Griz return home for Taylor Swift night, free kids clinic

Thursday, October 12

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

Idaho

Buy Tickets

Montana plays Montana State in the first meeting of the Brawl of the Wild this season at Dahlberg Arena on September 29, 2023.

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/ University of Montana

Griz return home for Taylor Swift night, free kids clinic

10/10/2023 4:35:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA VS. IDAHO (TAYLOR SWIFT NIGHT)
Thursday, Oct. 12 / 7:00 p.m. / Tickets / Watch / Live Stats

MONTANA VS. EASTERN WASHINGTON (FREE KIDS CLINIC)
Saturday, Oct. 14 / 2:00 p.m. / Tickets / Watch / Live Stats

THURSDAY - TAYLOR SWIFT NIGHT
The Grizzlies will hold Taylor Swift night on Thursday. The match will feature in-arena entertainment focused around the world-famous Taylor Swift Eras Tour with a specialized playlist, graphics package, and video-board displays.

There will also be Friendship Bracelets available near the ticket office in the northern section of the lobby, and fans encouraged to stick around after the match concludes to exchange them with the team.

In honor of #TaylorSwiftNight on Thursday, we asked our players to finish some of the star's most iconic lines. Could you beat the team in a game of Finish The Lyric?

TICKETS🎟️: https://t.co/ecohgElf1Z #GrizVB | #BigSkyVB | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/gdIaZTK6O2
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 10, 2023

SATURDAY - FREE KIDS CLINIC
The Grizzlies will host a kids clinic on the floor after the Eastern Washington match. There will be an hour-long session where young players can learn from the Griz team and coaching staff first-hand. There will be stations set up that the young players will rotate through.

The clinic is for kids ages 6-12, and in order to participate in the camp you must sign up online beforehand. You can sign up HERE.

For head coach Allison Lawrence, herself a mother of two, it's a special opportunity that her team is able to provide.

"I have two kids that are about the age of the kids that come out to a clinic like this. I think it's really cool to see collegiate athletes through the eyes of your children," Lawrence said. "The coolest thing ever is to be able to go down on the competition floor and do skills alongside some of your role models."

The Grizzlies are always available after matches, win or lose. They have built a strong connection with the older fans of Griz Volleyball, and this is a way to connect with families as well.

"I think it's something that we can provide, and we just want to be a program that connects with the community as much as we can," Lawrence said. "We know families are a big part of the Grizzly sports fanbase, so any time we can provide a special experience we want to do it and show our thanks."

PREVIEW
Montana (6-11, 2-3 Big Sky) will have a chance to shake off a winless weekend by returning home to the friendly confines of Dahlberg Arena. The last week may have been a disappointment, but it also showed the Grizzlies the areas that still need growth.

Lawrence is hoping that the weekend at home will show that the Grizzlies took those lessons and applied them to their game.

"It always feels good to be at home, especially when you need a rebound," Lawrence said. "We had a disappointing week in a lot of ways, but I think gained a lot of info on ourselves that will help launch us into a productive week."

It wasn't as if the weekend went all bad, with a four-set loss to defending champion Northern Colorado and a five-set heartbreaker at elevation against Northern Arizona. The Grizzlies had plenty to like. They hit .303 in the Northern Colorado match. They had a better hitting percentage than NAU and a season-high 102 digs.

This is a team that is past looking for silver linings in losses, however, and is ready for wins against the top of the league.

The coming week should provide two chances at victories, starting against an Idaho team that has lost its last 15 matches and continuing on Saturday against an Eastern Washington team that Montana has already swept on the road this season.

It won't hurt to be back in front of the home crowd, which has averaged more than 1,000 people per contest.

"We're looking forward to some extra rest," Lawrence said. "The road trip last week was a grind, just logistically, so we will get some extra rest here and get back in front of the best crowd in the conference and hope to play consistently and in our system."

In particular, Lawrence is looking for the offense to show up and have a pair of big matches. It's been a consistent theme for Griz victories this season. They are outhitting opponents .238-to-.165 in the six wins. Those numbers drop to .184-to-.278 in losses.

"What has shown up in our wins has been our offensive effectiveness and presence," Lawrence said. "We have to have consistent efforts and outcomes, but I think just consistency in general. Consistent in the details, consistent pressure through execution, and consistent focus."

There will be plenty going on inside the gym between Taylor Swift Night and a youth clinic on top of two regional rivals in town. Montana is hoping to come out of Saturday with a pair of wins and an above-.500 record to bolster their place in the league standings.

GRIZ NOTES

Montana have had a top-half offense in the Big Sky in league matches. The Grizzlies are fourth in points (16.21/set), and rank fifth in hitting percentage (.225), assists (11.63/set) and kills (12.63/set).
The battle at the net has been a strength for the Griz, as they rank second in blocks (2.63/set) and have also given up the second fewest blocks (2.00/set) during league play.
The Grizzlies smashed the previous season-high in digs on Saturday against Northern Arizona. Montana finished with 102 in the match, beating the previous high of 75 vs. Binghamton (8/31). It's the first time in triple digits since 2021 and just the second time in the Allison Lawrence era.
Montana's service game has been key to the success this season. Montana has 50 aces in wins, and 50 aces in losses this season. The difference is more than a full ace per set over the course of all 17 matches, as Montana average 2.17 in wins compared to 1.16 in losses.
The serving game has taken a slight dip in league play, as Montana currently rank eighth in the conference with less than one per set.
Against one of the toughest schedules in recent memory, Montana are still have a solid offensive season. The Griz are hitting .204 as a team, which matches last year's number and falls just outside a top-10 season in program history. They need to improve to .208 to crack the top 10 list.
The ground defense, and the passing game as a result, have also been crucial to Montana's success. The Griz average just over 16 digs per set in wins, but the number drops below 12 in losses. Montana's blocking numbers, by contrast, are actually better in losses.
The first set has been an indicator of how the rest of the match will go all season. The Grizzlies dropped to 0-9 this year when losing the first set over the weekend. They are 6-2 when winning the first set.
The Griz are ranked 172^nd in the RPI, which is fifth-best in the Big Sky Conference. Northern Colorado is first in the league with a 129^th-place ranking. Montana is the only league team to play against multiple top 25 teams in the RPI (Pitt and BYU).
Montana's rotation has been very consistent, with five players appearing in all 66 sets played so far in 2023 and three other players appearing in at least 64 sets.
Allison Lawrence is third in program history with 61 career wins. She has a 61-108 career record in her seventh season.
The Grizzlies are tied with Northern Arizona for sixth in the Big Sky. They enter the weekend ahead of both upcoming opponents.

