Montana takes set from No. 17 BYU

Saturday, August 26

Missoula, Mont.

10 AM

Montana

0-2,0-0Big Sky

#5 Pitt

1-1,0-0ACC

Pittsburgh

Montana

Photo by: Derek Johnson

8/26/2023 10:34:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

On perhaps the most difficult single day in Montana volleyball history, the Grizzlies held their own against a pair of nationally ranked opponents. The Grizzlies ignited a great crowd on Saturday night with a set win against undefeated BYU. Montana would fall 3-0 to No. 5 Pitt and 3-1 to No. 17 BYU to close out their opening weekend at the Ellesyn Invitational.

The Cougars defeated No. 5 Pitt 3-1 on Friday afternoon and won against UTRGV 3-1 earlier in the day on Saturday. Montana threatened to take the opening set by outhitting BYU and outdigging them as well, but a rally came up just short.

They made up for it in second set with the best performance of the opening weekend, taking a set off one of the best teams in the country. They would fall 3-1 in the end, but the performance gave them a great base to build from as they continue on through a difficult non-conference schedule.

"We knew going into the weekend that we needed to be learners and put ourselves in positions to add things to our game as we went," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "Friday night was a big disappointment and felt almost like a step back from fall camp. Our response this morning was really dramatic, and we felt like a totally different team."

It's difficult to play two matches in a single day against any team. Montana had to do it on Saturday against the winningest program in volleyball over the last four years and the third-winningest program in the history of the sport.

They held their own with the two powerhouses, matching the energy they brought and riding the waves of momentum as they came along.

"It's taxing to play two matches in a day and any time you do that you get ebbs and flows of momentum, but I thought are energy showed through throughout the day," Lawrence said. "I was really proud of our offensive performance, which was related to our ability to serve and pass better. I think to play against a block like that both in Pitt and BYU and to score big points, it was just so impressive."

Match One – #5 Pitt 3, Montana 0

The fifth-ranked team in the country proved a difficult match for Montana. The high-powered Panthers offense hit .559 in a three-set sweep, committing just five errors to go along with 43 kills. Paige Clark led both teams with eight kills in the match. It was an efficient match for Clark as well with a .308 hitting percentage.

The Grizzlies fell behind early in the first set and couldn't make up the ground, falling 25-12. The offense actually clicked fairly well for Montana, hitting .208 but the Panthers ripped a .750 percentage to run away.

The defense slowed down the Pitt offense slightly in the second set, but unfortunately Pitt also stepped it up on that side of the net, holding Montana under a .100 hitting percentage. Pitt opened it up with an 11-1 lead, ended the set up 25-11.

The momentum that would reveal itself later in the night against BYU began in the final set of the Pitt match. The Grizzlies started out strong, led partially by a pair of kills from Catie Semadeni that led them to an early 5-2 lead.

Clark had a kill to tie the match up at 8-all again later after a Pitt run shifted the lead again. They never let the Panthers run away, getting it as close to 18-15 at one point before ultimately dropping in three.

Still, the offense put forth its best effort with eight kills and just two attacking errors in the third set. It let to a .261 hitting percentage. The Panthers were clinical yet again, hitting .517 with 17 kills and just two errors.

Maddie Kremer had seven kills on .130 hitting to tie for the second most in the match. Ellie Scherffius had four kills and a team-high three blocks.

Match Two – #17 BYU 3, Montana 1

In the final match of the weekend, Montana put everything together for the most complete performance of the tournament and looked like a team that has learned some positive lessons from the challenging weekend.

The Grizzlies had the better stats through two sets, holding their own with a team that has been ranked inside the top 20 in the national poll every single week since the end of the 2013 season. It wouldn't go Montana's way in the end, but the performance was well worth the praise from Lawrence.

"I think that what makes this team so special is their ability to work hard for one another," Lawrence said. "I think this weekend showed us that our strength and resiliency relies on our whole unit and it showed up tonight big time."

