No senior sendoff: Boutwell chooses to stay for super-senior season

When senior middle blocker Peyten Boutwell talks of Montana, she talks of a place she never wants to leave.

The Lake Oswego, Oregon, native has spent less than a year in Missoula, but has already made it her home away from home, jumping at any and every opportunity to be outdoors. Missoula gives her plenty of those opportunities, too.

You can catch her riding her bicycle to and from class, and getting in a hike before or after practice, or anytime in between. When she's not on the trails, you might find her in the water, ranging from typical summer activities like floating the river and paddle boarding to fly fishing on an open stream.

For Boutwell, being outdoors is her escape, and Montana is the perfect place that provides endless opportunities to do so.

"It's a place where I can go and build relationships with people, or I can go and have time to myself and build my relationship with God," Boutwell said of being outdoors. "It's somewhere I can go and escape from the world and everything I have going on, and I can just be present in the moment."

Montana has also given Boutwell the opportunity to expand her volleyball skills, with the senior middle blocker finally getting her chance to prove what she's capable of on the court. The senior middle blocker has started all 14 matches and is among the team leaders for blocks, kills and attacking.

Montana closes its abbreviated spring season with matches against Sacramento State on Sunday and Monday, and while the results this season haven't been what the Grizzlies envisioned, there is still hope for the future, with Boutwell playing a key part in that.

With a roster that features six true freshmen and seven sophomores, Boutwell is the only senior.

And while this week marks Montana's final matches of the season, there won't be a senior-night ceremony.

"The second I heard there was an opportunity to come back for another season I jumped on it," said Boutwell, who will take advantage of the NCAA's free year of eligibility due to COVID-19. "There was no hesitation. Absolutely I wanted to stay."

Peyten Boutwell vs. Idaho - 3/1/21

Boutwell will remain at Montana to complete her master's in public administration degree, and in turn will get to play one more year of volleyball. From there, her next step is to then obtain her master's in business administration, and then stay in Montana and work for a local company, perhaps even a place like Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

For her to use an extra year of eligibility is something she couldn't have fathomed a year ago, and not just because a COVID-19 extension wasn't a thing back then.

When Boutwell finished her time at Abilene Christian in November 2019, she thought she had played her final volleyball match.

After a freshman season at UC Riverside in 2016, Boutwell spent the next three seasons at Abilene Christian, redshirting in 2017 and playing sparingly in 2018 and 2019. During those years with the Wildcats, she played in just two total matches.

She knew she would be graduating with her degree in management in May and figured that would be a good time to step away from the sport, even though she was listed as a redshirt junior.

"I was kind of ready to be done playing," Boutwell said. "My volleyball experience there didn't go the way I envisioned, so even though I loved my professors and the academics at ACU, I was ready to graduate with my senior class of girls and move forward."

However, as she finished her final semester of undergrad – and her final semester at Abilene Christian – it hit her that she wasn't ready to walk away from the sport she had grown up playing.

"It wasn't until the season was done and we had a little bit of a break when I was reminded of how much I love this sport and wasn't ready to give it up," Boutwell said. "I decided that if I had an opportunity to play somewhere, I would absolutely take that opportunity."

She reached out to a handful of schools she was interested in finishing her career at, with Montana at the top of the list. When she contacted head coach Allison Lawrence, she was surprised to hear that Lawrence still had email communication the two had started three years prior, before Boutwell transferred to Abilene Christian.

At that point in time, Montana had its middle-blocker position filled, but in 2020, with a youthful roster, Montana was now looking for a veteran middle to add to the mix.

"Like it happens a lot in recruiting, timing is everything," Lawrence said. "She was a player we would have loved to have had, and for it to eventually come back and work for us, and for us to have a need that she could fit, it was pretty special."

Boutwell knew she wanted to be at Montana, and her recruiting visit only confirmed that.

"I had my fingers crossed that it would work out this time around because Montana has always been a dream school of mine," Boutwell said. "Once I visited, just flying in and seeing the mountains, I knew this was where I was meant to be. That weekend, visiting with the coaches and the campus, I fell in love with it all."

Since coming to Montana, Boutwell has thrived on the court, something that has benefited both parties.

For the Grizzlies, they have a middle blocker who has totaled 131 kills and 47 blocks. She leads the team for blocking (0.81 per set) and hitting percentage (.259) and ranks third for kills (2.26 per set).

For Boutwell, she finally got her opportunity. In three seasons at Abilene Christian, she played in just two total matches. Including her freshman season at UC Riverside, her collegiate career equated to 21 kills and 21 blocks in four seasons.

That has changed at Montana, where she has started all 14 matches. She needed just one weekend at Montana to match her career kills total and five matches to reach her blocking numbers from the previous four seasons combined.

"One of the great upsides to Peyten is that she has continued to push herself," Lawrence said. "I think she has gotten more out of herself since being here than she thought she could, and she has a great desire to continue to learn."

Her Griz debut was historic, with the graduate transfer recording 15 kills and 10 blocks and becoming the first Grizzly in more than a decade to record a kills-blocks double-double.

"That was such an unforgettable experience," Boutwell recalled. "We were all so excited as a team to finally get on the court after training for so long, and for me personally, it was finally my moment after four years. I knew my family was watching, so I carried that with me, and I think it was just a moment of relief and excitement and so many things coming together. I almost had tears walking out onto the court that day."

The new role has been an adjustment for Boutwell, who was used to being more of a behind-the-scenes leader, motivating her teammates from the bench, in the weight room and in the classroom. She's still doing all of that, but now she's doing it on the court, as well.

Boutwell has been in double figures for kills five times, including a career-high 18 vs. Montana State and 15 kills on .375 hitting in a win over Idaho. She has four times reached five or more blocks in a match.

"Even bigger than her stats, she's been great for our younger players, because she really understands how to process the game and is a true learner," Lawrence said. "She asks for extra reps, she studies film, she does all of the details that you need to be great.

"She continues to find new gears in all areas, and I think that will continue as we move into her final season."

With two matches and an entire summer still between now and her true senior season, Boutwell is already looking forward to that opportunity.

"It's hard not seeing the outcomes that we want, with the work that we've been putting in, but I've loved coming in and growing with these girls," Boutwell said of the spring season. "Even seeing the changes the freshmen are making, and the leadership roles they're taking on, it's been a good growing year for everyone.

"I think that's why I was so excited to jump at the opportunity to take that COVID year and have another season with everyone."

Because of the extra year, Boutwell plans to graduate from Montana with two master's degrees, and sometime next November will truly get her proper senior-night celebration, when she can then take a moment to reflect on the journey she's been on.

"My playing career might be done at that point, but I've already joked with the coaches that I'm not going anywhere," Boutwell said. "I love Montana. I never want to leave."

Montana will close its Spring 2021 season with a pair of matches vs. Sacramento State, facing the Hornets Sunday at 4 p.m. and Monday at 7 p.m. Both matches can be streamed on Pluto TV (channel 1056).