Griz looking to take momentum with them to Indianapolis

Fresh off of a 2-1 season-opening weekend, the Montana volleyball team is back in action on Friday in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Grizzlies will play in the Hampton Inn Invitational, facing Drake, Saint Francis and host IUPUI. No live stream will be available, but fans can track live stats.

Montana vs. Drake
Friday, Sept. 2 / 2:30 p.m. (MT) / Live Stats

Montana vs. Saint Francis
Saturday, Sept. 3 / 8 a.m. (MT) / Live Stats

Montana at IUPUI
Saturday, Sept. 3 / 4 p.m. (MT) / Live Stats

WEEKEND REWIND

Opening the season at home for the first time since 2014, Montana did not disappoint, earning sweeps over North Dakota and UT Arlington, before falling in four sets to tournament champion UC Davis. The Grizzlies won their first six sets to open the season, something that hadn't been done since 2002.
Junior middle blocker Ellie Scherffius was named to the Ellesyn Invitational all-tournament team after averaging 2.30 kills per set on .327 hitting, in addition to 0.80 blocks per set. She hit .500 in Montana's win over UT Arlington (8-0-16) and then added 12 kills at a .346 clip vs. the Aggies.
Four players made their Griz debuts, including true freshmen Lexi Batezel and Maddie Pyles. Batezel moved into the starting lineup at defensive specialist, recording 2.20 digs per set while serving five aces. Pyles didn't play the first two matches, but made her debut vs. UC Davis and became a spark, recording four blocks, three kills and an ace across three sets – with three of those points coming with the Grizzlies facing set point or tied past the 25-25 mark. Baylor transfer Jena Kelly also saw time as a server and defensive specialist.
Missoula native Sierra Dennison, earned two starts at middle blocker. After redshirting last year, Dennison made her collegiate debut vs. UT Arlington, getting a kill on the match's first point. She finished that match with seven kills on .500 hitting. One day later, vs. UC Davis, she tallied eight blocks, the most by a Griz freshman since Capri Richardson in 2012.
Despite being limited to just one match, middle blocker Elise Jolly had a great debut to her senior season. The team's most-improved player in 2021 recorded 13 kills on .632 hitting, in addition to six blocks, vs. North Dakota. The hitting percentage was the best by a Big Sky athlete last week.
Sophomore Paige Clark, who earned All-Big Sky recognition last fall as a true freshman, ranks fourth in the Big Sky with 4.00 kills per set. She was in double figures for kills in all three matches last weekend, led by 18 kills at a .405 clip (18-3-37) vs. UC Davis. She also has a team-high six aces.
It's still very early, just one week into the season, but so far things look bright for Montana. The Grizzlies lead the Big Sky for kills, assists and service aces per set, and rank second for hitting percentage.
Junior setter Carly Anderson leads the Big Sky with 10.80 assists per set, a year after ranking second in the league. Last weekend, Anderson also chipped in with 2.50 digs, 0.90 blocks, 0.90 kills and four total aces.
Also in the Big Sky rankings, Dennison ranks third for blocking and 10^th for hitting percentage; Scherffius ranks seventh for hitting percentage; and the Grizzlies have three of the top-11 servers.

TOURNAMENT FIELD

Drake went 2-1 in its season-opening tournament, beating CSUN and Texas A&M - Commerce, before falling in five sets at Air Force… Leading the Bulldogs is senior outside hitter Haley Bush, the 2020-21 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year… Bush averaged 3.82 kills per set in 2021 and started 2022 strong, including 20 kills at Air Force… Freshman setter Addison Beagle was named the MVC's Freshman of the Week on Monday after averaging 11.0 assists per set, including 55 at Air Force… The Bulldogs are annually a contender in the MVC, but were picked ninth out of 12 teams in this year's preseason poll… Montana is 2-1 all-time vs. Drake, including a five-set win last September in Grand Forks, North Dakota… Drake won the first two sets before Montana stormed back to win the final three, led by 16 kills on .353 hitting from Elise Jolly and 13 kills at a .455 clip from Ellie Scherffius.
Playing in a home tournament, Saint Francis took at least one set off of each of its three opponents last weekend, but lost all three matches… A season ago, Saint Francis went 13-14 overall and finished 9-5 in the Northeast Conference, qualifying for the NEC tournament for the first time since 2014… The Red Flash were picked to finish third in the league's preseason poll… Senior outside hitter Madi Tyus led Saint Francis with 3.54 kills last weekend, while sophomore setter Emma Fenton led the team for assists, digs and service aces… Montana is 0-1 all-time vs. Saint Francis, losing a neutral-site match in 2014.
IUPUI returns 11 players from last year's squad, including Horizon League All-Freshman Team selection Briana Brown… Brown, a sophomore outside hitter, led IUPUI with 2.77 kills per set last weekend… The Jaguars went 1-2 in the season-opening weekend, losing to Eastern Kentucky and UT-Martin before sweeping Radford… A season after going 5-24, IUPUI was picked to finish eighth out of 10 teams in the Horizon League preseason poll… Saturday will be the first meeting between the two schools.

