
Northern Arizona snaps Montana’s winning ways
10/23/2021 5:28:00 PM | Volleyball
FLAGSTAFF, Arizona – Montana suffered a three-set loss to Northern Arizona on Saturday afternoon, as the preseason No. 2 Lumberjacks ended the Grizzlies' two-match winning streak.
One match after Montana hit a season-best .333 – its best hitting percentage in six years – the Grizzlies were held to a season-low .045 on Saturday.
To make matters worse, NAU hit .305, the best by a Big Sky opponent this season against the Griz.
"NAU is a good offensive team that we knew would get a lot of kills, but we expected our offense to be able to match theirs and turn it into a battle to see who could point-score," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "We weren't scoring or siding out, and when neither of those things happen, it's hard to win."
The short-handed Grizzlies were led offensively by freshman outside hitter Paige Clark, who had nine kills. Junior Catie Semadeni totaled seven kills on .190 hitting, the best percentage by a Griz attacker on Saturday. Defensively, senior libero Sarina Moreno had 11 digs, in addition to a pair of service aces.
Gallery: (10-23-2021) VB: at Northern Arizona (10.23.21)
Montana held several small leads early in the first set, including at 5-3, but following a 7-7 tie, NAU went on an 8-1 run to break the set open. The Grizzlies never recovered, scoring just five more points in a 25-12 defeat, being out-hit .423 to -.029.
Montana's five attackers recorded just three kills compared to six errors, including none from Clark, who entered the match averaging 4.05 kills per set in five matches at outside hitter.
The highlight of the afternoon for Montana came early in the second set.
After struggling to score points in the first set, Montana scored the first eight points of the second. With Moreno serving, Montana did a little bit of everything, getting a pair of kills, a pair of blocks and a pair of aces from the senior libero. During the run, Elise Jolly, who was forced to move to the middle blocker position, had a kill and two blocks.
Montana sustained the momentum for a while, forcing a timeout at 12-4 and holding a seven-point advantage at 16-9, but NAU slowly chipped away at the deficit.
NAU closed within three points at 18-15, before the Grizzlies scored back-to-back points to burn the Lumberjacks' second timeout. Montana again held a five-point lead at 22-17, before things turned south.
NAU scored the next three points and seven of the next eight to erase Montana's lead and hold a set-point opportunity at 24-23. The Grizzlies fought off two set points, and held one of their own at 26-25, before NAU completed the comeback with three straight kills.
"Not being able to win the second set was a momentum-shifter," Lawrence said. "We weren't able to point-score down the stretch, and NAU is a great team with a lot of great arms and two really competent setters. Flagstaff is notorious for being a tough place to play, but I expected that we would execute the fundamentals better than we did."
NAU's .357 hitting percentage in the third set, though, allowed the Lumberjacks to close out the sweep.
The Grizzlies will travel home on Sunday before again hitting the road on Monday afternoon. Montana has earned splits each of the past three weeks, but has a challenging slate ahead. Montana travels to No. 4 Montana State on Tuesday evening before hosting second-place Northern Colorado on Saturday night.
"We went through some unexpected roster changes this week, so to come out with a split on the road was still a step in the right direction for us," Lawrence said. "I have total belief in our offense to bounce back, and we have some big opportunities up ahead of us."
One match after Montana hit a season-best .333 – its best hitting percentage in six years – the Grizzlies were held to a season-low .045 on Saturday.
To make matters worse, NAU hit .305, the best by a Big Sky opponent this season against the Griz.
"NAU is a good offensive team that we knew would get a lot of kills, but we expected our offense to be able to match theirs and turn it into a battle to see who could point-score," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "We weren't scoring or siding out, and when neither of those things happen, it's hard to win."
The short-handed Grizzlies were led offensively by freshman outside hitter Paige Clark, who had nine kills. Junior Catie Semadeni totaled seven kills on .190 hitting, the best percentage by a Griz attacker on Saturday. Defensively, senior libero Sarina Moreno had 11 digs, in addition to a pair of service aces.
Montana held several small leads early in the first set, including at 5-3, but following a 7-7 tie, NAU went on an 8-1 run to break the set open. The Grizzlies never recovered, scoring just five more points in a 25-12 defeat, being out-hit .423 to -.029.
Montana's five attackers recorded just three kills compared to six errors, including none from Clark, who entered the match averaging 4.05 kills per set in five matches at outside hitter.
The highlight of the afternoon for Montana came early in the second set.
After struggling to score points in the first set, Montana scored the first eight points of the second. With Moreno serving, Montana did a little bit of everything, getting a pair of kills, a pair of blocks and a pair of aces from the senior libero. During the run, Elise Jolly, who was forced to move to the middle blocker position, had a kill and two blocks.
"We went into the match wanting to put a lot of service pressure on them and we didn't do that in the first set," Lawrence said. "I thought Sarina did a great job of getting back to that and being aggressive with her serves, and that carried us through most of that set."MORENO WITH ANOTHER ACE🤩
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 23, 2021
💻: https://t.co/kYdr8g8Nw5 #GrizVB #BigSkyVB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/NT2nbypdmN
Montana sustained the momentum for a while, forcing a timeout at 12-4 and holding a seven-point advantage at 16-9, but NAU slowly chipped away at the deficit.
NAU closed within three points at 18-15, before the Grizzlies scored back-to-back points to burn the Lumberjacks' second timeout. Montana again held a five-point lead at 22-17, before things turned south.
NAU scored the next three points and seven of the next eight to erase Montana's lead and hold a set-point opportunity at 24-23. The Grizzlies fought off two set points, and held one of their own at 26-25, before NAU completed the comeback with three straight kills.
"Not being able to win the second set was a momentum-shifter," Lawrence said. "We weren't able to point-score down the stretch, and NAU is a great team with a lot of great arms and two really competent setters. Flagstaff is notorious for being a tough place to play, but I expected that we would execute the fundamentals better than we did."
Montana trailed by as many as eight points in the third set before going on a run with senior defensive specialist Kelsey Nestegard serving. She got the Griz to within two points, 18-16, before a Clark ace (20-19) and Elsa Godwin kill (21-20) twice made it a one-point set.Clark coming out of the timeout strong with a left side kill!
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 23, 2021
💻: https://t.co/kYdr8g8Nw5 #GrizVB #BigSkyVB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/KLDrfcGfhO
NAU's .357 hitting percentage in the third set, though, allowed the Lumberjacks to close out the sweep.
The Grizzlies will travel home on Sunday before again hitting the road on Monday afternoon. Montana has earned splits each of the past three weeks, but has a challenging slate ahead. Montana travels to No. 4 Montana State on Tuesday evening before hosting second-place Northern Colorado on Saturday night.
"We went through some unexpected roster changes this week, so to come out with a split on the road was still a step in the right direction for us," Lawrence said. "I have total belief in our offense to bounce back, and we have some big opportunities up ahead of us."
Godwin forcing the sideout from the left side!https://t.co/kYdr8g8Nw5 #GrizVB #BigSkyVB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/dm2HfLNEgR
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 23, 2021
Team Stats
UM
NAU
Kills
30
42
Errors
25
13
Attempts
111
95
Hitting %
.045
.305
Points
39.0
60.0
Assists
29
38
Aces
4
6
Blocks
5.0
12.0
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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