Griz make short trip to Idaho, Eastern Washington

Montana at Idaho / Thursday / 7 p.m. (MT) / Moscow, Idaho
Video: Pluto TV (ch. 542)
Stats: Live Stats

Montana at Eastern Washington / 7 p.m. (MT) / Cheney, Wash.
Video: Pluto TV (ch. 534)
Stats: Live Stats

The goal for any team is to be playing at its highest level toward the end of the season, which has been the case for the Montana volleyball team. The Grizzlies have just three conference wins, but all three have come in the last month, including two in the past two weeks.

Montana beat Portland State at home on Oct. 26 before traveling to Montana State and beating the Bobcats in Bozeman last week.

"We have a new confidence after finally getting some results," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "When we've been successful, we've been playing free and confidently and have just gone for it."

The Grizzlies have won two of their past three matches overall, with the one defeat coming in four sets to first-place Northern Colorado and the thing that stood out to Lawrence was the difference between last week and when the two teams met in late September in Greeley.

Montana will try to continue its upward trajectory this weekend as the Grizzlies make a short drive along I-90 to Idaho (Thursday) and Eastern Washington (Friday).

"We have three weeks left and we're so motivated to continue to find our peak," Lawrence said. "We're finding our rhythm at the right time and we feel like we're still in the hunt for the conference tournament, and we're motivated to just get better week after week."

THIS IS WHERE THE TURNAROUND BEGAN
It's no secret that the 2019 season has had its lumps. Playing with a roster predominantly made up of freshmen, in addition to being without their three-year starting setter, the Grizzlies lost their first 25 sets. When Montana prepared to play Eastern Washington and Idaho in Missoula in October, the Grizzlies were just 1-12 on the season.

Montana is still trying to find its form, but started playing better that weekend the Grizzlies hosted the Eagles and Vandals. Montana opened homecoming weekend with a 3-0 win over Eastern Washington, before taking Idaho to four sets.

After winning a set in just two of the team's first 13 matches, the Grizzlies have done so in nine of the 10 matches since – including three wins.

"Our growth has been unbelievable," Lawrence said. "We didn't get a ton of results through the beginning of the season, but I think what you're seeing now is a testament to the hard work we've put in when no one is watching.

Final practice in Missoula!

Next up: Moscow, Idaho#GrizVB #GoGriz #UpWithMontana pic.twitter.com/Gn9ca8Xct3
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) November 7, 2019

SCOUTING IDAHO

Idaho enters Thursday's match with a 12-12 record overall, but an 8-4 mark in Big Sky play. The Vandals have won six of nine matches since playing the Grizzlies in early October and are currently tied for second in the Big Sky.
The Vandals are a perfect 5-0 at home in league play.
Idaho ranks 16^th nationally for blocking (2.71 per set), with two players – Kyra Palmbush (1.18) and Nicole Ball (1.12) ranking in the top 100 nationally.
In addition to leading the Big Sky for blocking, the Vandals rank second for hitting percentage (.237) and are in the upper-half for assists and kills.
Idaho has three of the league's top attackers, with Ball (.315, sixth), Kennedy Warren (.306, seventh) and Palmbush (.303, ninth) all hitting above .300 and ranking in the top 10. Warren also ranks sixth with 3.59 kills per set.
Running a 6-2 offense, Idaho has two players with 6.85 assists or more.
Idaho returned 11 letterwinners from last year's team, but just one starter.
The Vandals won 23 matches in 2018, including a 15-3 mark in Big Sky play to tie NAU for the regular-season title.
Debbie Buchanan is the longest-tenured coach in Idaho history. Now in her 20th season, she won her 300th match earlier this season

SERIES HISTORY VS. IDAHO
Montana's series vs. Idaho dates back to the Grizzlies' first-ever match, in 1975. Montana is 27-38 vs. the Vandals, including 10-17 in Moscow. The Grizzlies are looking for their first win in Moscow since 1991, having lost 13 in a row.

In last month's four-set match vs. Idaho, Amethyst Harper had a career-high 21 kills while Janna Grimsrud added 12 kills on .524 hitting. Montana had three players in double figures for digs and totaled seven service aces, including four from Elsa Godwin.
In that 2017 home loss, Missy Huddleston had 16 kills and 15 digs, while Ashley Watkins set a career high with 66 assists.
Montana is looking for just its second win over Idaho since 2000. Idaho has won 16 of the past 17 meetings, with the lone exception being a 3-2 Griz victory in Missoula in 2006.
From 1986-91, Montana won 12 consecutive matches in the series.

