Sunday, February 7
Cedar City, Utah
1 PM
Montana
1-4, 1-4Big Sky
1
at
3
Southern Utah
1-3, 1-2Big Sky
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | 25 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 1 |
| Southern Utah | 22 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Photo by: Todd Goodrich
Montana struggles in Round 1 vs. Southern Utah
2/7/2021 4:08:00 PM | Volleyball
CEDAR CITY, Utah – Montana opened the third week of the volleyball season with a 3-1 loss at Southern Utah on Sunday, winning the first set before dropping the next three (22-25, 25-12, 25-15, 25-19).
Coming off of a series against first-place Weber State, Montana felt as if it had made great strides in a pair of defeats to an undefeated Wildcats squad. Initially that momentum carried over to Sunday, with Montana turning a 22-0 deficit into a 25-22 Set-1 victory.
Things fell apart after that, however, as Montana scored just 27 points over the next two sets, and hit .074 (26-20-81) after a strong first set.
Montana was led by freshman outside hitter Sophia Meyers, who had 12 kills, including three in a row during a critical stretch of Set 1. Sophomore outside hitter Amethyst Harper recorded 11 kills, while senior middle blocker Peyten Boutwell had seven kills on .357 hitting, in addition to four blocks.
While Montana struggled to do much offensively, freshman setter Carly Anderson did a nice job changing pace with four dump kills on seven attempts. She also had three blocks and a service ace, in addition to her 32 assists.
"Huge credit to Southern Utah," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "They served really tough, they passed really well and they put a lot of pressure on us."
Montana played its best volleyball of the young season last week vs. first-place Weber State, taking a set off the Wildcats and pushing the fourth set to 26 points before narrowly falling. The Grizzlies again were strong late in the first set on Sunday.
Trailing 9-4 early, Montana chipped away to tie the score at 13-13, before taking a 15-14 lead and forcing a Thunderbirds timeout. The Grizzlies were the first team to 20 points and didn't trail again until a 3-0 run gave Southern Utah a brief 22-20 advantage.
Montana earned the serve back after a Thunderbirds service error, however, and never looked back, finishing the set on a 5-0 run behind the serving of Isabelle Garrido and all-around great play from Boutwell. The middle blocker had a kill and two blocks on consecutive plays to set up the victory.
"When we are in tight situations and choose to respond aggressively, good things happen," Lawrence said. "I think the first set shows what we're capable of doing, but that never showed up again after the first set. It's encouraging that it's there but maddening that it's not there consistently."
Southern Utah opened Set 2 with four consecutive points. The Grizzlies got within a point at 5-4, but the Thunderbirds responded with 10 of the next 11 points to put the set out of reach. Southern Utah had three separate sequences of at least four consecutive points, including a 6-0 run in which Montana errors accounted for five of the points.
The Grizzlies hit -.120 and only produced five kills and one ace in the frame.
"We really struggle with being passive," Lawrence said. "When we're feeling passive and unsure of how to make aggressive decisions, or how to take over the details on our side of the net, we're at the whim of the other team's momentum, and that's what it felt like. We were constantly on our heels."
It was a similar tale in the fourth set, with the two teams being tied at 3-3 before seven of the next nine points went to Southern Utah. Montana got within two points a handful of times, including 16-14, but Southern Utah responded with a 7-1 run to take control.
"I'm glad we have an opportunity against them tomorrow, to see if we can respond with the type of aggression and physicality that we need to," Lawrence said. "When we are able to hold our system it feels really good, but until we can do that consistently, there will be a lot of learning."
The Grizzlies fell to 1-4, while Southern Utah picked up its first win of the season. First serve on Monday is slated for 6 p.m. The match can be streamed on Pluto TV (channel 1055).
Coming off of a series against first-place Weber State, Montana felt as if it had made great strides in a pair of defeats to an undefeated Wildcats squad. Initially that momentum carried over to Sunday, with Montana turning a 22-0 deficit into a 25-22 Set-1 victory.
Things fell apart after that, however, as Montana scored just 27 points over the next two sets, and hit .074 (26-20-81) after a strong first set.
