Montana splits pair of 5-set matches to open season

Saturday, August 28

Charleston, S.C.

8 AM (MT)

Montana

1-0, 0-0Big Sky

Kennesaw State

1-1, 0-0ASUN

Montana

Kennesaw State

Photo by: Derek Johnson

Montana splits pair of 5-set matches to open season

8/28/2021 7:12:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana opened the 2021 volleyball season with a split on Saturday, defeating Kennesaw State before dropping a five-set match to Eastern Michigan later in the day. In total, the Griz played 10 sets, with three of them extending past the traditional 25 points and seven of them being decided by three points or fewer.

Aside from the excitement of starting a new season, that experience in pivotal moments is the thing that head coach Allison Lawrence will take most from Day 1 of the season.

"Every day in our practice gym, we're working on end-game situations – sets going well past 25 points – and it showed up today," Lawrence said. "I felt really relaxed when we were past 20 (points), and I think our team did too, because they've been there before. We were playmakers down the stretch and we went for it; sometimes it worked in our favor and sometimes it didn't, but we were aggressive and went for it rather than playing tentatively."

At times, crunch time was a strength for the Grizzlies, who won four sets decided by three points or fewer, including Set 2 vs. Kennesaw State in which the Grizzlies fought off four consecutive set points. It was also an area of needed improvement, however, as Montana took a 2-0 match lead over Eastern Michigan – well on its way toward starting the season with a 2-0 record – before faltering down the stretch.

As Lawrence has noted before, however, that's what preseason tournaments are for, and why she's thankful to have days like Saturday – the positives and negatives – before reaching Big Sky play next month.

"To have two five-set matches, where you're managing emotional and physical stress, is a unique part of preseason that you don't get any other time," Lawrence said. "We were in situations where we were fatigued and under a lot of pressure, and I love how we're responding. Even at the end of the day when we were tired and couldn't pull through, we can still gain confidence from those experiences and being in those situations."

Saturday also featured Montana debuts for four Grizzlies, with transfers Jackie Howell and Elise Jolly earning starts in both matches and freshmen Paige Clark and Maddie Kremer having key moments in big spots.

On offense, Montana hit above .200 in both matches, with several returning attackers showing an extra gear, while on defense, the Grizzlies averaged 2.4 blocks per set and out-blocked both of their opponents. The highlight of the day, however, was without a doubt sophomore Ellie Scherffius.

After playing sparingly in the spring as a true freshman – she totaled four kills and three blocks across parts of six matches – Scherffius had a day to remember, recording 24 kills and 12 blocks – both team highs – while hitting an astonishing .710 (24-2-31).

Scherffius had a team-high 15 kills at a .650 clip in Montana's win over Kennesaw State before tallying nine kills and zero errors (.818) in the evening match.

"Ellie has such a fast arm, is unbelievably explosive and is very hard to read because she's so fast," Lawrence said of Scherffius. "She's an extremely hard worker and has been putting work for the last year-plus into her feet and spacing. She never tires and is explosive from start to finish, and the exciting thing is, I think this is the type of player she is going to be for her whole career."

Montana will close the CofC Invitational Sunday with a match against host College of Charleston (11 a.m. MT).

Montana 3, Kennesaw State 2
Montana opened the 2021 season with a dramatic, 3-2 victory over Kennesaw State (17-25, 29-27, 28-30, 25-23, 15-12), winning the final two sets after falling behind 2-1. The Owls finished runner-up at the Spring 2021 Atlantic Sun tournament and were picked to finish third in the ASUN this fall.

The turning point came late in the second set. After Montana lost the opener, 25-17, the Grizzlies were staring an 0-2 deficit after facing set point at 24-20. The Grizzlies, though, rattled off five consecutive points – fending off four set-point opportunities in the process – to take a 25-24 lead. The Grizzlies also faced set point at 26-25, but came back to tie the score at 27-27, before getting a kill from Catie Semadeni and a block from Peyten Boutwell and Elsa Godwin to tie up the match at 1-1.

"The communication for our serving to block to floor defense was great and I felt like we were really in sync," Lawrence said on the Set-2 comeback. "Once we started getting points, it just built momentum and really gave us confidence for the rest of the match."

Montana dropped a tight third set, but even still, gained confidence in doing so, being right there and playing relatively well late in the set. The frame featured ties at every point from 17-17 through 28-28, with the two teams alternating 24 consecutive points before Kennesaw State took the final two to win another extended set, 30-28.

The Grizzlies used a 4-0 run early in the fourth set to build a 12-9 advantage, and then, after ties at every point from 13-13 through 20-20, Montana staged another mini rally, scoring three consecutive points to turn a 22-20 deficit into a 23-22 advantage. Godwin started the spurt with a kill and Carly Anderson and Boutwell capped it with a block, and Montana won the set shortly after, 25-23.