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON

Eastern Washington enters the week with a 5-13 record overall, including 3-9 in Big Sky play. Prior to hosting Montana, the Eagles will host Montana State on Thursday night.
EWU has won two of its past four matches – both on the road – against Idaho State (3-0) and Sacramento State (3-2). The Hornets are in the upper-half of the league standings.
The Eagles rank last in the Big Sky for four of seven statistical categories – hitting percentage, opponent hitting, assists and blocks. EWU's best statistical categories are digs (sixth) and service aces (ninth).
Makenna Davis ranks 10^th in Big Sky play with 0.32 aces per set. Davis also adds 2.000 kills per set, which ranks second on the team.
Sophomore Ashlyn Blotzer, a transfer from UC Riverside, leads the Eagles with 2.13 kills and 0.67 blocks per set.
EWU has two players ranked in the top 10 in the Big Sky for digs, led by Catelyn Linke's 4.48 digs-per-set average (fourth). She has recorded at least 20 digs in four consecutive matches.
Like UM, EWU has a young lineup, including six freshmen and 10 newcomers. At least three freshmen have started in nearly every match.
Leslie Flores-Cloud is in her second season in Cheney. She was previously the associate head coach for five seasons at Drake.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE EAGLES
Montana is 57-40 all-time against Eastern Washington and is 18-23 vs. the Eagles in Cheney. Montana has won four in a row over Eastern Washington dating back to the final match of the 2017 season, its best stretch since winning 13 in a row from 1990-96.

In last month's sweep over Eastern Washington, the Grizzlies tallied nine service aces and held the Eagles to .073 hitting. Elsa Godwin had five of the aces.
In its two wins over EWU in 2018, Montana recorded its two highest hitting percentages of the season, hitting a combined .329.
Twice, Missy Huddleston has had a double-figure kills performance against the Eagles, recording 10 kills on .318 hitting in 2018 at home and 18 kills at a .326 clip in 2017 in Cheney. Ashley Watkins averaged 11.6 assists per set in two matches in 2018, including 50 in a four-set win in Missoula. Libero Sarina Moreno is averaging 4.1 digs per set in three career matches vs. the Eagles.
The Grizzlies have beaten the Eagles more than any other opponent aside from Montana State, with the two teams playing at least once every season since 1975.
From 1978-96, Montana went 37-3 against the Eagles winning 19 in a row at one point. Immediately following that stretch, from 1996-2008, the Eagles won 24 of 25.

HUDDLESTON NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Missy Huddleston started the first 19 matches of her senior season as right-side attacker, averaging a respectable 2.14 kills per set (third on the team) while hitting .134 and adding 2.42 digs per set, five service aces and 0.46 blocks per set.

She then moved to the middle blocker position – a spot she hadn't played since high school – when fellow senior Janna Grimsrud went down with an injury.
In four matches in the middle, Huddleston is averaging 3.19 kills per set on .265 hitting. She has five aces over those four matches, and most impressive, she is averaging 1.38 blocks per set (22 blocks in just 16 sets). Spread across an entire season, Huddleston's blocking average would lead the Big Sky Conference.

In two matches last week – including Montana's win at Montana State – Huddleston averaged 1.50 blocks, 1.75 digs and 3.75 kills per set to be named the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week.

What an honor for an incredible athlete and teammate!

📰 https://t.co/xKNvRlfnbB #GrizVB #GoGriz #BigSkyVB pic.twitter.com/tnRF22T8In
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) November 4, 2019

BIG WIN IN BOZEMAN
The highlight of the season so far came last week when Montana traveled to Bozeman and beat Montana State in four sets. It was the team's first win at Montana State since 2015. In the match, freshman Amethyst Harper had 21 kills on .395 hitting while Missy Huddleston totaled 14 kills. A month after the Bobcats swept the Grizzlies in Missoula, Montana out-hit, out-dug and out-served Montana State.

Montana used a 9-3 run to take control of Set 1, and after its largest loss of the season in Set 2, bounced back to win the final two frames, never trailing over the final 68 points.

IN THE RANKINGS

Amethyst Harper ranks fourth in Big Sky play with 3.78 kills per set. The figure is best among all freshmen.
Ashley Watkins ranks fifth with 9.71 assists per set.
Elsa Godwin ranks fourth with 0.42 service aces per set.
Janna Grimsrud ranks seventh with 1.05 blocks per set.

A PEEK AT THE STANDINGS
With three weeks remaining in the regular season, Northern Colorado (11-1) is running away with the league, currently holding a three-game advantage over second-place Weber State (8-4) and Idaho (8-4). Northern Arizona and Sacramento State are also in the upper-half of the league standings (7-5), while Montana State sits at 6-6.

Five teams are currently fighting for the final two spots for the Big Sky tournament, which will be held later this month in Sacramento. Southern Utah and Portland State (5-7) currently have a two-game advantage over the other three schools – Montana, Eastern Washington and Idaho State (3-9).

The Grizzlies are still in the mix for one of those final spots, with three of their final six matches being against teams they're competing for the final spots with. Additionally, Montana would hold a potential tiebreaker over Portland State, due to the Grizzlies' 3-1 victory over the Vikings in the only meeting of the season.

LOOKING AHEAD
Montana will play its final two home matches next week, hosting Northern Arizona (Nov. 14) and Southern Utah (Nov. 16). Prior to the match against the Thunderbirds, Montana will recognize its three seniors.

Week 11 Press Conference with Allison Lawrence https://t.co/6Zf58ERkUu
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) November 4, 2019

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elsa Godwin

Janna Grimsrud

Amethyst Harper

Missy Huddleston

Sarina Moreno

Ashley Watkins

University of Montana Athletics