Saturday, October 26
Missoula, Mont.
7 PM
Montana
3-18, 2-8BSC
3
vs
1
Portland State
8-13, 4-6BSC
1
2
3
4
F
Portland State
12
25
23
20
1
Montana
25
18
25
25
3
Photo by: Derek Johnson
Montana puts it all together in dominant win over Portland State
10/26/2019 11:11:00 PM | Volleyball
MISSOULA, Mont. – Montana put together one of its most dominating performances of the season on Saturday, handily beating Portland State 3-1 (25-12, 18-25, 25-23, 25-20). During Montana's three set victories, the Grizzlies trailed for just 14 total points, and never later than 11-10.
The Grizzlies had a complete performance, recording more kills, a higher hitting percentage, more service aces, more digs and more blocks than the Vikings. Behind 10 team blocks, Montana held Portland State to a .109 hitting percentage.
Perhaps the most telling statistic, though, was Montana's 71-60 advantage in digs. The Vikings entered Saturday leading the Big Sky Conference and ranked 25th nationally with more than 17 digs per set. The Grizzlies held the Vikings under their season average and had four players in double figures for digs, led by libero Sarina Moreno's 19.
Ball control has been Montana's Achilles heel, which made the team's performance all the more special.
"The least exciting thing for a fan watching was the thing I was most excited about," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "We've been fighting and fighting and fighting to establish ourselves in serve-receive, and that's a really good serving team. They picked us apart in a few moments, and you could feel how they were gaining control, but I thought our response and our resilience to that was really good.
"That allowed us to be calm on defense and calm attacking. Since we weren't so stressed on that, I think we were able to focus more on our details."
Gallery: (10/26/2019) VB: vs. Portland State (10.26.19)
Outside hitter Amethyst Harper led all players with 19 kills – in addition to 14 digs and four blocks – as the freshman reached at least 15 kills for the sixth time in the past seven matches.
The star of the night, though, was senior Missy Huddleston.
Montana was playing without its top point-scorer Janna Grimsrud (injury) for the second consecutive match, and once again Huddleston shifted over to the middle blocker position, an area she hadn't patrolled since high school.
Huddleston finished the night with 15 kills on an astonishing .438 hitting.
She took 32 swings – a high number for a middle – and didn't make her first attack error until she had already racked up 14 kills. Her only attack error of the night came when she was whistled for her foot crossing underneath the net.
In addition to her 15 kills, Huddleston also added 10 digs, four blocks and a service ace.
"It brought back some memories to my high school days," Huddleston said. "I really doubted myself against Sac State (on Thursday) and questioned if I could do it, but I came out today with the mindset that I was just going to go after it. I played with it and my confidence grew."
Lawrence was left nearly speechless by her senior's performance.
"I can't state how difficult it is to go play middle when you have not played that position in a long time," Lawrence said. "Her athleticism allows her to do that, but it takes a rare person and a rare athlete to make that transition, and to do that as well as be our best passer and dig in three positions in the back court."
Montana set the tone early, dominating the Vikings in the opening frame, 25-12. The Grizzlies hit .429 while holding the visitors to a -.062 percentage, thanks in large part to six blocks.
Trailing 11-8 early, Montana used a 5-0 run with Moreno serving to take control of the set. In addition to a Moreno ace, the Grizzlies got three kills from Huddleston during the run, forcing a Portland State timeout. Montana didn't let off the gas, extending its lead to as many as five points before finishing off the set.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the fourth set and led from that point forward, including by as many as six points. Elsa Godwin, who finished the night with 11 kills and two service aces, sealed the win with a kill and an ace.
The win snapped the Grizzlies' six-match losing skid – which featured Montana taking at least a set in five of them – and came against a team that was coming off of a surprising win over Montana State on Thursday night which vaulted the Vikings into the middle of the Big Sky standings.
While it's just one win, Montana is hoping that the victory can propel them forward into the second half of Big Sky play.
"This could be a huge turning point for us," Huddleston said. "We're going to take this win and try to keep the momentum going. I hope for the rest of the season we keep it going from here."
(on a shift in mindset from her team)
"We sat in the locker room after Thursday's match at Sac. We've been talking so much about our process and feeling like we're almost there. I think at that point, we decided that instead of saying we're almost doing it or we're going to do it, we're going to acknowledge that we've done it, we're here. I think that little shift in mentality, we really took with us tonight."
(more on Huddleston)
"It's one of the coolest moments of this season and that I've experienced from her career. She embodies all of our values and has this incredible work ethic. When she has success, our team really rallies behind her."