"We didn't let them string together runs, and that's a credit to our serve-receive," Lawrence said. "I'm really proud of that group, because it helps everyone on the floor relax knowing that we can sideout at pretty much any time."

Montana was at its best late in the match, hitting an astonishing .538 (8-1-13) in the final frame. The Grizzlies trailed at just two points (2-1 and 3-2) before building a 7-4 advantage that would remain a multi-point lead from that point forward.

The tightly contested match featured 45 tie scores, including 39 in the middle three sets. The Grizzlies out-hit (.259 to .242) and out-blocked (11 to 8) the Owls, and were paced by a balanced attack, led by Anderson, their sophomore setter (50 assists, nine digs, three blocks). Montana's hitting percentage was its best since November 2019.

Montana's five attackers all recorded at least nine kills, with all taking at least 20 swings.

"Carly did a great job distributing the ball," Lawrence said. "Our ability to run a fast-tempo set and keep our middles involved in the offense is a credit to Carly, who does a lot of work with her feet to allow us to do things further off the net."

The Grizzlies were led by the impressive play of their middle blockers, who combined for 27 kills on .512 hitting, in addition to 11 blocks. Sophomore Ellie Scherffius led the Grizzlies with 15 kills at a .650 clip (15-2-20), while senior Peyten Boutwell tallied a dozen kills on .391 hitting (12-3-23). Making her first career start, Scherffius was clutch despite entering the day with just four career kills and three blocks.

During the Grizzlies' comeback in Set 2, she twice delivered big kills on set point, tying the score at 24-24 and 26-26. Over the final three sets, she was nearly perfect recording nine kills on 10 swings.

Not limited to the middles, Montana also got a lift from its pin hitters. Semadeni, now a junior, recorded 10 kills on .308 hitting. Her offensive performance was her best since late in her freshman season (third-most kills, third-best hitting percentage of her career), while her six stuffs were a personal best.

Over the final two sets, Semadeni recorded four kills on six swings, with zero errors.

Also stepping up late was newcomer Elise Jolly, a transfer from Saint Anselm College. Through four sets, Jolly had more errors (seven) than kills (six), but in the fifth set, she tallied four kills on six swings, including the match-clinching point.

Eastern Michigan 3, Montana 2
Through the first two sets, everything was clicking for Montana.

Despite a tight opening frame (25-23), Montana never trailed, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and only allowing the Eagles to tie the score three times. The final tie was at 23-23, when Eastern Michigan scored four of five points to knot up the score. Following a timeout, however, the Grizzlies scored the next two points to win the opening set.

Montana took a 2-0 advantage after winning another tight battle (27-25). The Grizzlies took a 3-2 lead and led from that point forward, hitting .366. The final score was closer than it needed to be after Eastern Michigan rattled off five consecutive points to tie the score at 24-24, but the Grizzlies won the set moments later on a service ace from freshman Paige Clark – the first point of her collegiate career.

Eastern Michigan built a 7-2 lead in the third set, but a 6-0 run from the Grizzlies allowed Montana to take the lead. The run featured two aces from senior libero Sarina Moreno, in addition to the first career kills for Clark and freshman Maddie Kremer (two).

Montana led for a large portion of the third set – which featured 12 tie scores and six lead changes – but Eastern Michigan stayed alive by scoring five of the final six points after the two teams were tied at 20-20.

The Grizzlies never led in Set 4, a 25-15 win for the Eagles, setting up another deciding set. Montana held an 8-6 lead at the switch and leads of 11-10 and 12-11, but Eastern Michigan finished off the comeback.

"I think we ran out of gas," Lawrence said. "The first two sets, we were able to take advantage of some of their mistakes, but once they started to find their rhythm, we were on our heels."

The fatigue especially set in on Montana's attackers. The Grizzlies were hitting .312 through the first three sets, but hit just .071 over the final two frames. At one point in the third set, Montana's top-three attackers each had eight kills with zero errors. The trio was hitting a combined .667 (24 kills and zero errors on 36 swings) before their first miscue.

Montana was led by senior Elsa Godwin, who recorded a career-high 14 kills on .248 hitting, in addition to 10 digs, three blocks and a service ace. Teammate Catie Semadeni reached double figures for the second consecutive match – hitting .346 vs. the Eagles and above .300 in both matches – while three other players had seven or more kills.

Sophomore Ellie Scherffius was nearly perfect with nine kills on 11 swings (.818 hitting percentage), to go along with six blocks, while fellow middle blocker Peyten Boutwell had eight kills and a team-high seven blocks. Kremer, seeing significant playing time for the first time, added seven kills and two stuffs.