Montana closes regular season already assured of more

Montana at Sacramento State
Thursday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. (MT)
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Montana at Portland State
Saturday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. (MT)
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Montana has reached the final week of the regular season for volleyball, and the Grizzlies are in a little bit of unfamiliar territory.

For several seasons, including this past spring, Montana has entered the final week of the regular season already out of contention for the Big Sky tournament. In 2018 and 2019, Montana had to win on the final night of the regular season in order to get in, doing so in both years.

This fall, however, Montana locked up a tournament spot – awarded to the top-eight teams in the league – with more than a week still to play.

"Getting back to the conference tournament has been a huge goal for this group, and to overcome a tough start and now have a ton of momentum, we feel like we're a team that is – and should be – playing with a ton of confidence," head coach Allison Lawrence said.

The Grizzlies would like to get to a point where simply reaching the postseason tournament isn't a goal but an expectation, but considering that hasn't been the case more years than not and the team was picked to finish last in the league in the preseason coaches' poll, it's something worth celebrating this fall.

Montana's 11 wins this fall are more than the past two seasons combined. Its win total and winning percentage is the program's best since 2013.

Not to mention, Montana is one of the league's hottest teams.

After losing its first four Big Sky matches and starting league play 1-6, in mid-October Montana looked like a longshot to be playing past this weekend. The Grizzlies, though, have gone 5-2 since Oct. 16, which is tied for the best record in the Big Sky during that span.

Among the wins are three sweeps, two road victories and two wins over teams Montana previously lost to.

"I think the thing I'm most proud of is that we never lost sight of what we were aiming for, and I don't just mean the conference tournament," Lawrence said. "It would have been easy to be discouraged after our start, but instead, we put our heads down and got to work, and you've seen us improve each week since. It's really be unbelievable to witness."

The Grizzlies have defeated teams they feel like they should – like Southern Utah and Idaho – while also beating teams who were ahead of them in the standings – like Eastern Washington, Sacramento State and Montana State.

Montana is coming off of a weekend sweep, beating the Eagles in three sets before holding off the Vandals in five on Senior Day.

On the line this week will be seeding. Montana knows it will likely play as the No. 7 or 8 seed, depending on what happens this week. The Grizzlies entered the week at No. 7, owning a tiebreaker over Eastern Washington, but the Eagles beat Idaho in a Tuesday-night match to jump a half-match ahead.

The task this week won't be easy, either.

As good as Montana has been over the past four weeks, Portland State and Sacramento State have been equally as impressive. Montana had the Vikings on the ropes in Missoula, holding a 2-1 advantage before Portland State turned things around over the final two sets. The Vikings have lost just twice since then – both to Sacramento State – to move into a three-way tie for first place.

The Hornets were swept by Montana in Missoula, which sparked the Grizzlies' 5-2 stretch. It also sparked something in Sacramento State, however, as Sacramento State went on to win 18 consecutive sets after losing all three to Montana.

While Portland State is playing for a conference title, Sacramento State could finish anywhere from fourth through sixth in the standings and has a lot on the line, as well.

It will be a good primer for the following week, as Montana will take on one of the league's top teams in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament.

First serve from Sacramento is Thursday at 8 p.m. (MT), before another 8 p.m. start on Saturday at Portland State.

Gallery: (11-6-2021) VB: vs. Idaho (11.6.21)

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Montana closes regular season already assured of more

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