(on out-digging Portland State)
"I think a lot of that came from our blocking and serving, too. Every part of our defense just allowed us to be really patient on defense, let our block do a lot of work and then execute around it. Sarina (Moreno) has been doing such a good job with her spacing, her court position and her eyework. She's been playing like a veteran and has stepped up her game. Elsa (Godwin) has been solid on defense, and I thought Am (Harper) came up with some surprising digs and extended rallies.
Looking Ahead
Montana will have a short turnaround, traveling to Bozeman to face Montana State on Tuesday in the second installment of the Brawl of the Wild. After losing to Portland State on Thursday, Montana State bounced back with a 3-2 victory over Sacramento State on Saturday, including a 19-17 win in Set 5.
First serve is slated for 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast across the state on SWX Montana, in addition to being available on Pluto TV and WatchBigSky.com.
The Grizzlies had a complete performance, recording more kills, a higher hitting percentage, more service aces, more digs and more blocks than the Vikings. Behind 10 team blocks, Montana held Portland State to a .109 hitting percentage.
Perhaps the most telling statistic, though, was Montana's 71-60 advantage in digs. The Vikings entered Saturday leading the Big Sky Conference and ranked 25th nationally with more than 17 digs per set. The Grizzlies held the Vikings under their season average and had four players in double figures for digs, led by libero Sarina Moreno's 19.
Ball control has been Montana's Achilles heel, which made the team's performance all the more special.
"The least exciting thing for a fan watching was the thing I was most excited about," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "We've been fighting and fighting and fighting to establish ourselves in serve-receive, and that's a really good serving team. They picked us apart in a few moments, and you could feel how they were gaining control, but I thought our response and our resilience to that was really good.
"That allowed us to be calm on defense and calm attacking. Since we weren't so stressed on that, I think we were able to focus more on our details."
Outside hitter Amethyst Harper led all players with 19 kills – in addition to 14 digs and four blocks – as the freshman reached at least 15 kills for the sixth time in the past seven matches.
The star of the night, though, was senior Missy Huddleston.
Montana was playing without its top point-scorer Janna Grimsrud (injury) for the second consecutive match, and once again Huddleston shifted over to the middle blocker position, an area she hadn't patrolled since high school.
Huddleston finished the night with 15 kills on an astonishing .438 hitting.
She took 32 swings – a high number for a middle – and didn't make her first attack error until she had already racked up 14 kills. Her only attack error of the night came when she was whistled for her foot crossing underneath the net.
In addition to her 15 kills, Huddleston also added 10 digs, four blocks and a service ace.
"It brought back some memories to my high school days," Huddleston said. "I really doubted myself against Sac State (on Thursday) and questioned if I could do it, but I came out today with the mindset that I was just going to go after it. I played with it and my confidence grew."
Lawrence was left nearly speechless by her senior's performance.
"I can't state how difficult it is to go play middle when you have not played that position in a long time," Lawrence said. "Her athleticism allows her to do that, but it takes a rare person and a rare athlete to make that transition, and to do that as well as be our best passer and dig in three positions in the back court."
Montana set the tone early, dominating the Vikings in the opening frame, 25-12. The Grizzlies hit .429 while holding the visitors to a -.062 percentage, thanks in large part to six blocks.
Despite leading the second set 15-12, Portland State stormed back to tie the match at 1-1. Again, though, Montana asserted itself in the third set.How fun was that? Montana takes Set 1, 25-12!#GrizVB #GoGriz #UpWithMontana pic.twitter.com/XWns75mxvL
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) October 27, 2019
Trailing 11-8 early, Montana used a 5-0 run with Moreno serving to take control of the set. In addition to a Moreno ace, the Grizzlies got three kills from Huddleston during the run, forcing a Portland State timeout. Montana didn't let off the gas, extending its lead to as many as five points before finishing off the set.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the fourth set and led from that point forward, including by as many as six points. Elsa Godwin, who finished the night with 11 kills and two service aces, sealed the win with a kill and an ace.
The win snapped the Grizzlies' six-match losing skid – which featured Montana taking at least a set in five of them – and came against a team that was coming off of a surprising win over Montana State on Thursday night which vaulted the Vikings into the middle of the Big Sky standings.
While it's just one win, Montana is hoping that the victory can propel them forward into the second half of Big Sky play.
"This could be a huge turning point for us," Huddleston said. "We're going to take this win and try to keep the momentum going. I hope for the rest of the season we keep it going from here."
Match NotablesUpdate: Missy Huddleston is still good!
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) October 27, 2019
15 kills on .483 hitting, in addition to 7 digs and 4 blocks! pic.twitter.com/KNmZM9BtTw
- The Vikings, who entered the match leading the Big Sky and ranked 25th nationally for digs, were limited to 60 on Saturday. The total is the lowest Portland State has recorded in a four-set match this season.
