Montana swept by Weber State

Thursday, October 20

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

11-9, 4-4Big Sky

Weber State

12-7, 6-2Big Sky

Weber State

Montana

Photo by: Derek Johnson

10/20/2022 10:14:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana volleyball faced off against the two-time defending Big Sky champions on Thursday night and played toe-to-toe with the Wildcats, but weren't able to win down the stretch of sets. Weber State swept Montana (25-21, 25-19, 26-24) to give the Grizzlies their second straight defeat against a top-tier Big Sky opponent.

The Grizzlies (11-9, 4-4 BSC) finished with eight more kills than the Wildcats (12-7, 6-2 BSC) while also out digging them by six, but some costly errors proved to be the difference maker between the two sides. Montana had 10 more attacking errors, and also three more service errors (6 to 3) which provided the experienced Wildcats just enough of a gap to take advantage.

"I think that was so frustrating and what we talked about after the match in the locker room is that there were so many good things. I thought we started the match on fire serving and swinging," said coach Allison Lawrence. "We got a lot of kills. One of our responses from last weekend was to have our offense show up in a big ways and it did, so I feel like that's why this one is so frustrating. I think we stopped ourselves more than they stopped us."

Gallery: (10-20-2022) VB: vs. Weber State (10.20.22)

The Grizzlies came out swinging, putting the best defense in the conference on its back heels from the opening point. In the first set, Montana jumped out to a quick 15-8 lead and appeared to be in control. After the media timeout, Weber State adjusted and won six of the next seven points. The Grizzlies coughed up the lead at 20-19, the first time they trailed since the opening point of the match.

After starting with 11 kills on just two errors, Montana closed the set with six kills and five errors. It allowed Weber State to go on a 17-6 run to take the opening set.

In the second, the situation was reversed as Montana got out to a slow start. Once again, midway through the set momentum started to shift. The Grizzlies went on a 5-0 run to get back into the set, and several times were within a point. They would never take the lead, however, and Weber State killed the momentum with a 6-1 run to end the set. They outhit Montana .340 to .222 in the set.

Clark is UNSTOPPABLE 💪 💪 Paige gets her 14th kill #MontanaVB pic.twitter.com/edMx5HGWZc
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 21, 2022

"When we were putting pressure on you could feel it in the gym of, they would start to break down," Lawrence said. "But then right at that point where we could really put together a run and be dominant, then we would err in ways where we couldn't stay the aggressor."

The third set saw practically no separation between the two sides, as neither held a three point lead until the late stages. The Grizzlies again had a lead late in the set, going up 18-17 on a kill from Catie Semadeni. Weber State responded again, going on a 4-0 run to take the biggest lead of the set.

Montana wouldn't go away, thanks in large part to the play of Paige Clark. The sophomore scored four consecutive Montana points down the stretch, tying the match at 23-all. It was part of a 20 kill (.218) effort for Clark, who reached that number for the third time in the last four matches.

"She takes risks. She hammers all the time and she has a cannon of an arm," Lawrence said of Clark. "I think she is someone that moves on from mistakes really easily and that's the key to her aggression. She has such a next point mentality and is such a leader in that way, and she goes for it. You watch her play, or you play next to her, and you know that person believes we can beat anybody."

Then Montana took the lead, this time going to Semadeni to give the Grizzlies set point.

Semadeni kill takes the lead!!#MontanaVB pic.twitter.com/gWcq8or7sf
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 21, 2022

Just as quickly as the momentum tilted in favor of the Grizzlies, it shifted right back to the visitors. Emma Mangum linked together a couple of kills, supported by an ace from Charli Boquet, and the Wildcats were able to take the final three points of the night for the victory.

Montana had a lot of positive takeaways in the third set, which Lawrence said summed up the entire night. The Grizzlies had the advantage offensively (17 kills on .250 for UM vs. 10 kills on .146 for WSU) and had chances to make a couple of runs. Crucially, UM committed five of its six service errors in the final set, negating the positive momentum generated by the offense.

It was a frustrating result to a match that never got away from the Grizzlies. They hit .214, the highest number allowed by the Wildcats in their six Big Sky wins. Montana had all of its top five attackers hit over .200, while siding out over 50 percent of the time.

The Grizzlies received a nice attacking boost from setter Carly Anderson, who finished with six kills. It tied her previous high from earlier this year against IUPUI, and was also third best on the team. Semadeni (8) and Jackie Howell (6) also hit over .200.

The homestand ends on Saturday night, when the Grizzlies welcome Idaho State to town. The Bengals were on Thursday night at Montana State. They have now lost four consecutive matches, three of which were sweeps.

As Montana now passes the halfway point in the season, every match is becoming more and more crucial. Despite the loss on Thursday, Montana can take some positives into Saturday.

"I really want our team to stay right in the moment that we are in. Playing Idaho State is another incredible opportunity at home to keep establishing ourselves in the top of the conference," Lawrence said. "I think we should feel good going into Saturday because I think we played really well and the moments that we didn't are in our control. It never felt like we couldn't go point for point with them, and I think that gives us momentum going into Saturday. And some anger for not getting it done."