Friday, August 26
Missoula, Mont.
10 AM
Montana
3
vs
0
North Dakota
Photo by: Derek Johnson
Grizzlies start season 2-0 after pair of sweeps
8/26/2022 9:14:00 PM | Volleyball
MISSOULA, Mont. – Montana had a perfect start to its 2022 volleyball season on Friday, sweeping North Dakota and UT Arlington to begin the Ellesyn Invitational. The Grizzlies will face UC Davis on Saturday at noon for the tournament title.
Montana's 2-0 start to the season is its first since 2017 and marks the first time the Grizzlies have won their first six sets to open a season since doing so in 2002.
"Today was a lot of fun, and I think a lot of that comes from how much we improved from set to set and from the first match to the second," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "It was fun to see us go out and have some success because this is a team that has built so much momentum and belief throughout the spring and fall camp. When you open at home, I think it creates an extra level of excitement, and it showed"
Montana started the day with a clean sweep over North Dakota (25-22, 25-23, 25-15). It marked the second season in a row that Montana has swept its former Big Sky foe, and just the third time in 18 tries all-time that the Grizzlies have beaten the Fighting Hawks.
North Dakota scored the first four points of the match, but Montana got on the board with a Paige Clark kill and took its first lead at 7-6, part of a 5-0 scoring run with Lexi Batezel serving – which featured three aces for the freshman. The set was tight throughout, but Montana never trailed again. Following a 17-17 tie, the Grizzlies went on a 7-1 run – again with Batezel at the service line – to take control of the stanza.
Montana trailed for most of the second set, including by four point at 16-12, before the Grizzlies chipped away at the deficit. A kill and an ace from senior outside hitter Jackie Howell, sandwiched between a Carly Anderson/Elise Jolly block, tied the score at 18-18, and the Grizzlies kept applying pressure from there, getting back-to-back blocks (Clark/Jolly and Anderson/Ellie Scherffius) to take a 22-19 lead (7-1 run). North Dakota again tied the set at 22-22 before Montana scored three of the final four points, including two kills from Clark.
The Fighting Hawks recorded more errors than kills in the second set (8 to 10), hitting -.065.
"A lot of times last year, we would reach the mid-point of a set, whether we were up or down, and we'd waver in our consistency," Lawrence said. "For us to hold system from 16 to 23, it felt really good. We were able to focus on the right things at the right time and slow the game down."
The Grizzlies saved their best set for last, jumping out to a 7-2 lead and never trailing. North Dakota got within two at 13-11 before Montana scored five straight points to push the advantage to 18-11. Senior Elise Jolly – who played at middle blocker after spending much of last season as an outside hitter – personally took over the third set, totaling nearly one-third of Montana's points. Her third-set tally included six kills and two blocks.
During the match, Jolly led the Grizzlies with 13 kills compared to just one error, for a career-best .632 attack percentage (13-1-19).
Clark joined Jolly in double figures for kills, with 10, while Montana totaled nine team aces, led by three from Batezel – who was making her collegiate debut – and two each from Anderson and Clark.
Montana 3, UT Arlington 0
The Grizzlies were dominant against the Mavericks in their nightcap (25-12, 25-19, 25-20), out-hitting their opponent .321 to .137. Montana hit above .300 in all three sets, totaling 18 more kills than UT Arlington (48 to 30), in addition to out-serving the Mavericks, 8 to 3 in aces.
Paige Clark (12 kills) and Jackie Howell (nine) led the Grizzlies offensively, but it was the play of their middles that made the difference. Junior Ellie Scherffius recorded eight kills and zero errors on .500 hitting. Redshirt freshman Sierra Dennison – who was making her collegiate debut – had seven kills and zero errors on .500 hitting.
"Sierra has had a heck of a year in terms of battling back from a really bad injury (which kept her out of the entire 2021 season). This was her first day on the court, and for her to have the focus she did, the fight she did and to not have moments of freshman mistakes or mental mistakes is really impressive."
Dennison not only was playing in her first collegiate match, but also earned the start. Setter Carly Anderson went to the Missoula native on the match's first point, which she put down for a kill.
It set the tone for the rest of the night, as Montana turned a 10-8 advantage into a 25-12 set win, going on a 15-4 run, including seven of the final eight points to put away the set. Montana hit .333 compared to .000 for the Mavericks.
The Grizzlies picked up where they left off in Set 2, jumping out to an 11-3 lead, which extended their run to 26-7. Clark had an early service run to make it 5-1, before freshman Lexi Batezel added another, including two aces, to make it 11-3. On the day, Batezel served up five aces.
UT Arlington took a 6-3 lead early in Set 3, remarkably Montana's largest deficit of the entire match. Montana, though, battled back to tie the score at 9-9, and later took a 15-14 lead on a Catie Semadeni kill, a lead the Grizzlies would hold for the rest of the set.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Montana's 2-0 start to the season is its first since 2017 and marks the first time the Grizzlies have won their first six sets to open a season since doing so in 2002.
"Today was a lot of fun, and I think a lot of that comes from how much we improved from set to set and from the first match to the second," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "It was fun to see us go out and have some success because this is a team that has built so much momentum and belief throughout the spring and fall camp. When you open at home, I think it creates an extra level of excitement, and it showed"
Montana 3, North Dakota 0AND THAT'S THE GAME!!! 🐻 💪 #GrizVB pic.twitter.com/70PQK51BkJ
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) August 27, 2022
Montana started the day with a clean sweep over North Dakota (25-22, 25-23, 25-15). It marked the second season in a row that Montana has swept its former Big Sky foe, and just the third time in 18 tries all-time that the Grizzlies have beaten the Fighting Hawks.
