Griz take momentum into matchup with defending champs

MONTANA AT NORTHERN COLORADO
Thursday, Oct. 5 / 6:00 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats

MONTANA AT NORTHERN ARIZONA
Saturday, Oct. 7 / 1:00 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats

The Montana volleyball team will hit the road riding a massive wave of momentum following a sweep over Montana State in the lone match of the week last Friday. The Grizzlies have now won six straight sets behind an offense that is hitting well over .300 in the last two wins.

They face a difficult test this week, traveling to Greeley to take on defending Big Sky Champion Northern Colorado on Thursday and Northern Arizona on Saturday. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.

The Grizzlies have been one of the top teams offensively since the start of Big Sky play and had their best performance of the season in the sweep over Montana State. They hit .344 in the match, a new season high, and finished it off with a .440 hitting percentage in a dominant 25-11 third set.

Head coach Allison Lawrence said that the key for her team in the last two weeks has been the mentality of the players.

"I can't say enough about how well our team performs in the rivalry match and in that type of environment," Lawrence said. "They choose to put their focus in a productive place together. It's been very fun."

Paige Clark had 14 kills on .632 hitting in the win and earned the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week as a result. Madi Chuhlantseff also had one of her better matches of the season with 10 kills on .421 hitting, and Maddie Kremer added nine.

Much of the offensive success came from the passing and setting of Carly Anderson, Alexis Batezel, and others. Montana has improved its receiving all year long, and as a result have found an impressive rhythm offensively.

The win over Montana State, who entered the match 9-3 and undefeated in Big Sky play, may have been the best overall performance by the Grizzlies all year long. It made it even more sweet to do it against a rival team and in front of a program record crowd of 2,237 fans.

"I think enjoying it but also putting in perspective that it's just one moment and as much as we like to win the rivalry - when that match goes our way it feels like it's 10 wins - but we have to move on from it and take good things," Lawrence said. "I think wins can mask deficiencies sometimes, so we have to look at that match in both great things and areas we struggled, and take what we can to make us stronger and more resilient."

Northern Colorado on Thursday is the ultimate test in the Big Sky Conference. The Bears won last season and have been a perennial power in the league. Syd Cole is the reigning conference MVP and head coach Lyndsey Oates is a four-time Coach of the Year in her 19^th season in charge of the Bears.

It's matches like this that Montana had in mind all preseason. They know what it will take to defeat the Bears, particularly on their home court, and they believe with their current form they can do just that.

"Their middle presence is really dominant and a difficult obstacle to overcome. I think they have one of the best setters in the conference in Syd," Lawrence said. "She's definitely an offensive threat, but really runs a fast tempo and is very dynamic and can set anyone at any time. I think defensively we are going to have to show up and hit the details."

The Grizzlies will then face off with a Northern Arizona team that has taken a slight dip in the last two years, but is typically a perennial power under longtime head coach Ken Murphy. The Lumberjacks are 4-10 overall this year, but two of those wins have come at home including a five-set victory over Boise State.

Week Seven Montana Griz Volleyball Press Conference with Allison Lawrence https://t.co/GHsvYitO6Y
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 2, 2023

CLARK EARNS THIRD CAREER POTW
Paige Clark had an outstanding offensive performance against Montana State and earned the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week award as a result. It's the third time in Clark's career that she's been named POTW. She is the first three-time winner since Jaimie Thibeault in 2010. Claudia Houle is the only other three-time winner for Montana since 1994.

There was no stopping Clark in the Brawl of the Wild match. She had 14 kills on .632 hitting to lead Montana to its best offensive performance of the season. Clark finished off a 25-11 set, Montana's biggest win since 2016, with seven kills on eight swings.

Clark's .632 hitting percentage matched the highest by a Grizzly in over two years, and was also the second-highest by a Big Sky player this year (min. 12 kills).

