Montana on two-match road trip

PDF Game Notes

The Montana volleyball team will play a pair of matches this week on the road, facing Idaho State and Weber State. The Grizzlies will face the Bengals at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Pocatello and the Wildcats on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Ogden.

When the road trip is complete, Montana will have played 18 of its first 19 matches this season away from Missoula. The payback for the Grizzlies will be playing seven of their final 10 regular-season matches at home.

Where they stand: Montana is 5-12 and alone at the bottom of the Big Sky Conference North Division standings at 0-4. The Grizzlies are one of two league teams, along with Southern Utah, who are still seeking their first Big Sky win.

Idaho State is 4-13 and 1-3 in league after defeating Southern Utah in straight sets at home on Saturday night for Big Sky win No. 1. Weber State is 4-12, 2-2 in league after taking down both Southern Utah and Northern Arizona at home last week, both in 3-0 sweeps. Both teams are in the South Division.

Trending: Montana has dropped nine consecutive matches since defeating Nebraska-Omaha in Des Moines, Iowa, back on Sept. 8. The Grizzlies have won just a single set while opening their Big Sky schedule with four straight losses.

Idaho State snapped an 11-match losing streak with its 3-0 victory over Southern Utah on Saturday. The Bengals had won just a single set in its previous nine matches before limiting the Thunderbirds to .077 hitting.

Weber State had dropped eight of nine, including league-opening losses at Sacramento State and Portland State, before breaking out at home last week. Sweeping Southern Utah wasn't a shocker, but Saturday's 3-0 defeat of Northern Arizona was an eye-opener.

What's at stake: With the Big Sky schedule at the quarter pole (four matches down for each team, a dozen to go), programs can begin to take stock of their situations. That includes Montana.

A 0-4 hole doesn't end the Grizzlies' chances of making the Big Sky tournament, but with the cut last year to make the postseason at 6-10, if that repeats, Montana would have to go 6-6 the rest of the way to be playing beyond Nov. 11.

Montana has more wins this season than either Idaho State or Weber State, but both of those programs have a spark of momentum after seeing some success at home last week.

With Northern Colorado and North Dakota on the schedule next week, a win or two this weekend almost feels critical.

"To achieve some of our goals that are outcome-based, one being to go to the conference tournament, this week is crucial for us to have a breakthrough win or two," said coach Allison Lawrence.

"We're going to be in situations more and more frequently as the season goes along where everything we're doing can be made that much more meaningful if we see some success on the other end of it with a win."

Montana opened league with losses on the road at Eastern Washington and Idaho, then dropped its home opener on Thursday to Sacramento State. On Saturday, a 3-0 loss at Montana State.

The outside-looking-in viewpoint might suggest a team whose spirit is broken. According to Lawrence that is not the case.

"We just came off our best week of practice since we started the season," she said. "We keep resetting to a really healthy place and remain just as optimistic and hopeful as we were at the beginning of the season or coming off some of our wins at the beginning of the season.

"I don't have this worry that if we don't see something from the effort we're putting in it means we're going to fall apart. I think we're strong and know that if our breakthrough comes in our next match or next season, it's going to be worth all the work we're putting in.

"It might sound like a broken record, but that's the path we're on. When we as a program decided in January to believe in the things we started to believe in, we knew there would be no quick fixes to being successful. If you want long-term success that is sustainable, there are definitely no quick fixes."

Match notes:

* On Montana's current nine-match slide, its opponents have put down 114 more kills than the Grizzlies. After hitting better than .200 four times in the first eight matches, Montana is hitting .121 the last nine to drop to .150 for the season.

* Idaho State, which finished fifth last year at 10-6 in league, was picked sixth in the preseason coaches' poll. Weber State, the best team not to make last year's tournament after finishing ninth at 5-11, was picked eighth in this year's poll.

* Fourth-year junior Mykaela Hammer continues to be Montana's upperclassman leader. She had 10 kills on .400 hitting in Thursday's loss to Sacramento State, with 11 digs. It was her fourth double-double of the season. She is hitting .188, the best of any of Montana's outside hitters.

* Montana leads the series with Idaho State 41-35, but that advantage is shrinking quickly. The Bengals have won the teams' last seven matchups overall and the last five in Pocatello. The Grizzlies' last win at Idaho State came in 2009.

* Montana leads the series with Weber State 47-30. The Grizzlies have won nine of the teams' last 13 matchups to extend that advantage. The Wildcats have won the last two meetings, 3-1 in 2015 and 3-1 in 2016, both in Missoula. Montana has won six of seven in Ogden against Weber State.

* The Grizzlies have had a losing streak of nine or more matches three of the last four seasons.

* Alexis Urbach had a nice match in Saturday's loss at Montana State, putting down six kills on .200 hitting. Two days earlier, McKenzie Kramer had a season-high seven kills with one error on 11 swings to hit .545 against Sacramento State.

* Montana ranks in the top half of the Big Sky in just one category: blocks. The Grizzlies are averaging 2.22 per set, a huge jump from 1.42 last year and have more blocks this season than their opponents.

* Weber State leads the Big Sky in blocks at 2.83/set, yet the Wildcats are allowing their opponents to hit .241. Only Idaho State is worse, at .253.

* Shannon Casale ranks third in the Big Sky in digs (4.36/s), Ashley Watkins ranks sixth in assists (8.79/s), and Mykaela Hammer ranks seventh in kills (3.37/set).

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Team of the first quarter: North Dakota. Since dropping their first set of their first league match at Southern Utah, the Fighting Hawks have rolled off 12 straight set wins and lead the North Division at 4-0.

* Coach of the first quarter: Ruben Volta, Sacramento State. The Hornets were picked third in the preseason coaches' poll behind North Dakota and Northern Colorado, so a 4-0 start isn't a surprise, but going into Portland State on Saturday and taking out the red-hot Vikings in three sets was impressive.

* Match of the year (to date): North Dakota at Sacramento State on Thursday. One leads the North Division at 4-0, the other the South Division at 4-0. It's early October but it's their only head-to-head meeting this season, so postseason themes come into play.

Thursday's schedule: UM at ISU, MSU at WSU, UI at SUU, EWU at NAU, UNC at PSU, UND at SAC

Non-Montana match to monitor: North Dakota at Sacramento State

Saturday's schedule: UM at WSU, MSU at ISU, EWU at SUU, UI at NAU, UNC at SAC, UND at PSU

Non-Montana match to monitor: Northern Colorado at Sacramento State or North Dakota at Portland State. Will the team that wins the big match on Thursday have a letdown on Saturday?

Upcoming: Four straight home matches, starting next week with Northern Colorado on Friday and North Dakota on Saturday. Southern Utah and Northern Arizona arrive the next week.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shannon Casale

Mykaela Hammer

McKenzie Kramer

Alexis Urbach

Ashley Watkins

University of Montana Athletics