INDIVIDUALLY SPEAKING

Paige Clark currently ranks sixth in the Big Sky with 3.53 kills/set in league contests. She is also sixth in points with exactly four per set. The junior surpassed 750 career kills in the loss at Northern Colorado, and currently has 775 total. She needs 12 more kills to enter the top 25 in program history.
Clark has double-digit kills in the previous six matches, which includes every Big Sky contest. She surpassed 15 kills for the fifth time this year with a 17-kill performance against Northern Arizona.
Carly Anderson is second in the Big Sky in assists per set with 9.79 in league matches. She has 3,237 career assists. She trails Diana Thompson (2002-05) by 55 assists for seventh in Montana history.
Anderson had 46 assists against Northern Arizona, tied for the second-most in a match this year. She also had four kills with zero errors, her fifth match this year with at least four kills.
Madi Chuhlantseff has been fantastic to start Big Sky play. She averages nearly 10 kills per match so far and is third in the league with a .362 hitting percentage. She had 12 kills and matched a career-high with seven blocks in the loss at NAU (10/7).
Chuhlantseff now has six matches with double-digit kills this season, including two in the past three games. She has hit over .350 in eight different matches this year.
Alexis Batezel nearly set a career high with 24 digs last Saturday. She moved up to third in the Big Sky with 4.42 digs/set and went over 250 total on the year. The libero has been in double figures in 15 straight matches.
Ellie Scherffius set a new career-high with nine blocks against Northern Colorado (10/5). She backed it up with six more against NAU and is currently second in the Big Sky with 1.53 blocks/set in league matches.
Scherffius is hitting a career-best .310 this season, and is tied for the second-best career hitting percentage in program history at .293.
Sarah Ashley is coming off a season-high 16 digs against Northern Arizona. It was her sixth match in double figures this year. The senior has played a crucial serving and back row role this year. She is third on the team in aces (19) and digs (130).
Catie Semadeni is closing in on 700 career kills in a Montana uniform. She averages 1.74 kills/set this season on .205 hitting. She has three matches with double-digit kills.
Maddie Kremer is second on the team with 165 total kills (2.58/set) this year. Kremer has seven matches with 10-plus kills and is hitting .151 on the year.
Kremer has had some great defensive efforts as well, including last Saturday against Northern Arizona. She had 19 digs in the loss, her second-most in a single match. She has five matches with at least 10 digs.

IDAHO VANDALS (1-17, 0-6 Big Sky)

Idaho have had a tough go of it so far in 2023, winning just a single match against UC-Riverside. The win came during the opening week of the season as Idaho went winless in September and have dropped 15 straight matches.
The Vandals are 0-7 away from home this year. They went 1-15 in Big Sky play in 2022 and 2-10 overall away from home. Their last Big Sky win came on the road against Northern Arizona on Oct. 22, 2022.
The roster features nine freshmen and seven sophomores. Second-year head coach Chris Gonzalez had to reload after 2022 with 13 newcomers joining the program.
Idaho is last in the Big Sky in hitting percentage (.112) and have allowed a league high .263 hitting to opponents.
Taryn Vrieling leads the Vandals with 2.61 kills/set on .154 hitting. They have a trio of setters with at least 140 assists this year.
Aine Doty leads the Big Sky in digs with 4.74/set and 270 total.

EASTERN WASHINGTON EAGLES (8-10, 2-4 Big Sky)

Eastern Washington enter this week with a bit of confidence after a four-set win against Portland State last Thursday. The Vikings had been among the best teams in the league but were dominated by the Eagles on Reese Court.
The Eagles are .500 in their last four conference matches, and have been solid away from home this year with a 3-3 record.
Eastern Washington rank second in the Big Sky with 1.88 aces/set and third in the league with 2.28 blocks/set.
Sage Brustad has been one of the best attacking players in the conference this year. She ranks second in kills (3.79/set) and points (4.53/set), and is also third in aces (0.45/set).
Makenna Collins leads the Big Sky with 4.62 digs/set in conference matches.
Tanai Jenkins and Bri Gunderson both crack the top 10 in blocks with exactly one per set in league play.

SERIES HISTORIES

The Grizzlies trail in the all-time series with the Vandals 33-40. They also trail in Missoula 16-17. It has been all Montana as of late, however, with four straight matches and six of the last seven dating back to 2019 going in favor of the Griz.
Montana won its 60^th match all-time against Eastern Washington earlier this year in a sweep over the Eagles in Cheney. They improved to 60-44 all-time, which includes a 30-13 mark in Missoula. The Griz have won three straight over the Eagles, but haven't swept the season series since 2018.