Hornets too much for Grizzlies

Thursday, September 29

Sacramento, Calif.

8:00 PM (MT)

Montana

4-9, 1-2BSC

Sacramento State

9-8, 3-0BSC

Montana

Sacramento State

9/29/2016 10:25:00 PM | Volleyball

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By: Montana Sports Information

Sacramento State, co-leader of the Big Sky Conference South Division, limited the Montana volleyball team to .061 hitting and swept the Grizzlies Thursday night at The Nest in Sacramento, 25-17, 25-16, 25-22.

Montana (4-9, 1-2 BSC), which had won three of its previous four, lost in straight sets for the first time since Sept. 16. The Hornets (9-8, 3-0 BSC) won their third straight match to keep pace in the South Division standings with league favorite Northern Arizona.

Sacramento State hit .223 in a match that had just four lead changes.

Montana had been getting good production from its outside hitters the last two weeks, but Sacramento State had a game plan to put an end to that. The Grizzlies' left- and right-side hitters had 22 kills and all 21 of the team's attack errors to hit .011.

The team's middle blockers, who combined for just four kills, weren't able to make up the difference as the Grizzlies fell to 4-16 at The Nest.

Montana raced out to an 8-4 lead in the opener, but the rest of the set would belong to Sacramento State, which limited the Grizzlies to .000 hitting.

The Hornets never trailed and hit .238 in winning the second set 25-16.

After a back-and-forth start to the third set, Sacramento State was able to build a 19-14 advantage. That lead vanished in five points. A Mykaela Hammer kill plus four Hornet errors allowed the Grizzlies to even the score at 19-19.

A pair of kills by Alexis Urbach brought Montana even again at 22-22, but three straight kills by the Hornets, the last two by Madeline Cannon, who had nine kills on .471 hitting, ended the match.

It was the eighth time in 13 matches this season that Montana has hit below .100.

Urbach had a team-high eight kills on .115 hitting. Missy Huddleston finished with six kills on .160 hitting.

Hammer and fellow middle blocker McKenzie Kramer combined to hit .235. Kramer added a match-high four blocks.

Libero Sadie Ahearn led both teams with 16 digs.

Montana will face Montana State (2-10, 0-3 BSC) Saturday at 7 p.m. in Bozeman. The Bobcats lost at Portland State Thursday night 25-15, 25-15, 25-20.