North Dakota scored the first four points of the match, but Montana got on the board with a Paige Clark kill and took its first lead at 7-6, part of a 5-0 scoring run with Lexi Batezel serving – which featured three aces for the freshman. The set was tight throughout, but Montana never trailed again. Following a 17-17 tie, the Grizzlies went on a 7-1 run – again with Batezel at the service line – to take control of the stanza.
Montana trailed for most of the second set, including by four point at 16-12, before the Grizzlies chipped away at the deficit. A kill and an ace from senior outside hitter Jackie Howell, sandwiched between a Carly Anderson/Elise Jolly block, tied the score at 18-18, and the Grizzlies kept applying pressure from there, getting back-to-back blocks (Clark/Jolly and Anderson/Ellie Scherffius) to take a 22-19 lead (7-1 run). North Dakota again tied the set at 22-22 before Montana scored three of the final four points, including two kills from Clark.
The Fighting Hawks recorded more errors than kills in the second set (8 to 10), hitting -.065.
"A lot of times last year, we would reach the mid-point of a set, whether we were up or down, and we'd waver in our consistency," Lawrence said. "For us to hold system from 16 to 23, it felt really good. We were able to focus on the right things at the right time and slow the game down."
The Grizzlies saved their best set for last, jumping out to a 7-2 lead and never trailing. North Dakota got within two at 13-11 before Montana scored five straight points to push the advantage to 18-11. Senior Elise Jolly – who played at middle blocker after spending much of last season as an outside hitter – personally took over the third set, totaling nearly one-third of Montana's points. Her third-set tally included six kills and two blocks.
During the match, Jolly led the Grizzlies with 13 kills compared to just one error, for a career-best .632 attack percentage (13-1-19).
Defensively, Montana held the Fighting Hawks in check, with no North Dakota player recording more than six kills and the team hitting just .033 overall (26-23-92). The Grizzlies tallied nine blocks, with Anderson in on a career-high seven of them, followed by Jolly with six and Scherffius with three.Ellie Scherffius on Attack Mode 👀 #GrizVB pic.twitter.com/BmnVvgWpvk
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) August 27, 2022
Clark joined Jolly in double figures for kills, with 10, while Montana totaled nine team aces, led by three from Batezel – who was making her collegiate debut – and two each from Anderson and Clark.
Montana 3, UT Arlington 0
The Grizzlies were dominant against the Mavericks in their nightcap (25-12, 25-19, 25-20), out-hitting their opponent .321 to .137. Montana hit above .300 in all three sets, totaling 18 more kills than UT Arlington (48 to 30), in addition to out-serving the Mavericks, 8 to 3 in aces.
Paige Clark (12 kills) and Jackie Howell (nine) led the Grizzlies offensively, but it was the play of their middles that made the difference. Junior Ellie Scherffius recorded eight kills and zero errors on .500 hitting. Redshirt freshman Sierra Dennison – who was making her collegiate debut – had seven kills and zero errors on .500 hitting.
"It was an incredible day in the middle for our team," Lawrence said. "Ellie has added so many layers to her game and she's such a smart player. She has great vision and picked the right shots at the right time and managed her game so, so well.Ellie Scherffius on Attack Mode 👀 #GrizVB pic.twitter.com/BmnVvgWpvk
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) August 27, 2022
"Sierra has had a heck of a year in terms of battling back from a really bad injury (which kept her out of the entire 2021 season). This was her first day on the court, and for her to have the focus she did, the fight she did and to not have moments of freshman mistakes or mental mistakes is really impressive."
Dennison not only was playing in her first collegiate match, but also earned the start. Setter Carly Anderson went to the Missoula native on the match's first point, which she put down for a kill.
It set the tone for the rest of the night, as Montana turned a 10-8 advantage into a 25-12 set win, going on a 15-4 run, including seven of the final eight points to put away the set. Montana hit .333 compared to .000 for the Mavericks.
The Grizzlies picked up where they left off in Set 2, jumping out to an 11-3 lead, which extended their run to 26-7. Clark had an early service run to make it 5-1, before freshman Lexi Batezel added another, including two aces, to make it 11-3. On the day, Batezel served up five aces.
UT Arlington took a 6-3 lead early in Set 3, remarkably Montana's largest deficit of the entire match. Montana, though, battled back to tie the score at 9-9, and later took a 15-14 lead on a Catie Semadeni kill, a lead the Grizzlies would hold for the rest of the set.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Montana started the season 2-0 for the seventh time in the past 28 years, dating back to 1995. This is the first time since 2002 that the Grizzlies have won their first six sets.
- Freshman Lexi Batezel, redshirt freshman Sierra Dennison and sophomore transfer Jena Kelly made their Griz debuts on Friday. Additionally, senior middle blocker Alicia Wallingford, who hasn't played in a match since 2019, saw the floor and recorded a kill late in Set 2 vs. UT Arlington.
- Prior to Friday night's match, Montana recognized its honorary teammate, Elle, who this weekend's Ellesyn Invitational tournament is named after.
- Also on Friday, UC Davis beat both UT Arlington (3-1) and North Dakota (3-0). North Dakota and UT Arlington will play for third place on Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by the championship match at noon, between Montana and UC Davis.
BLOCKED‼️
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) August 26, 2022
That puts the Griz at a 5-1 run after it was tied 17-17. pic.twitter.com/pXY03ixklh
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