Montana wins twice on Saturday, wins UND Classic championship

Saturday, September 11

Grand Forks, N.D.

12:30 PM (MT)

Montana

4-4, 0-0Big Sky

Drake

2-3, 0-0MVC

Drake

Montana

Photo by: Derek Johnson

Montana wins twice on Saturday, wins UND Classic championship

9/11/2021 8:44:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Drake Box Score (PDF)North Dakota Box Score (PDF)

By: Montana Sports Information

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The Montana volleyball team traveled to Grand Forks, North Dakota, on Thursday and will return with three wins and a tournament title. The Grizzlies earned wins over Green Bay (3-2), Drake (3-2), and host North Dakota (3-0) to win the UND Classic.

It marks Montana's first outright tournament championship since opening the 2005 season with three wins in Maine.

"It was pretty overwhelming, emotionally, just knowing that we hadn't had a tournament performance like that in a really long time," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "Dating back to this spring, this team has been fighting so hard and has been trusting the process. Today, it paid us back in a big way.

"To rely on our grit, which is one of the big pieces of our culture, and push through the first match and win it, and then to really dominate and hold control in the second match is really unbelievable."

Due to tiebreakers, the Grizzlies technically had won the tournament after their afternoon win over Drake, but Montana earned the outright championship after beating North Dakota Saturday evening, the program's first victory over the Fighting Hawks since 2009.

Saturday's win over Drake was impressive on multiple fronts. First due to the level of competition. Drake is a team that finished its spring season with its highest-ever finish in the Missouri Valley Conference and, after returning nearly every player, was picked to finish second this fall in the MVC's preseason poll, earning a handful of first-place votes. Second was the way that the Grizzlies won the match. Montana lost the first two sets to the Bulldogs and never led in either of the two sets. Drake, on the other hand, had won its first two tournament matches and was on the cusp of winning the UND Classic title.

The Grizzlies, though, won the third set with relative ease before winning the fourth, as well, pulling away late after 13 tie scores early. That set up a deciding fifth set, Montana's fifth in eight matches to begin the season.

Montana left no doubt, scoring five of the first six points and burning an early Bulldogs timeout. Leading 5-3 moments later, the Grizzlies then scored six consecutive points to run away with the set.

"Drake put in some of their subs (in the third set) and got some of their usual starters out, and I think that fired up our girls," Lawrence said of the turnaround. "We looked really flat and not ready to compete early, and the first two sets were a slap in the face, and they should be. Once we got stronger offensively, the belief hit and took over."

The Grizzlies' win over North Dakota was historic in another way, as Montana beat the Fighting Hawks for the first time since 2009. The Grizzlies won the initial meeting between the two schools, but lost the next 15 when the two were Big Sky foes, most-recently playing in 2017 when North Dakota won the Big Sky championship.

After four five-set wins to open the season, Montana earned its first sweep since October 2019. The Grizzlies were absolutely dominant through the first two sets, hitting .389 (31-5-70) compared to .117 for the Fighting Hawks (21-12-77). Montana's only deficit came during the first three points of the second set.

The Grizzlies trailed by as many as six points in the third set, but went on a 9-0 run late with Elsa Godwin serving to set up match point.

"Our first match went so late, and I think that helped us, because we had so much adrenaline from winning the first one," Lawrence said. "We went back to the hotel for about 45 minutes, ate a couple sandwiches and got back to the gym. That much adrenaline from a huge win propelled us through the first two sets tonight."

Sophomore middle blocker Ellie Scherffius was named the UND Classic MVP, her second all-conference nod of the season. Sophomore setter Carly Anderson and junior outside hitter Elise Jolly were also named to the all-tournament team.

Montana 3, Drake 2 (17-25, 17-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-7)
Through two sets, it looked as if Montana had no business being on the same court as Drake, as the Bulldogs cruised to easy wins. Drake scored the first five points of Set 1 and seven points of Set 2 and never trailed in either.

