Griz come from behind twice to sweep Bengals

Saturday, November 11

Pocatello, Idaho

12 PM

Montana

10-16,6-8Big Sky

Idaho State

8-17,6-8Big Sky

Montana

Idaho St.

Photo by: Tanner Ecker/University of Montana

11/11/2023 2:15:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Grizzly volleyball has had more than its fair share of near-misses and heartbreaking losses this year. On Saturday afternoon in Pocatello, they had about a perfect day with two come-from-behind set wins in a sweep of Idaho State.

It's the 10^th win of the season for Montana as they reach double-figures in the category for the third straight year. It's the first time since 2009-11 that the Grizzlies have 10-plus wins in three straight seasons.

Montana also defeated Idaho State for the third consecutive time and moved into a tie with them in the league standings at 6-8 in Big Sky play. The Grizzlies have the tiebreaker over the Bengals as this was the only meeting between the two on the year.

The Grizzlies also had just a single game against winless Idaho, making the conference schedule about as difficult as possible. Between that and the challenging non-conference schedule, Montana have had to play from behind a lot this year. Head coach Allison Lawrence thinks that helped the Grizzlies on Saturday.

"We've had a really hard conference schedule, and schedule in general, and I think that paid us back a little bit where we've played from behind or been in high-pressure situations and we've practiced being in a go-for-it mentality. We did today and we executed well," Lawrence said. "I think when you keep at it and keep yourself in that gear then it's going to break through and we will turn that corner, and we did today."

The win came behind a massive effort from Madi Chuhlantseff, who played perhaps the best match of her career to lead Montana to victory. The middle blocker had 16 kills without a single error, hitting .667 for the match and producing three kills down the stretch in the closing set to seal the victory.

She has missed several seasons because of injuries but has been a crucial part of Montana's rotation in 2023. This was her fourth match in the last five with 10-plus kills.

"She was lights out. This is her first full season playing and I think that's just such a testament to who she has been to prepare herself to be this kind of player," Lawrence said. "The hardship she has been through is enormous and she is an absolute beast who played with a lot of confidence today."

There she is AGAIN! The 15th kill for Madi Chuhlantseff gives us our first lead of the set!#GrizVB | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/ntoSBZ8bxi
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) November 11, 2023

Montana as a team outhit Idaho State .246-to-.131, but it took dramatic comebacks in both the second and third sets to clinch the fourth sweep of the year for the Grizzlies. They trailed 19-15 in the second set and 21-18 in the third, but were able to close both sets out for wins.

They hit over .300 in the first two sets and willed their way to the third set win despite a .140 hitting percentage. The teams were even in several categories. The Griz and Bengals finished with five blocks, five aces, and five service errors each.

The attack is what separated them, as Montana had 43 kills and 13 errors compared to 37 kills and 20 errors for the hosts.

Carly Anderson set a terrific match with 36 assists. She did a bit of everything, adding nine digs and two kills without an error. She had a great connection with the middles, as Ellie Scherffius also had seven kills on .400 hitting.

"(Chuhlantseff's) connection with Carly was so good and the energy between both of them and the communication and rhythm was outstanding," Lawrence said. "The way we were able to use our middles I think just opened up the whole match for us and her and Ellie had great games."

Catie Semadeni had nine kills for Montana on .259, and started the match incredibly well with a big first set. It was an important position for Montana entering the match.

"We needed Catie to have a big day," Lawrence said. "We knew that middle-right was the offensive pressure that we needed and she came through."

Montana had an early 6-4 lead by way of a variety of different scoring types. The Grizzlies had two early aces from Paige Clark and Maddie Pyles to go along with two kills from Chuhlantseff. The team would split the first 20 points overall but Chuhlantseff got her fourth kill of the set to make it 11-10 Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies pulled ahead 13-10 on a Catie Semadeni kill that capped a 3-0 Grizzly run. It was the first three-point stretch for either time in a highly competitive start to the match. They would extend it to a 5-1 run for a 15-11 advantage at the media timeout.

The first 3-0 run sparked two more for Montana as they scored 9 of 11 points for a 19-12 advantage. The Grizzlies were near .400 hitting while holding Idaho State under .200. Semadeni had a big part in that with five kills on 11 swings.

