Grizzlies drop non-conference finale at Denver

Saturday, September 21

Denver, Colo.

6 PM

Montana

1-8

Denver

6-4

Montana

Denver

Photo by: Denver Athletics

9/21/2019 8:41:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Montana Sports Information

DENVER, Colo. – Just 24 hours after a thrilling, come-from-behind victory over Air Force, Montana couldn't keep the positive momentum moving forward, dropping a three-set match to the five-time defending Summit League champion Denver Pioneers on Saturday evening (25-19, 25-11, 25-19).

The Grizzlies couldn't get much going offensively, hitting a negative percentage for the match – 27 errors to 26 kills – and were blocked a season-most 15 times. Janna Grimsrud led Montana offensively with seven kills on .333 hitting.

"That much is such a good learning opportunity for us," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "We were getting splits in their block, but we weren't able to finish points. Denver was able to take away our one, favorite shot, and we didn't really have a secondary swing. It exposed the fact that we don't have all of our tools yet and we need to add more to our game to be more terminal on offense."

Montana's best set was the first, getting consecutive kills from its middle blockers to take an 8-7 lead. The Grizzlies led at four separate points in the set, before DU used a 6-1 run to take a 14-10 lead. The Grizzlies got within two points on two occasions – 18-16 and 20-18 – but both times DU responded with the next two points.

Following a 3-3 tie in the second set, DU rattled off the next 10 points – a season-most for a Montana opponent – forcing the Grizzlies to burn both of their timeouts. During the run, the Pioneers had five kills, two blocks and an ace, including three kills and two blocks from Kaela Fobert.

"During the second set we didn't pass very well, and things got worse from there," Lawrence said. "We were getting blocked, making errors and they were getting digs in transition against us."

DU later used a 6-0 run – including four consecutive blocks – to widen the gap.

The Grizzlies tied the third set at 7-7 after scoring four consecutive points – receiving kills from Kelly Horning and Ashley Watkins and a service ace from Casey Stites. The teams were tied again at 8-8, and Montana hung close for a few more points before a 6-2 run turned a two-point deficit into an insurmountable six-point gap. Needing to make a run, Montana and Denver instead alternated the final 15 points, with the Grizzlies staying five to six points behind.

Match Notables

Montana hit negative for the match, finishing a season-worst -.011 (26-27-92) and hitting negative in two of three sets. Conversely, the Pioneers hit .287, with 39 kills on 87 swings.
A large part of Montana's low hitting percentage came from DU's 15 team blocks in just three sets. DU's Brianna Green had 10 blocks herself.
Senior middle blocker Janna Grimsrud led Montana with seven kills on .333 hitting. After having four kills on five swings in the first set, however, she was limited in the final two frames, totaling three kills and two errors on 10 attempts.
Fellow middle blocker Kelly Horning, a freshman had four kills on .500 hitting.
Montana's four outside hitters had a combined 14 kills and 20 errors, with no one hitting above .000.
Montana's defense was limited to 27 digs and three blocks. Both figures were the second-lowest of the season.
On a positive note, Montana was aced just twice – tying a season best – and made just six service errors.
Montana finished the Thin Air Challenge with a 1-2 record. Denver won the tournament with a 2-1 mark. Santa Clara also went 2-1, but lost to Denver. Montana and Air Force each went 1-2, with the Grizzlies beating the Falcons.

Quoting Lawrence
(on the offense's struggles)
"We weren't digging or passing balls up to the net enough, which put a lot of pressure on our outsides against a good block. We started to become predictable and got patterned pretty quickly."

(on positives from the match)
"I thought our serve-receive stayed pretty resilient. I also thought we were flying through the air on offense and getting good looks, but we were pounding balls into their blocker. We had moments, but I thought DU scouted us really well and executed their scouting plan."

(on the non-conference season as a whole)
"We played a really tough preseason schedule. We played a lot of teams that are really fast, and I think our youth – not necessarily inexperience, but inexperience playing together – was exposed. There were frustrating moments and I think we're walking away from it not quite sure who we are, but in a positive way. We never found our groove in preseason, which means we're nowhere near our potential. We don't even know what we're capable of, meaning I think we'll continue to have a sharp learning curve."

Looking Ahead
While Montana's 1-10 non-conference record is far from desired, the Grizzlies can take solace in the fact that this past weekend was their best of the season, and for the first time all year, they're at full strength. Montana won its first set of the season Friday morning vs. Santa Clara and won its first match that evening, winning the final three sets at Air Force.

Montana will now have a fresh start going into conference play, which begins in a big way with a rivalry match vs. Montana State on Tuesday evening in Missoula. Tickets can be purchased online.