Thursday, October 13
Missoula, Mont.
7 PM
Montana
11-7, 4-2Big Sky
3
vs
2
Northern Arizona
2-11, 1-5Big Sky
1
2
3
4
5
F
Northern Arizona
20
22
25
25
8
2
Montana
25
25
19
21
15
3
Grizzlies earn 1st season sweep over NAU in 12 years
10/13/2022 11:17:00 PM | Volleyball
MISSOULA, Mont. – Making its long-awaited return home, Montana did not disappoint its home crowd of nearly 700 fans, earning a five-set win over Northern Arizona on Thursday night. The Grizzlies are now 4-1 on their home court this season and have won six of their past eight matches overall.
Montana went nearly a decade without a win over Northern Arizona, but has now beaten the Lumberjacks twice in the past 3 weeks, also posting a five-set win last month in Flagstaff. It is the Grizzlies' first season sweep over NAU since 2010.
"It was fun to be back at home, and we had an awesome home crowd who stayed with us through the fifth set," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "It was nice to reward them with a really fun win."
NAU had the momentum after out-hitting the Grizzlies .306 to .093 in Set 4, but Montana was quick to flip a switch once the fifth set began.
"There was a little tentativeness and hesitation in sets 3 and 4, but once the fifth set started, I didn't see any wavering belief at all," Lawrence said. "I heard in their communication and saw in their body language a determination to finish it."
Gallery: (10-13-2022) VB: vs. Northern Arizona (10.13.22)
The Grizzlies earned the first three points on kills from Elise Jolly and Paige Clark and an overturned challenge, and never trailed in the set. NAU once closed to within a point, at 4-3, but Clark took over after that, going on a personal 3-0 scoring run, part of a stretch in which the sophomore scored five consecutive Griz points.
"When she gets hyper-aggressive, it reverberates through the team like nothing else," Lawrence said of Clark. "I remember in the fifth set, her getting three sets in one rally, and on the third one ripped it and finished at seam. The very next swing, she blasted it off the outside's hand.
"She really fueled us late in the match."
Clark was one of the stars on offense, but defensively, it was senior libero Sarina Moreno.
The Missoula product, who ranks second in school history for career digs, became the seventh Grizzly ever to total 35 digs in a match. The total surpassed her previous high of 32.
Moreno had 26 digs through three sets, which would have tied a three-set school record.
"From the first point, she was touching everything and helping us extend rallies," Lawrence said of Moreno. "Not only was she digging balls, but she was digging them at such a high quality. We were running our offense in system because of her. Her determination and her poise was outstanding."
Joining Clark in double figures for kills was Jolly (14 kills, five blocks), senior right-side attacker Catie Semadeni (12 kills) and senior outside hitter Jackie Howell (10 kills, 14 digs).
Howell was strong early on while Jolly and Semadeni took over during stretches throughout the match. Howell's kill total was her second-highest of the season, while Jolly's was the third-highest of her career. She had five kills and zero errors in Set 1 and four kills and zero errors in Set 3.
"I really liked our passing and ball control," Lawrence said of the offense. "On first contact, we had three options in so many situations, and our range attacking was so good and so smart. We were hitting deep corners, swinging through the block and just playing really smart."
Montana had a strong opening set, winning 25-20 behind .366 hitting and a 70-percent sideout percentage. The Grizzlies and Lumberjacks were locked in a tight battle through 14-14, with both teams holding leads, before Montana pulled away.
The Grizzlies got back-to-back kills from Semadeni and middle blocker Ellie Scherffius during a 3-0 scoring run (17-14), and never trailed from that point forward, with Semadeni recording kills on the final two points.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 13-6 lead in Set 2 and held on for victory, despite NAU briefly taking a lead at 21-20. After the two teams were tied at 22-22, Montana scored the final three points (Clark kill, Scherffius kill, Clark/Scherffius block) to take a 2-0 match lead.
Montana never trailed in the fifth set, earning the program's 11th win of the season, which already matches last year's win total, which was the program's highest since 2013.
"Our growth is an important part of our story, and the story of the upperclassmen who have built that growth," Lawrence said. "We don't want to live in last year, but we want to take pride in what they've built. It's really hard to get better every year in a conference that's getting better every year.
"At the same time, we want to do things this year that haven't been done here in so long, so we're ready to move forward from the past and talk about where we're going in the near future."
The next major test will come on Saturday, as Montana faces a Northern Colorado squad that won the 2021 Big Sky title and was picked to repeat in 2022. The Bears are coming off of a five-set win at Montana State on Thursday night.
First serve on Saturday is slated for 7 p.m., after Montana's football game vs. Idaho. Fans can take advantage of an online buy-one-get-one-free ticket promotion (promo code: BOGO).
Montana went nearly a decade without a win over Northern Arizona, but has now beaten the Lumberjacks twice in the past 3 weeks, also posting a five-set win last month in Flagstaff. It is the Grizzlies' first season sweep over NAU since 2010.
"It was fun to be back at home, and we had an awesome home crowd who stayed with us through the fifth set," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "It was nice to reward them with a really fun win."
Montana looked dominant through the first two sets, but NAU made the Grizzlies work by winning sets 3 and 4. The Lumberjacks have now gone to a fifth set six times in their past seven matches, while Montana improved to 3-0 this season in 5-setters.Let's hear it for a 𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗭 𝗪𝗜𝗡!#GrizVB #BigSkyVB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/TIozXw2wek
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 14, 2022
NAU had the momentum after out-hitting the Grizzlies .306 to .093 in Set 4, but Montana was quick to flip a switch once the fifth set began.