You have to always keep an eye on Carly Anderson! Her dump gives us set point!#GrizVB | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/t6t3Y88EL8
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) November 11, 2023

The Grizzlies would see out a nine-point first set win in which they outhit the Bengals .316-to-.163. Anderson had 13 assists in the first period as Semadeni led Montana with five kills. Montana never trailed in the opening set.

The Bengals would take their first lead of the match early in the second set, but Montana retook the lead at 8-7 on an attack error by ISU. The would use a 4-0 scoring run to build the lead to 10-7 as Chuhlantseff and Anderson combined for Montana's second block in the match.

Idaho State clawed back with seven straight points to retake a 15-11 lead. Lawrence took a timeout and her team responded well out of it, scoring three straight points on a pair of kills from Chuhlantseff, which brought her to eight on the match, and one from Clark.

They couldn't overtake the Bengals, who then extended the lead back out to 19-15 to force yet another Montana timeout. For the second time in the set, the Grizzlies responded out of a break. They scored four straight points to tie it up at 19-all.

No quit in these Griz! Maddie Kremer's ace makes it four straight for Montana as they look to climb their way back for a second straight set!#GrizVB | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/mhXc7172xo
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) November 11, 2023

The most important run came down the stretch for the Grizzlies. They scored three straight on a block, a bad set and an attack error to move ahead 23-22 for their first lead since 11-10. Montana finished out the final two points with Chuhlantseff's 10^th kill of the match followed by an Anderson ace to go ahead 2-0.

Chuhlantseff was hitting .588 through the first two sets with 10 kills to pace a Montana offense that improved from .316 hitting to .324 in the second set.

The offense cooled off to start the third as Montana had just one kill to go with four errors as Idaho State opened up another early lead. The Grizzlies had it tied 1-1 and 2-2, but the Bengals took a lead after that and held it for a long while.

Montana started to rally back into it late again, scoring four straight points to make it 17-16 Idaho State. They maintained the lead for a moment, but a 3-0 Grizzly run a few minutes later tied it up at 21-all. It was the first tie since 2-2, setting the Grizzlies up with a chance at the sweep.

No quit in these Griz! Maddie Kremer's ace makes it four straight for Montana as they look to climb their way back for a second straight set!#GrizVB | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/mhXc7172xo
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) November 11, 2023

The run didn't end at three. Chuhlantseff ripped her 15^th kill to put Montana ahead for the first time in the set at 22-21, and then got her 16^th to finish the Bengals off and give Montana the 25-21 victory.

For the second straight set, Montana went on a big run to close it out. There may have been breakdowns throughout the early portions of the set, but Lawrence said that the big-run ability had her feeling like they had a chance the entire time.

"We had some breakdowns where it would kind of be clusters of just one individual error per person and they would be grouped in ways where we would go down a bit," Lawrence said. "The flipside would also happen where as a group and individually we would execute point after point and go on huge runs. I think our ability to go on a run at any moment allowed us to relax and weather the storm."

Montana has already clinched a place at the Big Sky Conference Tournament, but Saturday's win could prove very valuable for seeding purposes as they now move into sixth place thanks to the tiebreaker over Idaho State.

"It felt big-time. It was tough to only play them once and at their place," Lawrence said. "I feel like this is where we've finished a lot of our conference runs and we've been in Pocatello several times with something on the line. I think we were comfortable in this environment and knowing that this mactch meant a lot."

There is plenty to play for as the Grizzlies now enter the final week of the season. They have Portland State and Sacramento State in town this week with both schools coming off a single match on Friday. The Vikings defeated the Hornets in Portland, handing Sacramento State just its second loss in Big Sky play.

The Grizzlies will be looking for another win or two to build the momentum into the Big Sky Tournament in Greeley the following week. If the performance against Idaho State is any indication, this is a Montana team still very hungry to prove themselves in the league.

"I think it goes to show how much we still have to play for not just outcome-wise, but what our team feels like we're still playing for," Lawrence said. "I think we're playing for our growth and to see how good we can be. They want to be as good as they can until the very last moment, and it's the character and drive to do that that made today so outstanding."