Montana opens 2022 season with home tournament

Friday, August 26

Missoula, Mont.

10 AM

Montana

North Dakota

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Photo by: Shanna Madison/UM Athletics

8/25/2022 12:53:00 PM | Volleyball

Schedule Roster 2021 Statistics

By: Montana Sports Information

2022 ELLESYN INVITATIONAL
The 2022 volleyball season gets underway this weekend with the Ellesyn Invitational, named in honor of the Grizzlies' new 8-year-old teammate. The tournament will mark the first time since 2014 that Montana has opened its volleyball season at home.

The four-team, round-robin tournament will consist of matches between Montana, UC Davis, UT Arlington and former Big Sky Conference foe North Dakota. Griz fans won't have to wait long to see their team in action, with Montana hosting North Dakota at 10 a.m. on Friday. The Grizzlies will also cap a busy Friday, which features four total matches, with a contest against UT Arlington at 6:30 p.m. The tournament will conclude with a pair of matches on Saturday, including Montana vs. UC Davis at noon.

Tickets for the tournament can be purchased ahead of time online. The tournament will be split into three sessions (Friday morning, Friday evening, Saturday), with each purchased ticket getting fans into two matches per session. Additionally, all six matches will be live streamed through ESPN+.

Friday, August 26
10 a.m. – North Dakota at Montana
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12 p.m. – UC Davis vs. UT Arlington
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4:30 p.m. – UC Davis vs. North Dakota
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6:30 p.m. – UT Arlington at Montana
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Saturday, August 27
10 a.m. – North Dakota vs. UT Arlington
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12 p.m. – UC Davis at Montana
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GRIZ BITS

Montana is coming off of its best season in nearly a decade, posting its most wins and best winning percentage since 2013.
The Grizzlies earned their first winning non-conference record since 2005 last fall, including their first preseason tournament title since 2006, when they won the UND Classic championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Montana returns the overwhelming majority of its production from last year, including All-Big Sky outside hitter Paige Clark and starters Carly Anderson (setter), Jackie Howell (outside hitter), Ellie Scherffius (middle blocker), Catie Semadeni (opposite hitter) and Sarina Moreno (libero). Additionally, Sarah Ashley earned nine starts at defensive specialist and Elise Jolly started six matches at either outside hitter or middle blocker.
Overall, Montana returns eight of the 10 players who earned starts in 2021, including 97.5 percent of the team's assists, 82.2 percent of its digs, 76.1 percent of its kills, 71.5 percent of its aces and 46.7 percent of its blocks.
After going through Senior Night recognition in November, Sarina Moreno chose to return for a super-senior season, made possible by a COVID-19 waiver. The libero enters the season ranked third in school history for career digs, with 1,410, and was voted the team's most valuable player in each of the past two seasons. She ranked third in the Big Sky with 4.03 digs per set last year, also leading the Grizzlies for service aces.
Despite starting last year as a backup setter, Paige Clark went on to rank second in the Big Sky for kills (3.49 per set) and third for total points (4.07) from October 7 forward, earning All-Big Sky recognition as a true freshman. Her 23 kills vs. Portland State were the most by a Griz freshman ever during the 25-point scoring era. She also averaged 0.36 services aces per set during Big Sky play, which ranked ninth in the league.
Setter Carly Anderson has played in every set over the past two seasons, starting 43 consecutive matches at setter. As a sophomore in 2021, she ranked second in the Big Sky with 9.90 assists per set. Showing her versatility, she also led all Big Sky setters for kills and ranked second for blocks. With Anderson facilitating the Grizzlies' offense, Montana jumped from 11^th (.147) to fifth (.202) for hitting percentage from Spring 2021 to 2021.
Moving to the right side, Catie Semadeni led the Grizzlies for kills in 2021, also ranking third in the Big Sky for hitting percentage among pin hitters (.273). She was one of four Big Sky players, regardless of position, to average at least 2.25 kills per set and hit above .270, also ranking third on the team for blocking (0.54 per set); for comparison, she averaged just 0.79 kills per set on .011 hitting as a sophomore. Off the court, she is Montana's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president.
Middle blocker Ellie Scherffius was named the UND Classic tournament MVP last September after helping the Grizzlies win the UND Classic title. During a breakout sophomore season – after playing just 15 sets as a true freshman, recording four kills and three blocks – she led Montana for blocking (0.92 per set) and hitting (.288), and ranked eighth in the Big Sky for attack percentage.
As a versatile, six-rotation player, senior outside hitter Jackie Howell started 24 matches during her first season in Missoula, ranking second on the team for digs (2.50 per set), in addition to fifth for kills, service aces and blocking. Her 3.15 digs-per-set average during Big Sky play was the ninth-best in the league among non-defensive specialists.
The Grizzlies brought in five newcomers, headlined by November signees Olivia Boulding and Madi Pyles – both outside hitters. Lexi Batezel joins the freshman class as a defensive specialist, while fellow defensive specialists Ginny Pace and Jena Kelly – a Baylor transfer – began training with the Griz in January.
Montana, which has qualified for the Big Sky tournament in three of the past four seasons, was picked to finish tied for seventh in the preseason coaches' poll. In four fall seasons under Allison Lawrence (not including the shortened, Spring 2021 season), Montana has exceeded its preseason pick each fall. A season ago, the Grizzlies finished eighth after being picked 11^th.
After beginning Big Sky play 1-6 in 2021, Montana posted an impressive 5-2 mark over the next month (tied for the best record in the Big Sky during that stretch), including wins over regional rivals Montana State, Eastern Washington and Idaho.
Annika Albrecht, a two-time national champion as a player at Nebraska, joined the Griz coaching staff. She, along with associate head coach Dana Hallisey (Colorado State), were AVCA All-Americans as players. Head coach Allison Lawrence was an All-Pac-10 player at Oregon State, where she finished her career ranked in the top 10 in school history for kills, digs and aces.