BYU jumped out to a 5-2 lead early in the opening set, but Montana proved that it would challenge all night long with a quick response. The Griz scored six consecutive points, balancing out the attacking force well with kills from Scherffius, Clark, and Kremer.

The Cougars would retake the lead at 10-9, and kept the Grizzlies at a small distance for much of the remainder. A mini-run from the Grizzlies put the undefeated and 17^th-ranked Cougars under pressure down the final stretch.

Clark and Scherffius combined for a block that capped off a 3-0 Grizzly run and forced BYU to take a timeout with the match at 21-18. The Grizzlies would twice get within two points down the stretch, the latest at 23-21 after a block from Clark and Madi Chuhlantseff.

The Cougars had the poise to hold on in the closing moments, taking the opening set 25-21. The opening was a defensive battle, as both offenses struggled against good blocking setups. The Grizzlies hit .077, but that was an edge on the Cougars who hit just .069.

Maddie Kremer played a key role at the service line in the opening set for Montana, as the Grizzlies had a 6-0 run and a 3-0 run with her in the role. It was part of a strong service game overall for Montana, and something that helped shift the tides in their favor.

"I think really tough serving allowed us to keep a momentum lead. We had multiple servers that caused so much breakdown on the other side, and in tandem with that we held our blocking patterns really well."

Several of the key points in the frame were Grizzly blocks, and the Grizzlies would allow just seven kills while forcing seven BYU errors in the first frame.

The defense held strong in the second set, which would end up being the best of the weekend for Montana. Chuhlantseff had three kills and Clark had a pair early on to help the Grizzlies out to a 7-2 lead that forced a very early Cougar timeout.

BYU scored 10 out of 12 points later on in the set to take their first lead at 14-13, but the Grizzlies didn't let it get away from them. Montana showed some grit, bouncing back with a 3-0 run moments later capped off by a block from Semadeni and Scherffius to put the Griz back up 17-15. They wouldn't relinquish the lead for the rest of the set.

The defense once again delivered in a key moment and helped push them close to the finish line in the second set, as Anderson produced a massive solo block to give the Grizzlies a 23-20 lead.

Kremer delivered the finishing blow for Montana, ripping a strong attack up the side alley that found the back line to clinch the 25-20 win in the second set. It brought a crowd of nearly 1,000 to their feet as Montana tied up a match with the No. 17 team in the country.

The Cougars showed their class in the third and made things hard on Montana. The set was tied at three-all early but BYU would use an 8-0 run to take a 23-9 lead. The Grizzlies never gave in to their credit, responding with a 7-1 run of their own to make it a little bit interesting, but ultimately the Cougars held on for the 25-16 win to take a two sets to one lead.

The final set proved to be much of the same. BYU opened with a 9-2 lead. The Grizzlies fought valiantly to try to get back in it and force a fifth set, but could only get it as close as 13-10 before dropping the set and the match 25-15

Clark once again led Montana with 12 kills, followed closely by Chuhlantseff with nine. The middle blocker combination of Chuhlantseff (.350 hitting percentage) and Scherffius (eight kills on .385 hitting) gave the BYU defense fits all night long.

The strong play from the pair of middles was no surprise to Lawrence, who said that has been one of the strengths of the team since the very first practice.

"It's kind of been a point of emphasis all fall camp," Lawrence said of the middles being heavily involved in the offense. "We know how physical and fast our middles are and we want to have them in position to score all the time. I think when they are, Madi and Ellie are being so tactical and so aggressive that they're really difficult to stop."

After holding BYU under .175 hitting in the opening two sets, the big arms of the Cougars were loosened up in the back half of the match. They hit .333 in the third and .391 in the fourth.

"I think our confidence grew tremendously," Lawrence said of the weekend. "We are physical enough and smart enough tactically to execute our gameplans against any opponent. There were definitely moments that felt overwhelming and we had no answer, but I think that was such a good obstacle to try to overcome."

Montana returns to action next weekend at the Buffalo Invite in New York. The Grizzlies will open the tournament with Binghamton on Thursday, Aug. 31 at 2:00 p.m. ET.