"She thrives in that environment. She has been that person that when the stakes are at their highest she wants the ball," Lawrence said of Clark. "She also exudes an amount of joy that you can't help but get swept up in when she plays. She's someone that you watch her play and think wow, I want to play with that person. It's fun, it's exciting, and she goes for it. I think that piece continues to show up and she really goes for it."

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
The Grizzly offense has found another gear in the last two weeks. Montana hit .304 in a sweep of Eastern Washington (9/23) to set a season-high. They immediately improved upon that in the sweep of Montana State, hitting .344. It's the best offensive night for the Griz since hitting .365 on 9/3/2022 against IUPUI.

Montana are hitting .206 on the season now thanks to a big uptick in conference play. The Grizzlies are hitting .253 against league opponents with 13.6 kills per set.

RECORD-SETTING CROWD
Montana set a new attendance record in the sweep over Montana State in the Brawl of the Wild. The Grizzlies welcomed 2,237 fans into Dahlberg Arena, breaking the record set in last year's rivalry game.

It's the second-largest crowd for a Big Sky team this season. Only Thursday's opponent, Northern Colorado, has drawn more, doing so in the season opener against No. 3 Stanford.

In five home matches, Montana is averaging 1,004 fans per contest.

"It's big-time. I think it's the effort of so many people. It's hard to put into words," Lawrence said of the increased engagement. "I think there is a lot of momentum around women's sports here in Missoula, and at UM, and I think people are noticing that they are worth paying attention to and worth investing in. Not only monetarily, but with eyeballs and attention. There's really big things going on and I think it's fun that people are paying attention. They should be."

GRIZ NOTES

Montana are currently tied for third in the Big Sky Conference with a 2-1 record.
The Grizzlies are on a two-match winning streak, which ties the longest streak of the year.
The win against Montana State was the fourth straight in the series for the Grizzlies. It's tied for the longest streak against a single Big Sky opponent. The Griz have also won four straight against Idaho.
Montana are 6-2 this season when winning the first set of the match. They have done so in seven of the previous nine matches. They have an 0-7 record when dropping the opening set.
Montana have hit over .300 in back-to-back matches. They have hit in the .200s six times, and the .100s seven times. They have not been held under .100 hitting in a full match this season.
This is just the eighth time that Montana has started 2-1 or better in conference play since 2000. Head coach Allison Lawrence is responsible for three of those seasons.
Lawrence is third in program history with 61 career wins. She has a 61-106 career record in six-plus seasons.
The Grizzlies are ranked 162^nd (and 5^th among Big Sky schools) in the latest RPI Rankings. In the original rankings on Sept. 18, the Grizzlies were 220^th. They jumped Montana State with the win last Friday.
Montana are in the top 100 in the country in service aces with 93 total and 1.68 per set.
The Grizzlies have one of the best offenses in the conference so far in league play. The Grizzlies lead the league in kills (13.6/set) and are second in hitting percentage (.253).
They also rank second in the Big Sky in blocks per set (2.50) and fourth in digs (14.00) in conference games.

