Griz split on second day at North Texas

Saturday, August 26

Denton, Texas

2:30 PM (MT)

Montana

2-0

Tulsa

1-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Montana	26	14	20	25	15	3
Tulsa	24	25	25	15	10	2

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Montana	18	18	16	0
North Texas	25	25	25	3

8/26/2017 9:16:00 PM | Volleyball

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By: Montana Sports Information

Montana rallied to defeat Tulsa in five sets and later fell 3-0 to the host Mean Green as the North Texas Invitational wrapped up on Saturday at Denton, Texas.

The Grizzlies, who opened the weekend with a victory over UTEP on Friday night, finished 2-1 on their season-opening road trip, 1-1 in actual tournament matches to finish second behind North Texas, which defeated Tulsa on Friday.

Junior Mykaela Hammer, who averaged 3.25 kills on .281 hitting and 1.25 blocks, and sophomore setter Ashley Watkins, who averaged 9.17 assists and led the team to .210 hitting for three matches, were both named to the all-tournament team.

"I couldn't be more proud of this team," said first-year coach Allison Lawrence. "I could go through the entire team and list everything well they did. Everyone showed up ready to play, and we were a cohesive unit from the opening point on Friday.

"The fight and the desire to play for each other was stronger than I've seen it in a really long time. It was really fun to watch them play volleyball."

Montana opened its day with a 26-24, 14-25, 20-25, 25-15, 15-10 victory over the Golden Hurricane.

The Grizzlies built a 19-14 lead in the first set before giving up nine straight points to fall behind 23-19. Consecutive blocks by Baily Permann, who would finish with a match-high seven, got Montana back in the set, and a kill by Missy Huddleston helped the Grizzlies pull out the victory.

That would be important, because Tulsa dominated the second and third sets, hitting .484.

"We were getting run around a little bit by their middles in transition. We were getting up with them. We just weren't lining up on them well," said Lawrence.

Montana broke away early in the fourth set and rolled to a 10-point win, then got out fast again in the fifth, going up 5-2.

A Huddleston kill broke a 9-9 deadlock, back-to-back kills by Hammer made it 12-9, and Hammer and McKenzie Kramer teamed up for a block to cap a four-point run that put Montana ahead 13-9.

Hammer ended the match putting down her 19th kill, a new career high. She also added six blocks and a match-high three service aces.

"We started to have faster eyes and were able to process the offense coming at us a little better," said Lawrence. "When we were able to do that better, we got some more blocks and forced them to use different hitters at different times than they wanted to.

"I think that opened things up for us to run more points when we were serving."

Huddleston had a career-high 17 kills and 14 digs, Cassie Laramee added 14 kills. Watkins totaled 51 assists, Shannon Casale had 20 digs.

Less than two hours after the conclusion of that match, Montana was back on the court against North Texas.

The Grizzlies didn't hold a single lead in the match as the Mean Green's Amanda Chamberlain, who was voted tournament MVP, had 14 kills on .667 hitting and four blocks. Alexis Wright added 11 kills on .625 hitting.

"I don't think we were tired or gassed," said Lawrence. "They ran a fast, fast offense that we had trouble keeping up with. They were physical and had several weapons at the net that stressed us out.

"I think we matched them physically at the pins, but in the middle, they were up too quickly for us in transition."

Hammer was limited to six kills and forced into five attack errors, but she did lead both teams with seven blocks. Permann added three kills on .429 hitting and five blocks.

Montana will play three matches in three days next week at Utah Valley's tournament in Orem. The Grizzlies will face Long Beach State on Thursday, the host Wolverines on Friday and No. 8 Kansas on Saturday.