- For comparison, during Thursday's four-set victory over Montana State, the Vikings totaled 81 digs.
- Montana out-dug the Vikings by 11 (71-60), Portland State's negative margin of Big Sky play.
- The Grizzlies hit .215 for the match, its third-highest percentage of the season. Portland State's .109 clip was the second-lowest by a Griz opponent this season.
- Montana recorded 10 team blocks, reaching double figures for the second consecutive match and fourth time in its past six. Amethyst Harper had a career-high four, tied with Missy Huddleston for the team lead.
- Montana's 13-point victory in the opening set was its second-largest of the season, trailing only its 25-11 win in Set 3 over Eastern Washington.
- In the first set, Montana recorded 15 kills and just three errors (.429), compared to six kills and eight errors (-.062) for the Vikings.
- Freshman Amethyst Harper had a match-high 19 kills, the second-highest total of her career. Over the past seven matches, she has reached at least 15 kills six times, and is averaging 4.00 kills per set on .206 hitting, in addition to 2.82 digs per set.
- In her second career match playing at middle blocker, senior Missy Huddleston had 15 kills on a season-best .438 hitting percentage. She made just one error on 32 swings, also adding 10 digs, a team-high-tying four blocks and a service ace.
- Huddleston didn't make her first error until her 29th swing of the match, after she had already racked up 14 kills.
- In two matches this week, while playing a new position, Huddleston averaged a double-double with 2.63 kills, 2.75 digs and 1.25 blocks per set, plus four service aces.
- Sophomore libero Sarina Moreno had 19 digs, her second-highest total in a four-set match this season. She also added two service aces, to go along with her two aces from Thursday.
- Freshman defensive specialist Isabelle Garrido totaled 15 digs, the second-highest of her career. On the weekend, she averaged 4.33 digs per set after entering the week with a 1.70 average. She also had a service ace to begin Set 4.
- Freshman Elsa Godwin had 11 kills, reaching double figures for the second match in a row and third in her past four after doing it once over her first 16 matches. Godwin, who ranks second in the Big Sky for service aces, added two more, including one on the final point of the match.
- Senior setter Ashley Watkins had 48 assists, an average of 12.0 assists per set (compared to her season average of 8.80). She also added three blocks and two kills.
- Freshman middle blocker Alicia Wallingford saw the most action of her career, starting the final two sets. She recorded the first two blocks of her career, including her first, which capped a 4-0 Griz run in the third set that turned a one-point advantage into a five-point separation, 20-15.
- Starting on the right side for the second consecutive match, freshman Catie Semadeni had a nice night with six kills on .250 hitting.
Quoting LawrenceElsa Godwin finishes it off with a kill and ace! Montana wins!#GrizVB #GoGriz #UpWithMontana pic.twitter.com/ji2oEwH8R0
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) October 27, 2019
(on a shift in mindset from her team)
"We sat in the locker room after Thursday's match at Sac. We've been talking so much about our process and feeling like we're almost there. I think at that point, we decided that instead of saying we're almost doing it or we're going to do it, we're going to acknowledge that we've done it, we're here. I think that little shift in mentality, we really took with us tonight."
(more on Huddleston)
"It's one of the coolest moments of this season and that I've experienced from her career. She embodies all of our values and has this incredible work ethic. When she has success, our team really rallies behind her."
(on out-digging Portland State)
"I think a lot of that came from our blocking and serving, too. Every part of our defense just allowed us to be really patient on defense, let our block do a lot of work and then execute around it. Sarina (Moreno) has been doing such a good job with her spacing, her court position and her eyework. She's been playing like a veteran and has stepped up her game. Elsa (Godwin) has been solid on defense, and I thought Am (Harper) came up with some surprising digs and extended rallies.
Looking Ahead
Montana will have a short turnaround, traveling to Bozeman to face Montana State on Tuesday in the second installment of the Brawl of the Wild. After losing to Portland State on Thursday, Montana State bounced back with a 3-2 victory over Sacramento State on Saturday, including a 19-17 win in Set 5.
First serve is slated for 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast across the state on SWX Montana, in addition to being available on Pluto TV and WatchBigSky.com.
Amethyst Harper is heating up! The freshman is up to 14 kills and Montana's lead is growing! pic.twitter.com/S8XZQ8EQ0v
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) October 27, 2019
Team Stats
PSU
UM
Kills
43
54
Errors
27
22
Attempts
147
149
Hitting %
.109
.215
Points
54.0
70.0
Assists
40
53
Aces
3
6
Blocks
8.0
10.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
19
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
15
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
11
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOPP/MB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH/OPP
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
S
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