SCOUTING THE FIELD
North Dakota

North Dakota was a member of the Big Sky Conference through 2017, claiming conference titles in 2016 and 2017, the final year being a banner season that saw the Fighting Hawks win 30 matches and advance to the NCAA tournament.
The Fighting Hawks have since had four consecutive losing seasons, however, including a 1-29 mark in 2021 that saw them go 0-18 in Summit League action.
Jesse Tupac, previously an assistant coach at New Mexico, is in his first season leading the Fighting Hawks' program.
With Tupac comes an almost entirely new roster. UND has six freshmen and four incoming transfers on its 2022 roster.
While the Fighting Hawks bring back just seven players who saw the floor last year, they do return a handful of starters. Three of the team's top-four point-scorers are back, including sophomore opposite hitter Ashlyn Olson (1.83 kills per set), junior outside hitter McCallister Gayle (1.30) and sophomore outside hitter Maddy Hornyak (1.28). Also back are UND's three setters from last year. The trio all earned multiple starts running the offense.
Transfers Marissa Stockman (middle blocker) and Sierra Ward (outside hitter) were named Summit League Players to Watch. Stockman is a graduate transfer after spending the 2018 season at Illinois State and 2019-Spring 2021 seasons at Florida State. She was named to the Missouri Valley All-Freshman Team in 2018, after leading the league with a .355 hitting percentage, before averaging 1.39 blocks per set across eight matches in Spring 2021 for the Seminoles. Ward transferred from Black Hills State, where she was a three-time All-RMAC honorable mention selection, ranking second on the team with 214 kills last fall.
UND hosted Minnesota State Moorhead in an exhibition match on Saturday, coming away with a 3-0 victory.
UND was picked to finish eighth out of 10 teams in the Summit League preseason coaches' poll.
Montana is just 2-15 all-time against North Dakota (1-7 in Missoula), but snapped a 15-match losing skid last September, when the Grizzlies swept the Fighting Hawks in Grand Forks to win the UND Classic tournament title. It was the program's first win over North Dakota since 2009. In the win, Montana dominated the first two sets, 25-14 and 25-15, and then won the third, 26-24, after erasing a 21-15 deficit with a 9-0 scoring run. Returners Elise Jolly (12 kills on .526 hitting) and Ellie Scherffius (10 kills at a .529 clip) had big nights offensively for the Griz.

UT Arlington

The Mavericks went 12-15 overall in 2021, including a second-place finish in the Sun Belt West standings – the program's highest finish ever. They earned a first-round win over Georgia Southern in their conference tournament, before falling in the semifinals to South Alabama.
UTA has since transitioned to the Western Athletic Conference, where it will play its first season in 2022.
From 2018-20, UTA posted three consecutive winning seasons, including a 20-win campaign in 2019 that saw the Mavericks qualify for the NIVC postseason tournament.
UTA returns 14 members from last year's squad, including sophomore outside hitter/middle blocker Briana Brown, who earned first-team All-Sun Belt recognition as a freshman, after averaging 2.92 kills per set. Teammate Alli Wells, a junior libero, earned second-team honors after averaging 5.04 digs per set and ranking second on the team with 15 service aces.
Twelve of UTA's 18 roster members are listed as either freshmen or sophomores.
UTA was picked to finish eighth out of 13 teams in the WAC preseason coaches' poll.
UTA earned a 3-0 exhibition win over Dallas Baptist last Friday, hitting .342 as a team.
J.T. Wenger is in his fifth season in Arlington. He previously served as an assistant coach at UCLA, Colorado and Michigan State.
Montana is 0-3 all-time vs. UTA, with the two teams last meeting in 1995. This will be the first time UTA visits Missoula, with neutral-site meetings in 1981 and 1987 and a match in Arlington in 1995.

UC Davis

UC Davis is coming off of an 11-20 campaign, including a 7-13 mark in Big West Conference play. Prior to that, UC Davis had posted three consecutive winning seasons, including a 2019 NIVC postseason tournament berth.
Senior middle blocker Josephine Ough earned first-team All-Big West honors for the second consecutive season in 2021, averaging 2.20 kills per set on .376 hitting, in addition to 1.29 blocks per set. Her blocks-per-set average ranked 29^th in the nation in 2021, while her hitting percentage was 45^th.
Sophomore opposite hitter Olivia Utterback also earned first-team all-conference honors last fall, averaging 2.71 kills per set on .274 hitting.
The Aggies were picked to finish seventh out of 11 teams in the Big West preseason coaches' poll.
Head coach Dan Conners is in his eighth season at UC Davis, previously serving on the staffs at Illinois, Nebraska and UCLA.
Montana is 2-2 all-time vs. UC Davis, earning wins in 2004 (road) and 2005 (home), before falling at a neutral site in 2006 and on the road in 2019. The 2019 match was the collegiate debut for Montana's Catie Semadeni, who recorded six kills and zero errors (.333 hitting) in the match. Sarina Moreno also played in that match, recording two digs and a service ace.