Montana was led by freshman outside hitter Sophia Meyers, who had 12 kills, including three in a row during a critical stretch of Set 1. Sophomore outside hitter Amethyst Harper recorded 11 kills, while senior middle blocker Peyten Boutwell had seven kills on .357 hitting, in addition to four blocks.
While Montana struggled to do much offensively, freshman setter Carly Anderson did a nice job changing pace with four dump kills on seven attempts. She also had three blocks and a service ace, in addition to her 32 assists.
Montana, though, hit just .132 as a team, with 41 kills and 26 attack errors. Five of the Grizzlies' six attackers had at least four errors. Additionally, Montana was limited to three service aces and six blocks, while the Thunderbirds had nine aces, seven blocks and hit .330 (53-15-115).High praise for the talented freshman, who gets the dump kill!#GrizVB #BigSkyVB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/BnuzwqjOqN
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) February 7, 2021
"Huge credit to Southern Utah," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "They served really tough, they passed really well and they put a lot of pressure on us."
Montana played its best volleyball of the young season last week vs. first-place Weber State, taking a set off the Wildcats and pushing the fourth set to 26 points before narrowly falling. The Grizzlies again were strong late in the first set on Sunday.
Trailing 9-4 early, Montana chipped away to tie the score at 13-13, before taking a 15-14 lead and forcing a Thunderbirds timeout. The Grizzlies were the first team to 20 points and didn't trail again until a 3-0 run gave Southern Utah a brief 22-20 advantage.
Montana earned the serve back after a Thunderbirds service error, however, and never looked back, finishing the set on a 5-0 run behind the serving of Isabelle Garrido and all-around great play from Boutwell. The middle blocker had a kill and two blocks on consecutive plays to set up the victory.
In the frame, which featured 10 ties and three lead changes, Montana hit .273, getting multiple kills from four different attackers and containing the Thunderbirds to a .179 hitting percentage.3 straight kills for freshman Sophia Meyers, and Montana is on top!#GrizVB #BigSkyVB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/sieeKsiDD5
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) February 7, 2021
"When we are in tight situations and choose to respond aggressively, good things happen," Lawrence said. "I think the first set shows what we're capable of doing, but that never showed up again after the first set. It's encouraging that it's there but maddening that it's not there consistently."
Southern Utah opened Set 2 with four consecutive points. The Grizzlies got within a point at 5-4, but the Thunderbirds responded with 10 of the next 11 points to put the set out of reach. Southern Utah had three separate sequences of at least four consecutive points, including a 6-0 run in which Montana errors accounted for five of the points.
The Grizzlies hit -.120 and only produced five kills and one ace in the frame.
"We really struggle with being passive," Lawrence said. "When we're feeling passive and unsure of how to make aggressive decisions, or how to take over the details on our side of the net, we're at the whim of the other team's momentum, and that's what it felt like. We were constantly on our heels."
After falling behind early in the third set, Montana got back-to-back kills to tie the frame at 8-8, but then Southern Utah once again had a response, scoring eight of the next nine points as Montana's serve-receive broke down. The Grizzlies never got closer than four points from that point forward.Amethyst Harper bringing the 🔥#GrizVB #BigSkyVB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/758IHtiGqy
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) February 7, 2021
It was a similar tale in the fourth set, with the two teams being tied at 3-3 before seven of the next nine points went to Southern Utah. Montana got within two points a handful of times, including 16-14, but Southern Utah responded with a 7-1 run to take control.
"I'm glad we have an opportunity against them tomorrow, to see if we can respond with the type of aggression and physicality that we need to," Lawrence said. "When we are able to hold our system it feels really good, but until we can do that consistently, there will be a lot of learning."
The Grizzlies fell to 1-4, while Southern Utah picked up its first win of the season. First serve on Monday is slated for 6 p.m. The match can be streamed on Pluto TV (channel 1055).
Have yourself a day, Peyten! The middle blocker has 7 kills on .385 hitting, in addition to 4 blocks!#GrizVB #BigSkyVB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/lBAGl2ByGl
— Montana Griz VB (@MontanaGrizVB) February 7, 2021
Team Stats
UM
SUU
Kills
41
53
Errors
26
15
Attempts
114
115
Hitting %
.132
.330
Points
50.0
69.0
Assists
40
44
Aces
3
9
Blocks
6.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
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