auxiliary Gym in Missoula. The Grizzlies and Bulldogs will square off at 2 p.m.

Where they stand: Montana went 1-2 last weekend as the Grizzlies opened their season at SMU's tournament in Dallas. Montana defeated Arkansas-Little Rock in five sets and fell in straight sets to SMU and Texas-San Antonio.

Gonzaga is 3-0 after winning Utah's tournament last weekend. The Bulldogs had five-set wins over Butler and Utah, then knocked off perennial Big Sky heavyweight Idaho State in four sets.

Coverage: Saturday's match can be watched free of charge through EverSport or tracked via live stats. Links to both services can be found at gogriz.com.

More incentive to be there: Beyond Saturday's match being Montana's home opener against an undefeated regional opponent, fans with a ticket for that night's football game against Saint Francis get in free, and the first 150 people through the gate get a free hot dog and Coke.

Match notes:

* Sophomore outside hitter Mykaela Hammer was named to the all-tournament team at last weekend's SMU DoubleTree Invitational in Dallas. Hammer had 18 kills and 13 digs, both career highs, in Montana's five-set victory over Arkansas-Little Rock.

Hammer averaged 2.64 kills and 2.27 digs over three matches. She totaled 79 kills and 38 digs all of last season as a redshirt freshman.

"She stepped up and played really well," said second-year coach Brian Doyon. "With the hard work she put in over the spring and summer, she put herself in position to carry a heavier load this season, and she's doing a really nice job with it.

"We relied on her last weekend, and she did a nice job with it."

* Gonzaga is off to a 3-0 start under first-year coach Diane Nelson, the first alum to lead the Bulldog volleyball program. She was promoted from assistant to head coach in May after former coach Dave Gantt stepped down to become Vice President for Athletics at Great Falls.

Gonzaga is 3-0 because it has the hitters to close out tight matches. The Bulldogs had a 30-28 victory over Butler and won 15-11 in the fifth. In its win over Utah, Gonzaga won the first two sets 26-24 and the fifth set 17-15. It won the final set against Idaho State 32-30 to keep from going to a fifth.

Those hitters -- senior Emmy Allen, who played her first two seasons at Washington State, and senior McKayla Ferris -- are the focal points of Gonzaga's offense. In three matches at Utah, they combined to take 350 swings, more than 60 percent of the team's total.

And they are not just volume hitters. Allen averaged 4.93 kills on .306 hitting, Ferris 4.71 kills on .299 hitting, both excellent percentages for outside hitters. Ferris was named tournament MVP after collecting three double-doubles in three matches.

"Their pin hitters are a dominant part of what they do, so we've got to be able to slow them down," said Doyon. "Emmy Allen is a little longer, a little taller. She hits high with a lot of range. McKayla Ferris is what we call a little more feisty. She is more of a power hitter and likes to challenge a block.

"One way we can help ourselves is from the service line. If we can serve them tough, we can take away opportunities or at least slow them down. We need to stay balanced and play our A game. I think our athletes are ready to go out and compete."

* Montana got out-numbered across the statistical board last weekend -- from kills to service aces to digs to blocks -- but the Grizzlies still managed to pick up a victory. And beyond the numbers, Doyon was more concerned with how his team would stick to its system in the heat of competition. His grade: solid.

"The best thing from the weekend was learning our system and doing the things we need to do to be successful," he said. "The little things, the details, that we need to do to be successful, I think we're doing a really nice job with."

Montana got out-hit .285 to .103 over three matches. What allowed the Grizzlies to pull out a victory over the Trojans was their defense. Montana had 70 digs in that match to Little Rock's 60, which brought UALR's hitting percentage down to .185.

The Trojans were also limited to seven service aces, fewer than Montana allowed against either SMU or Texas-San Antonio, despite the match going five sets.

"One area where we're doing better is our serve-receive, getting a good first contact and making it a usable ball that we can use to run our offense," said Doyon. "We've got to create as many good opportunities as we can for our offense.

"We'll be able to score a little bit better as our hitters mature and get used to the tempo and sets and things like that."

* Doyon originally wanted to schedule a four-team tournament in Missoula for this weekend, but he couldn't find enough interest. Then he wanted to bring in two teams for single matches. He ended up with only Gonzaga, and it might have been the best thing to happen to the team.

After getting three matches of experience last weekend, Montana, which has only two upperclassmen on its roster, is getting a full week of practice to address the issues that arose in Dallas. And a full week to prepare for an opponent, something most players are doing for the first time at the collegiate level.

"I think it worked out in our favor," said Doyon. "We didn't really have that much of a scouting report on the teams we faced last weekend, since it was the first matches for everybody there. This week we get to show the athletes what a full scouting report looks like.

"We have more time with the athletes in training this week, and with school starting, a lot of them are under stresses that they haven't been through before. Playing a single match at home helps them ease into the week and not overload them. I might look at doing this again in the future."

* Montana leads the all-time series with Gonzaga 28-15. The Grizzlies are 12-8 against the Bulldogs in Missoula. Gonzaga has won the last two meetings, picking up 3-0 sweeps in 2014, in Missoula, and 2015, in Spokane.

* Three-dot notes: All 10 players who traveled to Dallas played in at least half of the team's sets. Six played in all 11 sets, nine in 10 or more. ... Sophomore middle blocker Katie Peck, who was already a student at Montana and joined the team in the spring, hit .500 at the tournament, with eight kills and no errors on 16 swings. She had four kills on seven swings to hit .571 against SMU in the season opener. ... Freshman outside hitter Missy Huddleston had 28 kills in three matches, an average of 2.80 per set. ... Freshman setter/hitter Ashley Watkins had 38 assists (3.45/s), 28 digs (2.55/s) and 14 kills (1.27/s) in Dallas. She matched senior libero Sadie Ahearn for the team lead in digs.

Upcoming: Montana will travel to Ames, Iowa, next week for the Cyclone Invitational. It will face North Dakota State (0-4), Iowa State (1-1) and Iowa (3-1).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sadie Ahearn

Mykaela Hammer

Missy Huddleston

Katie Peck

Ashley Watkins

University of Montana Athletics