Volleyball faces challenging week against two of top Big Sky teams

Montana at Montana State
Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.
Watch / Live Stats

Montana vs. Northern Colorado
Saturday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.
Tickets / Watch / Live Stats

After an 0-4 start to Big Sky Conference play, the Montana volleyball team has earned splits in each of its past three weeks to move up the standings.

This past week's results were impressive because of how the Grizzlies did so, playing on the road and doing so shorthanded. Just 10 of the Grizzlies' 17 players were able to suit up, including just one of their six middle blockers.

That forced outside hitter Elise Jolly to move to the middle-blocker position, one she hadn't played since high school. Despite the lack of experience and zero practices on the week at that position, Jolly filled those shoes spectacularly, recording eight kills on .500 hitting, in addition to a team-high three blocks, in Montana's three-set road win at Southern Utah.

In the match, Montana hit .333, its best hitting percentage since 2015, as the Grizzlies took care of the Thunderbirds with relative ease (25-16, 25-21, 25-16).

Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, the lack of players caught up to them two days later against a strong Northern Arizona team that was picked to finish second in the Big Sky preseason poll. After hitting so well at Southern Utah – in addition to holding the Thunderbirds to a .098 clip – Northern Arizona was strong offensively and defensively in its three-set win. Montana reached 21 points or more in two of the sets, including a 28-26 loss in Set 2, but never was able to truly disrupt the Lumberjacks.

The Grizzlies will again have their hands full this week, taking on Montana State (Tuesday, 7 p.m.) on the road before hosting Northern Colorado (Saturday, 7 p.m.). The two teams swept Montana last month and enter the week tied with each other for third place in the Big Sky standings.

Montana State beat Northern Arizona in five sets last week before sweeping Southern Utah, like the Griz did. Montana State, though, has won six of its past seven matches overall, with the lone loss coming in four sets to second-place Portland State.

As a team, Montana State ranks in the upper-half of the Big Sky for five of seven statistical categories, including second for hitting percentage (.225) and blocking (2.43 per set). Emma Pence leads the Big Sky with 1.68 blocks per set in league action, while the Bobcats have two players averaging more than 3.00 kills per set – both ranking in the top 10 in the league.

On Montana's side, the Grizzlies have run a balanced offense orchestrated by setter Carly Anderson. The sophomore leads the Big Sky with 10.46 assists per set through 10 Big Sky matches. On defense, senior libero Sarina Moreno ranks third in Big Sky play with 4.40 digs per set, while senior middle blocker Peyten Boutwell ranks sixth with 1.10 blocks per set.

Montana will look to win its first match over Montana State since the Main Line Trophy was introduced to the rivalry this past spring. The Bobcats have won three in a row in the series, but the Grizzlies were victorious the last time the two teams met in Bozeman, coming away with a four-set road win in October 2019.

SERIES VS. THE BOBCATS

The two teams have played each other 118 times overall, and at least twice every season since 1975.
Montana State holds a slight 61-57 lead in the series, with the two sides splitting the season series in both 2018 and 2019.
Since Allison Lawrence joined the Griz coaching staff in 2010, Montana is 12-11 against Montana State.
The two teams played in Missoula in September, with Montana State winning all three sets. Montana was competitive in two of the three frames, but played too inconsistent and made way too many errors. The Griz were out-hit .229 to .052, totaling 42 errors (27 attack errors).
In October 2019, Montana earned a four-set road win over the Cats, the Grizzlies' first win in Bozeman since 2014. After winning the first set 25-21, Montana State handled the Griz in the second frame, 25-10. However, the Grizzlies regrouped to win the next two sets (25-20, 25-18).
A large number of Montana State's wins in the series came before Montana got its first. From 1975-80, the two teams played 24 times, with the Bobcats winning each time. Since Montana got its first win in 1981, Montana holds a 57-37 advantage.
The series was one-sided from 1988-95, with the Grizzlies winning 17 consecutive matches over Montana State.
From 2006-12, Montana won 12 of 13 in the series. Prior to that, from 2001-06, Montana State won nine of 10.

