Montana falls to Sacramento State

Saturday, November 5

Missoula, Mont.

12 PM

Montana

15-10, 8-5Big Sky

Sacramento State

12-13, 8-5Big Sky

Sacramento State

Montana

Photo by: © Derek Johnson 2022

11/5/2022 4:13:00 PM | Volleyball

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By: Montana Sports Information

Montana's four-match winning streak came to an end on Saturday afternoon with the Grizzlies falling in four sets to Sacramento State. The Hornets defense didn't allow Montana's offense to its groove, holding the Grizzlies to just .115 hitting in the 25-20, 21-25, 25-20, 25-14 win.

For the second time this season the Hornets have ended a winning streak of at least three matches for the Grizzlies, who drop to 15-10 overall and 8-5 in conference play. Sacramento State is level with the Grizzlies in the conference standings at 8-5, but now own the tiebreaker.

"Sacramento State battled really hard and served really tough. They played excellent defense, I thought their block did an exceptional job of reading our tendencies and shutting us down in areas that have been our strengths the last couple of matches," head coach Allison Lawrence said.

Elise Jolly had one of her best games in a Montana uniform to keep the Grizzlies in it. She finished with 10 kills (.400), seven blocks and four service aces. The 18 total points were her second most in a match this season. Paige Clark had 16 kills, averaging four per set to increase her Big Sky conference leading season average.

The Griz jumped out to an early lead in the first set, going on a 3-0 run. Sacramento State responded, and went on a 4-0 run of their own later to take an 11-6 lead. They extended it to 16-11 with three more points and built the lead all the way to 22-16.

Montana had a brief answer scoring three straight to get it back to 22-19 and within striking distance. But the Hornets would close it out 25-20, hitting .312 in the opening set and holding the Grizzlies to just .156.

The win earlier this year in Sacramento was a defensive battle, as the Hornets held the Grizzlies to just .131 hitting on the road and limited Clark to just four kills. She opened this match with four in the first set, and maintained that average the rest of the way.

Sacramento State took the momentum into the second set with an early 5-0 run. The Grizzlies bounced back, and an ace from Carly Anderson capped off a four-point rally that tied the match up. They went back and forth, with Montana's offense heating up. They had four errors and zero kills to start the set, but would respond with six consecutive kills without an error.

They extended it to 19-16 after a kill from Jolly, but the Hornets answered with three straight to tie it. Montana had one of its best stretches of the entire match to put away the set, scoring six of the final eight points. Jolly played a crucial part, blocking a couple attacks and adding a kill of her own. She had five kills and five blocks after two sets.

"Really proud of her," Lawrence said of Jolly. "It's been a couple of matches since her on the slide has felt like kind of an automatic kill, so it was nice to see her in rhythm and feeling really good. I thought she served exactly the way we needed her too, and had a lot of blocks."

Sacramento State took control midway through the third setting, scoring four straight points into the media timeout to take a 15-9 lead. Again, Jolly got the Grizzlies back into it with a kill and an ace as part of a three-point run.

The Hornets would extend it right back out, as every time Montana got close the visitors would respond. They closed it out at 25-20, hitting .346 in the set to take a 2-1 lead.

It looked like Montana might have another answer out of the gates in the fourth. They led 5-2 early, but Sacramento State would rally back to tie. They took their first multi-point lead at 11-9, but it would be all Hornets the rest of the way. After a 9-9 tie, Sacramento State scored 16 of the final 21 points to end it.

The Grizzlies still got a split of a weekend that featured two of the toughest teams in the league. The win on Thursday night against Portland State provides some confidence for a team that is right in the thick of the Big Sky at 8-5, and has plenty to play for down the stretch.

"Today felt frustrating because I don't think we played to our potential, but I also feel like splitting on this weekend is a huge overall win. Today doesn't take away from the incredible night on Thursday, and if I were to look at this weekend prior to going into it and saying we are going to get a split, I would have been really excited.

Montana State will be in town next Friday night in the lone match of the week and the final home game for the Grizzlies. The Bobcats set the Big Sky attendance record in the rivalry game earlier this year, a match Montana won in four sets.

"When it's Griz-Cat, all bets are off and it's just kind of point for point until the end, which is why people want to come watch, which is why it's the best game of the year to play in," Lawrence said. "They set an attendance record at their place and I think Griz Nation will respond and show up for us. I'm just excited for the week ahead, it's the best week to be a Griz."