INDIVIDUALLY SPEAKING

Paige Clark has double-digit kills in four straight matches and eight of the last nine. She has picked up her play in league games, averaging 3.70 kills/set which is third in the Big Sky. Clark is also ninth in the Big Sky with 0.35 aces/set.
Clark is five kills away from 750 in her career.
Carly Anderson is eighth in program history with 3,154 career assists. She trails Diana Thompson (2002-05) by 138 assists.
Anderson is third in the Big Sky with 9.40 assists/set and has been averaging over 10 in league play. She is also fifth in the league with 0.46 aces/set. She averaged 12 assists per set against Montana State, and over 50 percent of her attempts were converted into kills.
Madi Chuhlantseff reached double-digit kills for the fifth time this season in the win over Montana State, hitting .421 in the process. She averaged just over two kills per set and is hitting .280 on the year.
Alexis Batezel has double-digit digs in 13 straight matches and 14 out of 15 overall. She is fourth in the Big Sky with 4.09 digs/set.
Ellie Scherffius has multiple blocks in 14 straight matches this season. She is sixth in the Big Sky with 1.09 blocks/set. She has also been one of the most efficient offensive options in the conference, hitting .320 so far this season.
Scherffius is having a historically good season for Montana on offense. Her .320 hitting percentage would be the third-best single-season mark in program history. It has also increased her career hitting percentage to .295, which would be a Montana program record (min. 1,000 attempts). Karen Goff is the current leader at .294.
Sarah Ashley has played a crucial rotation for Montana this year serving and playing back row. Ashley has an ace in 10 matches this year, including a pair of matches with four aces, and has often changed the momentum of sets with her service ability leading to long Montana scoring runs.
Catie Semadeni has had some big-time offensive performances this year. She averages 1.81 kills/set and has three matches with 10-plus kills. In all three of those matches, Semadeni hit over .320.
Maddie Kremer is averaging 4.00 kills/set over the last two games for Montana, and has upped her season average to 2.71. She had 15 kills on .286 hitting in Montana's sweep of Eastern Washington (9/23) and has seven matches with double-digit kills.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO (7-7, 2-1 Big Sky)

The Bears enter Thursday coming off a five-set home win over Northern Arizona. They won all the odd sets, never trailing in the match and closing it out 15-9 in the fifth.
The defending Big Sky Champions are also the top team in the league according to the latest RPI Rankings. Northern Colorado is 121^st in the latest installment.
Northern Colorado has had three straight season with at least 20 wins (not counting the shortened 2021 spring season). They went 22-9 (13-3 Big Sky) in 2022.
Head coach Lyndsey Oates is a four-time Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year. She has won 10 Big Sky Championships and reached six NCAA Tournaments since taking over as head coach in 2005. She has a 336-221 career record.
Syd Cole was the MVP of the Big Sky Conference in 2022 and was also an AVCA D1 All-American Honorable Mention. She is second in the Big Sky this season with 9.57 assists/set and is closing in on 2,500 for her career.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA (4-10, 1-2 Big Sky)

The Lumberjacks enter off a five-set loss to Northern Colorado. They have had a difficult start to league play with road matches against two of the top three teams in the league, according to RPI.
Northern Arizona is ranked 245^th in the latest RPI rankings, which puts them seventh in the Big Sky.
There are a few shared opponents between Montana and NAU. The Lumberjacks defeated Boise State at home in five sets; Montana lost to the Broncos on the road in four. NAU lost all six sets they played in a home-and-home series to New Mexico; Montana won in four sets at a neutral site against the Lobos.
Hanah Stoddard is fifth in the Big Sky with 3.41 kills/set. Millie O'Ketter is third in the league with 4.16 digs/set.
Head coach Ken Murphy is in his 11^th season at Northern Arizona. He has a 183-115 career record and was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year in 2018.

SERIES HISTORY

Northern Colorado has built one of, if not the, best programs in the Big Sky Conference with eight regular season or tournament conference titles since 2014. The Grizzlies have not defeated them since the start of that year, losing 16 straight contests. The Bears are 25-9 all-time against the Grizzlies, and 13-2 in Greeley.
The Grizzlies will have a chance to even up the all-time series against Northern Arizona on Saturday. Montana is 35-36 all-time against the Lumberjacks and 14-19 in Flagstaff. The Griz had lost nine straight to NAU entering last season, but swept the season series with a pair of five-set wins.

Griz take momentum into matchup with defending champs

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Players Mentioned

Carly Anderson

Sarah Ashley

Alexis Batezel

Madi Chuhlantseff

Paige Clark

Maddie Kremer

Ellie Scherffius

Catie Semadeni

University of Montana Athletics

Griz take momentum into matchup with defending champs

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Carly Anderson

Sarah Ashley

Alexis Batezel

Madi Chuhlantseff

Paige Clark

Maddie Kremer

Ellie Scherffius

Catie Semadeni

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