Friday, November 8
Cheney, Wash.
7 PM (MT)
Montana
5-20,3-10Big Sky
2
at
3
Eastern Washington
6-20,4-9Big Sky
1
2
3
4
5
F
Montana
16
18
25
25
11
2
Eastern Wash.
25
25
23
21
15
3
Montana falls flat in 5-set loss at Eastern Washington
11/8/2019 11:07:00 PM | Volleyball
CHENEY, Wash. – Montana nearly completed a second road comeback in as many nights, winning the third and fourth sets on Friday night at Eastern Washington.
In the end, Montana got stuck in one rotation in the fifth set, which proved to be the difference. After the Grizzlies took a 7-5 lead in the shortened fifth set, Eastern Washington scored six consecutive points before winning the set 15-11 and the match 3-2 (25-16, 25-18, 23-25, 21-25, 15-11).
"We need to be a team that shows up ready to play, and we didn't seem like ourselves tonight," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "We weren't playing like a composed team that was coming off of a win at Idaho."
Freshman Amethyst Harper had a team-high 19 kills, and nearly willed her team to victory in the fifth set. She had three consecutive points to put the Grizzlies on top, and five kills overall in the final set.
The biggest star, though, was the defending Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
Playing near her hometown of Coeur d'Alene, senior Missy Huddleston had one of the best offensive performances in Montana volleyball history. She had 17 kills on 29 swings without making an error, hitting .586 for the match.
"Missy brings it every night at 100 percent," Lawrence said. "She plays with resilience and dominance, and her heart is so big for this program."
Montana carried the momentum from Set 3 into the fourth set. In both frames, the Grizzlies closed strong to earn the victory.
Tied at 20-20 in the third, Montana was at its best late, getting three kills from Huddleston. The two teams were tied at 19-19 in the fourth set before the Grizzlies earned six of the final eight points.
Tied at each of the first five points, Montana started to separate when Harper recorded three straight kills to put the Grizzlies up 7-5. Instead, Idaho scored the next six points after that – including four on an assortment of Griz errors – to pull away. Montana was within three points several times, but couldn't get closer.
"The sets that we won were close and gut checks, and we fought them out," Lawrence said, "but I never felt like we fully had control. I thought Eastern did a good job of being hyper-aggressive. They scored so well, and once they started rolling on their offense, it unraveled us in every part of our game."
The defeat is hard to swallow, considering the win Montana was coming off of Thursday at Idaho and how handedly the Grizzlies beat the Eagles last week in Missoula. Montana, though, lacked energy at the start of the match and never completely found its form.
The biggest takeaway from the 1-1 weekend is that the team can't get too high or too low from one match.
"We're in the part of the season where one win feels like 10 wins and a loss feels like 10 losses," Lawrence said. "We had a great weekend. We played two five-setters and got one against a really good team. We have to build off of this and get better over these next two weeks."
A victory would have been Montana's fourth in its past five matches and third consecutive road win. It would have put the Grizzlies – who are one of five teams likely battling for the final two spots for the conference tournament – in a strong position with two weeks to play. Montana, though – with tiebreakers over Portland State and the Eagles – still controls its seeding with matches upcoming against the other two teams in the mix, Southern Utah and Idaho State.
Gallery: (11/8/2019) VB: at Eastern Washington (11.8.19)
Match Notables
Montana has four matches remaining in the regular season. Next week, the Grizzlies host Northern Arizona on Thursday, before celebrating its senior class on Saturday night vs. Southern Utah.
In the end, Montana got stuck in one rotation in the fifth set, which proved to be the difference. After the Grizzlies took a 7-5 lead in the shortened fifth set, Eastern Washington scored six consecutive points before winning the set 15-11 and the match 3-2 (25-16, 25-18, 23-25, 21-25, 15-11).
"We need to be a team that shows up ready to play, and we didn't seem like ourselves tonight," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "We weren't playing like a composed team that was coming off of a win at Idaho."
Freshman Amethyst Harper had a team-high 19 kills, and nearly willed her team to victory in the fifth set. She had three consecutive points to put the Grizzlies on top, and five kills overall in the final set.
The biggest star, though, was the defending Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
Playing near her hometown of Coeur d'Alene, senior Missy Huddleston had one of the best offensive performances in Montana volleyball history. She had 17 kills on 29 swings without making an error, hitting .586 for the match.
"Missy brings it every night at 100 percent," Lawrence said. "She plays with resilience and dominance, and her heart is so big for this program."
After Montana started the match sluggish and fell behind 2-0, Huddleston was a big factor in the team's Set-3 victory. She had seven kills on nine swings to get the Grizzlies back into the match.Missy Huddleston 3, Eastern Washington 2
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) November 9, 2019
The senior has 2 kills and a block early in Set 3! pic.twitter.com/fGsTByxxRG
Montana carried the momentum from Set 3 into the fourth set. In both frames, the Grizzlies closed strong to earn the victory.
