Montana picks up first Big Sky win

Saturday, October 7

Ogden, Utah

7:00 PM

Montana

6-13,BSC 1-5

Weber State

4-14,BSC 2-4

Montana

Weber State

10/7/2017 10:46:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)

By: Montana Sports Information

It was a day of comebacks for the Montana Grizzlies on Saturday. Hours after the football squad's rally in Pocatello, the volleyball team picked up its first Big Sky Conference victory of the season, winning 3-1 over Weber State in Ogden, Utah.

The Grizzlies (6-13, 1-5 BSC) dropped the opening set but used a gut-check win in set No. 3 to down the Wildcats (4-14, 2-4 BSC) 23-25, 25-22, 28-26, 25-19. It was Montana's first Big Sky road win in nearly two years.

"Obviously this will give us confidence, but I think we already had that," said first-year coach Allison Lawrence. "We knew we'd get here if we focused on the right things.

"The only thing we talked about before the match was being good teammates and playing for each other and not walking away from each other no matter what happens. I was really proud of the team and how they enjoyed playing for each other."

Missy Huddleston had a career-high 23 kills, but she wasn't the only offensive weapon, as Montana hit a season-best .270. Maddy Marshall had a season-high 16 kills, Baily Permann added a season-high 15 kills on .483 hitting, and Mykaela Hammer put down 14.

While Montana had season-best offensive numbers across the board, it was partly the solid passing of libero Lia Gaogao and her back-row teammates that made it possible.

Inserted into the lineup after the Grizzlies found themselves in a 2-0 hole on Thursday night at Idaho State, she almost sparked Montana to a win before the Bengals pulled out a five-set victory.

On Saturday night she had 33 digs, the most for the team since Brittney Brown in 2010, and anchored the team's serve-receive that only allowed Weber State a pair of service aces.

"Lia is such a giver and such an instinctive player," said Lawrence. "She reads the game incredibly well and comes up with big plays in big moments. She was our glue tonight. She held us together.

"If she gets beat on something, she doesn't get beat on the same thing twice. She frustrates an offense in that way. She was confident in serve-receive, and that makes our other passers confident."

After the teams split the first two sets, Montana built a 21-14 lead in the third. Weber State, behind the serving of Megan Gneiting, would not only close the gap, the Wildcats took a 24-23 lead on a Gneiting service ace.

McKenzie Kramer evened it at 24-24 with a kill, and after the Wildcats earned another set-point opportunity at 25-24, Huddleston had back-to-back kills to put the Grizzlies back on top.

"Their momentum took a huge surge, and we were on our heels," said Lawrence. "Somewhere in there we made a switch to still go out and take it.

"We knew if we could just control the first ball and get a ball to the setter, we were going to get a kill. I think we had confidence in that moment."

Montana finished it on its second set point, using a Weber State hitting error to win 28-26.

Huddleston had nine of Montana's 20 kills in the set. Her 23 for the match came on .400 hitting, with just five errors on 45 swings.

"Missy is really coming into her own as far as knowing when to swing for a kill and when to swing to put the defense off balance," said Lawrence.

"We knew if she could manage her rallies a little bit better, she was going to be deadly. Tonight she was so smart, so composed and really courageous in her decision-making. When the ball was in the right spot and she was in the right spot, she terminated like an upperclassman."

Weber State jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the fourth, but that would be the Wildcats' last highlight. Montana scored 13 of the next 17 points to pull away and win for the seventh time in eight trips to Ogden.

Montana hit .270 for the match, the Grizzlies' best performance of the season and first time over .200 since Sept. 8. Directing play from her setter position was Ashley Watkins, who totaled a career-high 63 assists.

"Ashley ran the court and set the right hitters at the right time," said Lawrence. "Everything we've been working on, the details were all there.

"And I think we made better choices as hitters. We attacked the weak parts of their block and their defense much better. They gave us a little bit of line, and I think we're physical enough at the pins to terminate regardless if there is a defender back there."

Montana will host Northern Colorado on Friday and North Dakota on Saturday, both matches at 7 p.m. in the West Auxiliary Gym, as the Grizzlies play seven of their final 10 regular-season matches at home.