But after being out-hit .295 to .094 through two sets, Montana found its groove on offense and defense.

Offensively, Montana hit .372 (44-9-94) over the final three sets, including .400 in the fourth set and an astonishing .562 in the fifth (9-0-16). On defense, the Grizzlies held the Bulldogs to .158 hitting over the final three sets, including a .111 clip in Set 3 and .000 in the fifth (6-6-22).

Montana had four players in double figures for kills, led by junior outside hitter Elise Jolly, who totaled a career-high 16 kills on .368 hitting. For the second consecutive match, sophomore Ellie Scherffius was clicking on offense and defense. She had 13 kills on .455 hitting while adding five blocks at the net. Fellow middle blocker Peyten Boutwell, a senior, added 11 kills and four blocks, while freshman Maddie Kremer tallied a career-best 10 kills on .318 hitting – all in the final three sets after not playing in the first two – in addition to an ace.

"Really, it was Elise and Maddie who sparked the turnaround," Lawrence said. "Neither one of them played much yesterday, but their spark and their fire, and their refusal to let the match ride out as it was going, was our turning point."

On defense, junior Catie Semadeni racked up a career-high eight blocks – in addition to seven kills – while three Grizzlies were in double figures for digs, led by senior Sarina Moreno (17) and junior Jackie Howell (14).

Trailing the match 2-0, and the third set, 10-8, Montana went on its run beginning with a Semadeni kill. Boutwell and Kremer followed with kills to force a Drake timeout, before Semadeni picked up another kill to put Montana on top 13-10. The Grizzlies led for the remainder of the set, getting three kills and a block from Scherffius to close out the set.

The two teams were tied 12 times through the first 13 points of the fourth set, but just once after that as Montana took control of the set midway through. After a tie at 17-17, the Grizzlies got back-to-back blocks – with Semadeni in on both – to take a 19-17 lead and force a Bulldogs timeout. It didn't help, however, as Montana scored six of the next nine points to win the set, with Kremer totaling three kills and an ace during the series. She had seven of her 10 kills in Set 4.

Montana scored five of the first six points in Set 5 and never trailed in the crucial set. After Drake pulled within two, 5-3, senior Elsa Godwin picked up a kill, starting a 6-0 run with Howell serving.

Montana 3, North Dakota 0 (25-14, 25-15, 26-24)
Montana's 3-0 win over North Dakota was the program's first sweep since October 2018 and its first win over North Dakota since 2009. The Grizzlies' hit .324 for the match, the fifth time in the past six seasons that Montana has hit over .300 and the second time already this season.

Junior outside hitter Elise Jolly finished with a team-high 12 kills on .526 hitting, while sophomore middle blocker Ellie Scherffius added 10 at a .529 clip. Junior Catie Semadeni (eight) and freshman Maddie Kremer (eight) were also big offensively. Setting up the offense was sophomore Carly Anderson, who posted 33 assists, 10 digs and four kills.

Senior Elsa Godwin also played a key role, going on two major serving runs and totaling three service aces. The second run allowed Montana to turn a 21-15 deficit into a 24-21 lead and a match-point opportunity.

"After two really dominant sets, I felt us relax a little bit in the third," Lawrence said. "North Dakota turned it up and did some good things offensively and off of serve receive, but hats off to Elsa. When we were on our heels, she completely flipped the tone of the set with her serving. She put us in a spot where it was our set to take, and we took it."

Montana was able to side out above 64 percent in two of the sets, while the Fighting Hawks were under 50 percent in all three, hitting .165 for the match.

Montana trailed for just three points through the first two sets (the first three of the second) while the Grizzlies hit a combined .389 and posted their two-largest set victories of the season (25-14, 25-15). North Dakota led for the majority of the third set, including by as many as six, before Godwin and the Grizzlies used a 9-0 run to take a 24-21 advantage. North Dakota tied the set at 24-24 before a service error and Catie Semadeni kill finished the match.