Griz go five to knock off Vandals

Saturday, September 24

Missoula, Mont.

2:00 PM

Montana

4-8, 1-1BSC

Idaho

6-8, 1-1BSC

Idaho

Montana

9/24/2016 6:21:00 PM | Volleyball

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By: Montana Sports Information

In the education of Brian Doyon's young Montana volleyball team, consider Saturday's five-set victory over Idaho at the West Auxiliary Gym a crash course that had a little bit of everything.

Montana (4-8, 1-1 BSC) schooled Idaho (6-8, 1-1 BSC) in the opening set, fought off two set points to take the second, then lost sets three and four before taking control early in set five and pulling out a 25-13, 30-28, 12-25, 19-25, 15-7 victory for its first taste of Big Sky Conference success this season.

It was Montana's first win over Idaho since 1999.

Sophomore outside hitter Alexis Urbach had a match-high 19 kills on .400 hitting, senior libero Sadie Ahearn, who spent as much time on the floor Saturday as she did upright, had 20 digs, and Montana had its first major defensive presence at the net of the season with 13 blocks.

All in all, it was the type of match and victory that should inch the bar of what's possible for Doyon's team this season a little higher.

"This was a good match for us to come out and test ourselves, and play against a very good team and know with confidence that we can play with them," he said.

"I think our young athletes learned they have the answers within them and can come out and battle with anybody in the conference."

That didn't feel like it was the case after Thursday's four-set home loss to Eastern Washington that ended with 25-13 and 25-11 setbacks in sets three and four.

Two days later, the Grizzlies were almost flawless in the early going. They hit .609 in the opening set and never gave the Vandals a chance to establish much of anything.

"The team did a great job getting themselves ready for the match," said Doyon. "They came out prepared and ready to play. The intensity they came out with and the confidence to play for themselves really shined through."

That momentum carried into set two, with Montana jumping out to an 8-3 lead. The Grizzlies held the advantage for most of the set before Idaho scored three straight points to turn a 24-21 deficit into a 24-24 deadlock.

Both teams fought off a pair of set points that left it 28-28. An Idaho attack error made it 29-28, and sophomore Cassie Laramee finished it off with a service ace, one of three for her for the match.

Down 2-0, Idaho made some lineup changes going into set three, and the moves paid off immediately. The Vandals had little trouble taking the third set on .524 hitting. They cooled off to .190 hitting in the fourth, but they never trailed on their way to forcing a fifth set.

"They went into the break and made some changes. We were facing a different lineup, and it took us a little time to figure it out and get comfortable again," said Doyon. "It tested us, which was great."

Holding little momentum coming out of set four hardly mattered to Montana.

The Grizzlies scored the first three points of the fifth set, then used three straight kills by Urbach, plus a block by freshman Missy Huddleston and sophomore Mykaela Hammer, and a service ace by Laramee to score five straight points and break away from a 6-6 deadlock.

Montana scored nine of the match's final 10 points and hit .444 for the set.

"I really enjoyed the way we responded and the way we came back," said Doyon. "That was a really good team across the net with a lot of firepower.

"The part that was most important is that we came out (in the fifth set) and passed well. That kept us in system and got our offense running. We knew there were things we wanted to attack against Idaho, and that could only happen if we were passing well."

Hammer and freshman McKenzie Kramer, both middle hitters, joined Urbach in hitting at least .400. Kramer had six kills on .444 hitting with six blocks, Hammer totaled eight kills on .412 hitting and four blocks.

Sophomore outside hitter Lia Gaogao matched Kramer with six blocks, senior setter Raegan Lindsey had 27 assists, and freshman setter Ashley Watkins totaled 24 assists and 12 digs.

"Both of our setters did a great job of finding the gaps we knew we could exploit with our hitters," said Doyon. "Raegan and Ashley did a nice job getting our middles the ball so Idaho couldn't block our wings, which is what they wanted to do."

And then there was Ahearn, who was making pancake digs seemingly every other point, in the often overlooked position of libero. Her 20 digs were a season high and one off her career high.

Those don't include her solid serve reception, which was the only way Montana was able to put down a season-high 59 kills.

"Sadie struggled a little on Thursday, but she came out today and really took control of the back row and passed well," said Doyon.

"She does a good job taking charge. She keeps everyone calm and communicates with her teammates about what's happening as the play develops. She had a great day."

Montana will play its first Big Sky road matches next week when the Grizzlies play at Sacramento State and Montana State.