"There was a little tentativeness and hesitation in sets 3 and 4, but once the fifth set started, I didn't see any wavering belief at all," Lawrence said. "I heard in their communication and saw in their body language a determination to finish it."
The Grizzlies earned the first three points on kills from Elise Jolly and Paige Clark and an overturned challenge, and never trailed in the set. NAU once closed to within a point, at 4-3, but Clark took over after that, going on a personal 3-0 scoring run, part of a stretch in which the sophomore scored five consecutive Griz points.
"When she gets hyper-aggressive, it reverberates through the team like nothing else," Lawrence said of Clark. "I remember in the fifth set, her getting three sets in one rally, and on the third one ripped it and finished at seam. The very next swing, she blasted it off the outside's hand.
"She really fueled us late in the match."
Clark, an All-Big Sky selection in 2021 as a true freshman, set a career high with 25 kills. She did so on .321 hitting, taking 53 swings (25-8-53). Six of her kills came in the shortened fifth set, as Montana out-hit NAU .318 to -.053 in the frame.Paige Clark is KILLIN' is tonight!!#GoGriz #GrizVB pic.twitter.com/6hK334lDZH
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 14, 2022
Clark was one of the stars on offense, but defensively, it was senior libero Sarina Moreno.
The Missoula product, who ranks second in school history for career digs, became the seventh Grizzly ever to total 35 digs in a match. The total surpassed her previous high of 32.
Moreno had 26 digs through three sets, which would have tied a three-set school record.
"From the first point, she was touching everything and helping us extend rallies," Lawrence said of Moreno. "Not only was she digging balls, but she was digging them at such a high quality. We were running our offense in system because of her. Her determination and her poise was outstanding."
As a team, Montana out-dug NAU 95 to 81, extending rallies and allowing the Grizzlies to record 17 more kills (70 to 53) and hit at a hither clip. Setting up the offense was junior Carly Anderson, who posted 56 assists (second-highest of her career), in addition to 12 digs.Amazing saves from Sarina Moreno and Paige Clark for the point!#GoGriz #GrizVB pic.twitter.com/WzSdrwzCfX
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 14, 2022
Joining Clark in double figures for kills was Jolly (14 kills, five blocks), senior right-side attacker Catie Semadeni (12 kills) and senior outside hitter Jackie Howell (10 kills, 14 digs).
Howell was strong early on while Jolly and Semadeni took over during stretches throughout the match. Howell's kill total was her second-highest of the season, while Jolly's was the third-highest of her career. She had five kills and zero errors in Set 1 and four kills and zero errors in Set 3.
"I really liked our passing and ball control," Lawrence said of the offense. "On first contact, we had three options in so many situations, and our range attacking was so good and so smart. We were hitting deep corners, swinging through the block and just playing really smart."
Montana had a strong opening set, winning 25-20 behind .366 hitting and a 70-percent sideout percentage. The Grizzlies and Lumberjacks were locked in a tight battle through 14-14, with both teams holding leads, before Montana pulled away.
The Grizzlies got back-to-back kills from Semadeni and middle blocker Ellie Scherffius during a 3-0 scoring run (17-14), and never trailed from that point forward, with Semadeni recording kills on the final two points.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 13-6 lead in Set 2 and held on for victory, despite NAU briefly taking a lead at 21-20. After the two teams were tied at 22-22, Montana scored the final three points (Clark kill, Scherffius kill, Clark/Scherffius block) to take a 2-0 match lead.
NAU led from start to finish in Set 3, while in Set 4, the Lumberjacks led for the majority of the frame, before Montana staged a late rally – briefly holding leads at 19-18 and 20-19 – before falling 25-21.A big BLOCK ends Set 2!
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 14, 2022
The Griz led early, rallied late and won the set to take a 2-0 match lead over the Lumberjacks!#GrizVB #BigSkyVB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/qxm9LsXAdP
Montana never trailed in the fifth set, earning the program's 11th win of the season, which already matches last year's win total, which was the program's highest since 2013.
"Our growth is an important part of our story, and the story of the upperclassmen who have built that growth," Lawrence said. "We don't want to live in last year, but we want to take pride in what they've built. It's really hard to get better every year in a conference that's getting better every year.
"At the same time, we want to do things this year that haven't been done here in so long, so we're ready to move forward from the past and talk about where we're going in the near future."
The next major test will come on Saturday, as Montana faces a Northern Colorado squad that won the 2021 Big Sky title and was picked to repeat in 2022. The Bears are coming off of a five-set win at Montana State on Thursday night.
First serve on Saturday is slated for 7 p.m., after Montana's football game vs. Idaho. Fans can take advantage of an online buy-one-get-one-free ticket promotion (promo code: BOGO).
Strong block from Elise Jolly. Let's go Griz!! #GrizVB pic.twitter.com/iKl1ZyzfKi
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 14, 2022
Team Stats
NAU
MON
Kills
53
70
Errors
19
29
Attempts
175
203
Hitting %
.194
.202
Points
70.0
83.0
Assists
49
67
Aces
10
4
Blocks
7.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
25
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
14
Aces
1
Blocks
5
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH/MB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
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