Grizzlies can’t hang with Cardinals

Friday, September 6

Spokane, Wash.

5 PM (MT)

Montana

0-0

Ball State

3-0

Montana

Ball St.

9/6/2019 8:33:00 PM | Volleyball

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By: Montana Sports Information

SPOKANE, Wash. – Montana started slow on Friday and could never fully find its rhythm, falling in straight sets to Ball State to open the Gonzaga Invitational (25-9, 25-20, 25-10). Freshman Amethyst Harper led the Grizzlies with a career-high 10 kills.

The Grizzlies got off to a nightmare start, with the Cardinals earning the match's first eight points. Montana used a mini 3-0 run with Isabelle Garrido serving – including a big solo stuff from setter Casey Stites to end a long rally – but by then the set was far out of reach.

"We start a match on our heels and behind, and then from there we are clawing back just to be stable," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "Stable isn't going to beat good teams like we've been playing."

Montana was much more competitive in the second set, taking an early 3-2 lead behind back-to-back kills from Catie Semadeni and a Janna Grimsrud/Stites block. The two teams were locked in a back-and-forth contest until the Grizzlies were called in the net on consecutive plays that would have been kills. Instead of a 12-12 tie, Ball State had a 14-10 advantage, which the Cardinals extended to 17-10.

Montana would hang tough and get back within two points (21-19), but Ball State – a veteran team that won 22 matches and played in the NIVC postseason tournament a year ago – showed its mettle down the stretch.

The Cardinals quickly doubled up the Grizzlies in the third set and put the match away.

"Right now we're struggling with our confidence," Lawrence said. "When it's there, it looks good and we feel good and we are executing well, but then they'll run a string of points on us and we'll completely lose that confidence. We don't understand yet how to control our own confidence level."

Match Notables

While Harper had a career-high 10 kills, no other Grizzly had more than four. Harper hit .156 while very other Grizzly hit below .100. As a team Montana hit at a .043 clip, compared to .337 for Ball State.
The one area Montana held an advantage was in blocking, totaling six team blocks, including a 5-1 advantage through the first two sets. Grimsrud had five stuffs, followed by two apiece from Semadeni and Stites.
In addition to her 10 kills, Harper had two service aces, including one in the second set that gave Montana a 9-8 advantage.
Grimsrud was part of three consecutive Griz points during a 4-0 run in the second set, recording back-to-back blocks and a kill.
While Ball State was blocked six times, the Cardinals took care of the ball overall, making just three unforced attack errors on 86 swings.
Senior Missy Huddleston led the Grizzlies with a dozen digs.
For the fourth consecutive match, Montana started four freshmen.

Quoting Lawrence
(on the frustrating start to the season)
"All of us, myself included, need to figure out what we can do to make this better. We need a team that fights, and we aren't doing that right now."

(on being able to compete)
"We're still trying to learn what being competitive actually means, and we don't have enough players stepping up and wanting to make a play under pressure. We're bleeding points on multiple errors, miscommunication, just a lot of disorganization. I have to figure out how to put us in chaotic situations in practices so that we can find ways to fight out of them."

(on what went right at the start of the second set)
"We started in a different rotation that got us a few different matchups, and that helped, but it wasn't sustainable."

(on the strong play of Harper)
"She's so physical. When she realizes how much she can do by getting her feet to the ball and being aggressive, she's so terminal form everywhere. She has all of the pieces; it's just figuring it out at this pace and level."

Gallery: (9/6/2019) VB: vs. Ball State (9.6.19)

Looking Ahead
Montana will have a busy Saturday, facing Grand Canyon (2 p.m. MT) and host Gonzaga (7 p.m.). Both teams suffered their first losses of the season on Friday, with Ball State beating Grand Canyon in five sets before Grand Canyon knocked off Gonzaga in four. Both matches on Saturday can be streamed for free through the West Coast Conference.