GRIZ BITS

Montana posted its best non-conference record in 16 seasons, going 5-5 including impressive wins over Kennesaw State and Drake – both contenders in their respective conferences. The Grizzlies also went 3-0 at the UND Classic, their first outright tournament championship since 2005.
The Grizzlies opened Big Sky play 0-4 – playing three of the top-four preseason teams – before starting to gain some momentum over the past three weeks. During that span, Montana has earned splits on the weekend, earning three-set wins at Idaho, vs. Sacramento State and at Southern Utah – in addition to five-set losses at Eastern Washington and vs. Portland State.
Of the 76 sets Montana has played, 50 (67.1 percent) have been decided by five points or fewer (21-29 record). Thirty-two (44.3 percent) have seen a margin of three points or fewer (14-18) and 24 (32.9 percent) have been decided by the minimum two points (10-14). Additionally, 14 sets have gone past the traditional 25 points.
Montana ranks fifth in the Big Sky standings for hitting percentage (.210), kills (12.49 per set) and assists (11.32 per set), and ranks seventh for blocks (1.98 per set) and digs (13.75 per set). This comes after the Grizzlies ranked 10^th or 11^th in the Big Sky in every category in the spring except for digs (seventh).
Montana's .210 team hitting percentage is on pace to rank eighth in school history, and its best since 2007. The Grizzlies are the only Big Sky team to have two players hitting above .280, with Ellie Scherffius (.310, fourth) and Catie Semadeni (.290, eighth) doing so.
In Montana's three-set win at Southern Utah, the Grizzlies hit .333, their best hitting percentage in a match since October 2015.
While Montana ranks fifth in the Big Sky for kills, the Grizzlies have no individual close to the Big Sky leaders for kills per set. Instead, Montana has used a balanced attack, with five attackers averaging between 1.80 and 2.31 kills per set this season.
Sophomore setter Carly Anderson has orchestrated Montana's balanced offense and currently leads the league with 10.46 assists per set through 10 Big Sky matches. A Big Sky setter has recorded 52 or more assists eight times this season, with Anderson doing it three times (the only setter to do so more than once).
Senior libero Sarina Moreno continues to move up the school's all-time digs list (1,308), jumping from eighth to fifth with 31 digs vs. Idaho State (Sept. 30) and continuing to climb since then. Earlier this month, she moved into third place on Montana's all-time digs list, passing Erin Adams (1996-00).
Junior right-side attacker Catie Semadeni now leads the Grizzlies with 2.31 kills per set, and is doing so at a .290 clip. Two weeks ago vs. Portland State, she became the first Montana player since 2007 to hit .500 or better with at least 19 kills. She is doing all this despite averaging 0.79 kills per set on .011 hitting during the spring season.
Listed as a setter, freshman Paige Clark has done a little bit of everything this season, but earlier this month got her first extended opportunity as a front-row attacker. In six matches at outside hitter, Clark is averaging 3.95 kills per set, which would rank first in the Big Sky if it were over a full season. Her 23 kills vs. Portland State were the most ever by a Montana freshman during the 25-point scoring era.
Junior outside hitter Elise Jolly hadn't played in four matches entering last week, and had recorded just seven kills in Big Sky play up to that point. Forced into action – and a move to the middle-blocker position – Jolly rose to the occasion, putting down eight kills on .500 hitting, in addition to a team-high three blocks, in a win at Southern Utah.
Senior middle blocker Peyten Boutwell (0.99 per set, eighth) and sophomore middle blocker Ellie Scherffius (0.94 per set, 12^th) are both among the league's best blockers. Boutwell's current average is on pace to be the Grizzlies' best since Capri Richardson in 2014. Montana hasn't had two individuals average more than 0.90 blocks per set since Natalie Jones and Brooke Bray did so in 2013.

Gallery: (10-23-2021) VB: at Northern Arizona (10.23.21)

Volleyball faces challenging week against two of top Big Sky teams

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Carly Anderson

Peyten Boutwell

Paige Clark

Elise Jolly

Sarina Moreno

Ellie Scherffius

Catie Semadeni

University of Montana Athletics

Volleyball faces challenging week against two of top Big Sky teams

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Carly Anderson

Peyten Boutwell

Paige Clark

Elise Jolly

Sarina Moreno

Ellie Scherffius

Catie Semadeni

Related Videos