Griz off to Kentucky for three matches

The Montana volleyball team will travel to Morehead, Ky., this week for Morehead State's Comfort Inn-vitational.

The Grizzlies will face Kent State at 11 a.m. (MT) and Coppin State at 2:30 p.m. (MT) on Friday and play the host Eagles at noon (MT) on Saturday.

Coverage: Montana's three matches this week can be tracked through live stats. There will be no video coverage available.

Where they stand: Montana is 1-6, with all six of its losses coming in three-set sweeps. The Grizzlies' lone win came on Aug. 26, a five-set victory over Arkansas-Little Rock in Dallas. Montana lost to North Dakota State, Iowa and Iowa State last week at ISU's tournament.

Montana's three opponents this week all have early-season records below .500. Kent State is 4-6, Coppin State is 0-11, Morehead State is 3-7.

All four teams enter the tournament on losing streaks of at least two matches.

Montana Storylines

* Second-year Montana coach Brian Doyon is getting closer to having a full squad to work with. He has a roster of 15, but only 10 could play at the team's season-opening tournament at SMU because of injuries.

Freshman middle blocker Janna Grimsrud made her debut against Gonzaga on Sept. 3, and this week freshman middle blocker McKenzie Kramer is expected to be on the court for the first time.

"Getting McKenzie back is a big deal, because that gets us closer to a full lineup," said Doyon. "We'll get to see what that looks like and how it works.

"She should strengthen up our middles and hopefully take some of the pressure away from our pins that we've been relying on so much during the early part of the season."

Freshmen Shannon Casale and Hannah Cantrell are out for the season as they recover from knee injuries. Freshman Sarah Grinnell, who suffered a preseason injury, is expected to return to the active roster before season's end.

* Montana's struggles to stay in matches -- the Grizzlies have reached 20 points in a set just twice during its five-match losing streak -- can be explained by two numbers: .062 and .307.

The former is Montana's hitting percentage for the season, the latter is what its opponents are hitting.

"This weekend it will be the same thing we've been working on. Can we get ourselves in position offensively to win matches?" said Doyon. "That's going to be a big deal.

"Teams have been hitting .300 against us, and we've been answering with .090 to .100. We've got to try to flip that around. We've got to slow teams down and pick up our offense."

Montana's hitting percentage is the result of two things. Without much of an attack in the middle, it's been too easy for opponents to load up blockers against the Grizzlies' outsides. And Montana has been too error-prone. The Grizzlies have 161 attack errors this season. Their opponents have just 81.

Expect better balance -- and improved hitting percentages -- this week as Doyon finally has some flexibility with his roster.

* Last season Hannah Sackett joined Montana as a transfer from West Virginia and provided a veteran boost in her final year of eligibility. This year it's Alexis Urbach, a sophomore in her first year on the team after transferring from UC Riverside, who is adding an offensive spark.

Because Grimsrud and Kramer were out, Urbach, from Bend, Ore., played as a middle blocker the first weekend of the season at SMU's tournament.

She switched to the outside midway through the Gonzaga match and has been there ever since. She hit .294 that match, with six kills. She had 13 kills on .300 hitting against North Dakota State in Ames last weekend.

"Alexis has come in and done a nice job in her role," said Doyon. "Originally we were looking at her as a middle blocker, but we've since moved her over to the right side, and she's done well there. She has a good arm and can play at a high level, so she's been able to score.

"She's been a stabilizing factor for us, and we've been asking her to carry a lot of the load because of her experience. Now we need some of the players around her to pick up their roles as well so that we can keep expanding Alexis's role."

* The start of the Big Sky Conference schedule is right around the corner. Montana will open league play next week when it hosts Eastern Washington and Idaho at the West Auxiliary Gym.

Montana will play 16 league matches, two per week over the course of eight weeks, closing with matches at Idaho and Eastern Washington the second week in November.

"If we'd been able to play with a full roster a little more this season, I think we'd be a little farther ahead than we are, but as far as our chemistry and play, I think we're right on schedule," Doyon said.

"We're still young and still learning and developing, and that process is going to continue when we get into the conference season. But I really like where the team is in terms of our maturity.

"Last weekend (at Iowa State's tournament) was very eye-opening for them. It was very enlightening for them to be able to come into some very challenging matches and see what it looks like when we step up and play at that high of a level."

Upcoming: Montana will host Eastern Washington (5-4) on Thursday, Sept. 22, and Idaho (4-5) on Saturday, Sept. 24.

The Eagles played at Wyoming's tournament last weekend and won't play again until facing the Grizzlies on the 22nd. The Vandals host Wyoming, Tennessee Tech and Oregon State this weekend at Moscow, Idaho.

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Players Mentioned

Hannah Cantrell

Shannon Casale

Janna Grimsrud

Sarah Grinnell

McKenzie Kramer

Hannah Sackett

Alexis Urbach

University of Montana Athletics