Tied at 20-20 in the third, Montana was at its best late, getting three kills from Huddleston. The two teams were tied at 19-19 in the fourth set before the Grizzlies earned six of the final eight points.
It looked as if Montana might pull off another incredible comeback. On Thursday night, Montana won the final three sets at Idaho to earn its first win in Moscow since 1991.We're headed to a 4th!#GrizVB #GoGriz #UpWithMontana pic.twitter.com/61RJ1QIgcR
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) November 9, 2019
Tied at each of the first five points, Montana started to separate when Harper recorded three straight kills to put the Grizzlies up 7-5. Instead, Idaho scored the next six points after that – including four on an assortment of Griz errors – to pull away. Montana was within three points several times, but couldn't get closer.
"The sets that we won were close and gut checks, and we fought them out," Lawrence said, "but I never felt like we fully had control. I thought Eastern did a good job of being hyper-aggressive. They scored so well, and once they started rolling on their offense, it unraveled us in every part of our game."
The defeat is hard to swallow, considering the win Montana was coming off of Thursday at Idaho and how handedly the Grizzlies beat the Eagles last week in Missoula. Montana, though, lacked energy at the start of the match and never completely found its form.
The biggest takeaway from the 1-1 weekend is that the team can't get too high or too low from one match.
"We're in the part of the season where one win feels like 10 wins and a loss feels like 10 losses," Lawrence said. "We had a great weekend. We played two five-setters and got one against a really good team. We have to build off of this and get better over these next two weeks."
A victory would have been Montana's fourth in its past five matches and third consecutive road win. It would have put the Grizzlies – who are one of five teams likely battling for the final two spots for the conference tournament – in a strong position with two weeks to play. Montana, though – with tiebreakers over Portland State and the Eagles – still controls its seeding with matches upcoming against the other two teams in the mix, Southern Utah and Idaho State.
Match Notables
- Senior middle blocker Missy Huddleston had 17 kills on 29 swings without making an error. Her .586 hitting percentage was a career best. In addition to Huddleston's 17 kills, she also recorded a dozen digs and five blocks.
- Freshman outside hitter Amethyst Harper once again led the Grizzlies with 19 kills. Fourteen of the kills came over the final three sets.
- Senior setter Ashley Watkins had a double-double with 53 assists and 12 digs. She also added three kills.
- Sophomore libero Sarina Moreno had a team-high 22 digs, her third-highest total of the season. She also had three service aces, including one to give the Griz an 18-14 lead in set 4 and force an Eagles timeout.
- Montana out-blocked Eastern Washington 12-2, including 7-1 in Set 4. Janna Grimsrud had a team-high six blocks, followed by five apiece from Harper and Huddleston.
- Eastern Washington hit above .300 in all three of its set wins and under .200 in both of its losses.
- Set 1: Montana used a 5-0 run to take a quick 5-1 advantage, but EWU scored 11 straight points to jump on top 13-7… The Eagles had seven kills during the run and never trailed for the remainder of the set, out-hitting the Griz, .333 to .030.
- Set 2: Montana bounced back to hit a strong .360 (11-2-25), but EWU was even better (.387, 16-4-31)… The Eagles jumped out to a 10-3 lead and never let Montana get closer than 15-12.
- Set 3: Montana only trailed at 1-0 and 2-1… Montana led 4-3, with Huddleston in on all four points (three kills, one block)… Back-to-back kills from Grimsrud gave Montana a 9-4 lead and forced an Eagles timeout… After EWU tied the set at 20-20, Montana scored the next two points, including an Isabelle Garrido ace… Three of Montana's final five points came from Huddleston kills… The senior had seven kills on nine swings in the set.
- Set 4: The two teams were tie at every point from 1-1 through 10-10, aside from 7-7… Montana used a 3-0 run to take a 12-10 lead, featuring two blocks… Montana had seven blocks in the set, after recording four through the first three sets… Tied at 18-18, Elsa Godwin put Montana back on top with a kill… She did the same to break a 19-19 tie, which kicked off a 6-2 run to close the set.
- Set 5: The two teams were tied at every point from 1-1 through 5-5 before Montana took a 7-5 lead on three consecutive kills from Harper… EWU answered right back with the next six points… Montana would get within three but never closer, as the Eagles hit .391 (10-1-23).
Montana has four matches remaining in the regular season. Next week, the Grizzlies host Northern Arizona on Thursday, before celebrating its senior class on Saturday night vs. Southern Utah.
3 straight kills for Amethyst Harper. The freshman is up to 18 kills on the night and Montana has the lead in Set 5! pic.twitter.com/iBPlAwz6XQ
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) November 9, 2019
After Eastern tied the set at 20-20, Montana goes back on top with a Garrido ace! pic.twitter.com/6VmAGJbizX
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) November 9, 2019
Team Stats
Mont
EWU
Kills
56
72
Errors
18
23
Attempts
169
182
Hitting %
.225
.269
Points
73
81
Assists
55
65
Aces
5
7
Blocks
12
2
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
19
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOPP/MB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
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