Gallery: (8-26-2022) VB: vs. UC Davis - 8/27/22

Q&A WITH SIERRA DENNISON
When you were introduced as a starter on Friday night, what was going through your head?
I was super excited. It felt like a moment that I had been waiting for for so long. To get to experience that, in a home match, too, was so cool. I had my family, some extended family, some friends who came and watched. I was really fortunate to be able to have all of those people I care about supporting me.

A season ago you were showing promise in fall camp before an ankle injury forced you to redshirt. What was that year like for you?
As an athlete, the last thing you want is to get injured. The immediate headspace you go to is pretty negative, honestly. Working through that with the people on our team – having the teammates that I do – really helped flip that around, though. Looking back on it now, I think I was really able to benefit from that year, not just to get healthy but to build relationships with teammates and to grow into our system a little more and get a little more comfort in that. I think it better prepared me for this past weekend and where I'm at now.

You got set on the first play of your first match. After getting that kill, did it help calm the nerves a little bit?
It did. Not knowing as much about who was on the other side of the net brings up a little bit of nerves. With it being the first weekend, and our second match of the day, I wasn't as sure how they blocked, their blocking system, how wide they were… Getting that kill, in transition, felt really good and helped ease some of those nerves.

All three middle blockers had a strong opening weekend. Is that an area of strength for this team?
I think that's something that we really focused on after last fall, being middle dominant on offense and on defense. We took a lot of time and effort into perfecting that and making it a more defined part of our system. I think we executed that really well this weekend, and a lot of that came from the passing that helped set us up well.

You had seven kills on .500 hitting in your collegiate debut. The next day you had the most blocks by a Griz freshman in a decade. Would you rather have a big kill or a big block?
Probably a big kill. A big block feels great, but a big kill means the pass was a dime and the set was money and it was more of a team effort and brings us more together.

As a Missoula native, did you grow up going to Griz games?
I did. Once I found my groove for volleyball and really started enjoying it, I started coming with my mom, back when they were up in the WAG. Now they're down in the arena and I'm in the arena and people are watching me play. It's pretty surreal.

Your mom went to Montana and your great uncle, George Dennison, formerly was the University president. How much pride do you take in that?
It's pretty cool. People hear the last name and it sounds familiar and gets them asking. I think it's super cool that people who don't even know me, but know my family, want to come support me and watch me do what I do and what we do. I want to live up to that name.

When you're not on the court, what do you enjoy doing?
If the weather is nice, I like being outside – floating the river, going to the lake, hiking, beach volleyball. In the winter, when it's not volleyball season, skiing is fun and my mom and I like to go snowshoeing. Missoula makes it easy to do all of that.

What made you chose your major of physical therapy?
I've always been so intrigued with the body; it fascinates me. I knew I wanted to do something in the medical field, but didn't want to be slicing and dicing in the surgery room. That's where I draw the line. But still, I knew I wanted to work in that general field and work with athletes. Those are people I enjoy being around, so even after I'm done being an athlete, I still want to be around that.

What's something most people don't know about you?
I've been to Africa. We went to Kenya for three weeks on a missions trips, doing a lot of orphanage work. It was the summer between middle school and high school. We were doing a lot of organized work but we also saw a coffee farm, a big mountain range and got to hang out at a school with some kids. Hopefully I'll get back there someday.

Griz looking to take momentum with them to Indianapolis

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Carly Anderson

Alexis Batezel

Paige Clark

Sierra Dennison

Elise Jolly

Jena Kelly

Maddie Pyles

Ellie Scherffius

University of Montana Athletics

Griz looking to take momentum with them to Indianapolis

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Carly Anderson

Alexis Batezel

Paige Clark

Sierra Dennison

Elise Jolly

Jena Kelly

Maddie Pyles

Ellie Scherffius

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