Three Grizzlies named to All-Big Sky teams

The Montana volleyball team placed three players on the All-Conference teams, the Big Sky announced Tuesday afternoon. Carly Anderson, Madi Chuhlantseff, and Paige Clark all earned Second Team All-Big Sky honors.

It's a good balance of positions with Montana's setter, middle blocker, and outside hitter all being honored. The trio helped lead Montana to one of its best offensive seasons in program history. The Grizzlies hit .211 as a team this year, the best mark in the 25-point rally scoring era and the 9^th best in program history.

"It's a big-time achievement and a testament to the depth in our group and the effectiveness of our offense," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "It's a really big nod to the team effort in general. Whenever you have multiple players recognized, and especially with a sixth-place finish, I think that just speaks to the strength of our roster and the respect that we are given when teams play us."

This is also the first time that Montana has had three players honored as part of the postseason All-Conference teams since 2008. It's only the fourth time since 2000 that Montana have multiple players on the All-Big Sky teams, and the first time they have done it in back-to-back years since 20008-09.

"It reflects kind of how we've wanted to put pressure on teams by having a balanced offense. You are seeing a middle, a setter who is very active offensively, and an outside get selected," Lawrence said. "When teams play us, the impression is that we have multiple threats offensively that are very effective and require a lot of game planning against."

It's the third straight All-Conference honor for the junior Clark, who was Second Team as a freshman and First team as a sophomore. Clark ranks 10^th in the Big Sky this year with 3.16 kills/set and has also added 36 aces to her career total.

She has 20 matches with double-digit kills this season, and also has seven double-doubles while averaging 1.95 digs/set. She is closing in on 1,000 career kills in her Grizzly career having recently passed the 900-kill mark.

"I think when you play us you have to prepare to slow Paige down," Lawrence said. "It has to be a part of how you play us. She's physical in every way, she's capable of scoring in so many scenarios, and she plays with a passion and a fire that really is contagious on our side."

That passion that Clark displays have made her a fan favorite in Missoula. It also inspires the rest of the team to big performances. Montana have had several matches where the team fed off the momentum that Clark provided to have big results.

"I think teams know that if she gets hot it affects the rest of our team in such positive ways," Lawrence continued. "I think this selection is just as much about her leadership and the way that she plays as it is about her stats."

Anderson earns a place on the Second Team for the second consecutive year. The senior setter joins Clark as the only two-time All-Conference Grizzlies since Kayla Reno last did it in 2013. It's not the only history that Anderson has made this year.

The setter moved into 6^th place in the program's all-time assists category with 3,637 in her carer. She played in her 100^th career match as a Grizzly during Senior Day, a fitting time to reach the milestone for a player that has been crucial to Montana's success over the previous seasons.

"She poses multiple threats and really her growth this year, she has gained so much in strength and speed where she has always had really solid fundamentals but her ability to be strong and physical throughout rallies has only made her more deceptive and more of an offensive threat," Lawrence said. "It gives her the ability to make more-and-more aggressive decisions in all parts of her game."

Anderson ranks 3^rd in the Big Sky Conference with 9.44 assists/set, and is also 5^th with 0.39 aces/set. She is also one of the top attacking threats in the league at the setter position, averaging nearly a kill per set.

"I think she's very difficult to read as an opposing defense and because of her ability to remain an offensive threat herself she is someone you have to game plan against and really know as an opponent," Lawrence said.

It's the first All-Conference honor for Chuhlantseff, who returned to the floor after missing the past two years rehabbing injuries. It has been impressive to watch the way that Chuhlantseff grew into the season, improving steadily as the year went on.

In the first 14 matches of the year, she had four outings with 10-plus kills. She's now been in double-figures in six of the final seven matches of the season, hitting over .330 in every appearance.

"I think with (Chuhlantseff) it is incredibly to see and also not surprising," Lawrence said. "I think anyone who witnessed her recovery process from inside the program knew that because of how she was preparing and how hard she was working when no one was watching, that this was going to be the result of her efforts."

Chuhlantseff has returned not only to an All-Conference level as a player, but also as one of the most efficient attacking threats in Montana history. The redshirt-sophomore from Salem, Ore. is hitting .340 this season with 243 kills and just 58 errors. It's the second-best single season hitting percentage in Griz history.

"She's so long and physical, but it's her tremendous amount of hard work behind the scenes to make a full physical recovery that has gotten her vertical and her strength to places that are just unbelievable. The sky is the limit for her," Lawrence said. "She's physically able to just dominate, and then you see over the course of the season as she gained experience how her mental part of the game keeps growing every single match."

The trio, and the rest of the Grizzly roster, will take on Montana State in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament on Wednesday afternoon. The Grizzlies and the Bobcats will meet at 4:00 p.m. in Greeley in the quarterfinal as Montana looks to win its first postseason match since 2013.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Carly Anderson

Madi Chuhlantseff

Paige Clark

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