Moreno sets program record in Griz loss

Saturday, November 19

Ogden, Utah

6 PM

Montana

17-11, 10-6Big Sky

Weber State

17-10, 11-5Big Sky

Montana

Weber State

Sarina Moreno vs. Northern Colorado - 10/15/22

Photo by: Derek Johnson

11/19/2022 11:42:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Montana Sports Information

The regular season has come to a close on what has been a very historic season for the Montana volleyball team. The Grizzlies fell in four to Weber State on the road, but capped off a great year with a 17-11 overall record and a 10-6 mark in Big Sky play.

They added a bit of individual history on Saturday as well. Montana libero Sarina Moreno, a Missoula native, had 27 digs in the match. It increased her career total to 1,865, now the most by any player in Montana program history.

The record-setting dig came late in the second set for Montana. She passed Jackie White, who had a stellar career at Montana from 2004-07, and then added on 17 more for the rest of the match. The 27 digs were the second-most in a match this season for the redshirt-senior. Her coaches shared a moment when she passed the mark, but, the player that Moreno is, she wanted to get right back to work.

"Clearly that is an incredible achievement and it means a lot to her, but I think she's made it very clear with how she talks, how she plays and what she's been about leading up to breaking that record that its more about our team accomplishments for her," Head Coach Allison Lawrence said. "I think that just shows such good leadership and makes it that much sweeter when you have a player that handles it that way."

Sarina Moreno is now OFFICIALLY the all-time leader in career digs at the University of Montana!#GrizVB #BigSkyVB #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/FXT81cm7cy
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) November 20, 2022

The leadership of Moreno has certainly led Montana to new heights this season. She now has the chance to revel in her career record, but also a big year for the Grizzlies. Despite the loss, they close the season with the most wins in a season since 1999 and have a chance to do some damage at the Big Sky Championships in Ogden starting on Wednesday.

"We sat in the locker room after and it was heartbreaking to lose that close of a match. I think we wanted to sit in that feeling and make sure we let it sink in because we want to have a drastic and aggressive response. But we also wanted to reflect on all of our accomplishments this conference season because its been really remarkable. Tonight doesn't take away or change anything we've done prior to this night and I couldn't be more proud of them."

The Grizzlies were a bit flat to open the match and the host Wildcats came out taking advantage. They took the opening set 25-9. After a sweep in Missoula earlier this season, the Wildcats may have thought that opener was enough to get the Grizzlies to give in.

But Montana battled. They jumped out to an early lead in the second set. Weber State responded, scoring six out of seven points to get to the 10-point mark first. There were plenty more runs to come. The Grizzlies strung together six straight points and 9 out of 10 to jump ahead 16-11. Catie Semadeni had three kills during the run, and Ellie Scherffius contributed a couple of blocks and a kill of her own.

This time it was Weber State's turn to make a run. They chipped away at the Grizzly lead slowly at first, and then with a 4-0 run they jumped ahead 24-23, taking their first lead since 10-9 earlier in the set. Facing set point, Montana wouldn't give in. Semadeni slammed home a kill to tie it up. Jackie Howell and Elise Jolly combined for a block to put Montana up by one, and then Howell got the last touch of the set with a resounding kill to even the match at one set apiece.

Griz defense making the difference in the 2nd set!!! Howell and Jolly get another block!#MontanaVB pic.twitter.com/fCOnMhnyCe
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) November 20, 2022

After allowing Weber State to hit over .400 in the opening set, the Grizzlies turned the defense up a notch in the second. They gave up just 11 kills while forcing seven errors, limiting the Wildcats to a sub-.100 hitting percentage.

The defense continued to shine in the third set and Montana led for much of the set. Weber State wouldn't take a lead until 20-19, and the Griz quickly got it back with a couple of kills from Paige Clark and a service ace from Jolly. Leading 23-21, Montana had a chance to take the set advantage. As the momentum continued to swing though, it caught the Griz on the wrong end. Weber State scored the final four points of the set for the 25-23 win.

In the fourth, the match followed a similar pattern. The teams traded some short runs early on before Montana broke it open a bit. They had runs of four and six points, taking 10 of 12 overall, to go ahead 17-13. Clark had three of the 10 points with kills and setter Carly Anderson threw in a couple of service aces as well.

How about this defense and return!! Griz leading 12-8 in the 3rd set 🐻 #MontanaVB pic.twitter.com/j2C3w7TwxU
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) November 20, 2022

The pesky Wildcats just wouldn't be deterred, however. They retook the lead at 20-19 with six out of seven points. The teams were tied back up at 23-all, but a kill and an ace from Weber State sealed the match.

Weber State outhit Montana .194-.120 for the match, but the Grizzlies had the advantage in two of the four sets and were just narrowly outhit in the fourth set. It often comes down to who can go on a run, but Saturday night in Ogden was chock-full of runs for both sides. The match saw 13 separate runs of at least four points by the two teams. Unfortunately for Montana, some of Weber State's runs came to close out sets.

"I was really proud of a lot of things. I think we just battled defensively so well and I think even in our moments of breakdown we always had good responses," Lawrence said. "It's just that our breakdowns came late in sets where we just ran out of time to recover. It just felt like a game of runs a little bit. We would go on big runs and feel really good and then have a breakdown on ourselves and tie back up and vice versa."

The match still served as a bit of a measuring stick for a Montana team that knows it can play with anyone at the tournament next week. The Wildcats are hosting thanks to their regular season championship last season, and they tied Portland State for second place in the Big Sky with the win.

The result didn't go Montana's way on Saturday, but it was a big improvement from when the teams met in Missoula back in October.

"I think we're of the mindset that any night is our night to go beat anybody in our conference. We want to play in that belief and that gear and we're doing that," Lawrence said. "The differences in wins and losses feel really small, and I think how close we played them compared to back in Missoula a month ago shows growth and belief and I love that."

Paige Clark had another 16 kills, bringing her season-long total to 398. She also achieved quite the feat on Saturday, closing the regular season as the Big Sky's leader in kills/set with 3.90. She was nearly a half kill per set better than second place, and becomes the first Grizzly since Lizzie Wertz in 2002 to lead the conference in the category.

Elise Jolly had eight blocks to match her season-high in leading a good defensive effort from Montana. Moreno had 27 digs, Jackie Howell was one off her season-high with 17 digs and Sarah Ashley was in double-digits for the second straight match with a dozen.

Montana finishes the season tied for fourth place with Sacramento State but loses the tiebreaker on head-to-head record. The Grizzlies will have a chance to get some redemption on that season sweep at the hands of the Hornets, as the two sides will meet in the first round of the Big Sky Championships. The match will be Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 1:00 p.m.

The last time Montana was the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament was also the last time they won a game there. In 2013, the Grizzlies upset Northern Arizona in five sets. It was Montana's first tournament win since 1996. They will hope to repeat some history on Wednesday.