Weber State spoils Big Sky opener

Wednesday, September 20

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

4-9,0-1Big Sky

Weber State

8-4,1-0Big Sky

Weber St.

Montana

Photo by: Tanner Ecker/UM Photo

9/20/2023 10:46:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana volleyball dropped its Big Sky Conference opener on Wednesday night to a talented Weber State team in four sets. The Grizzlies (4-9, 0-1 Big Sky) had a season high in blocks with 14 behind a career night from Ellie Scherffius, but struggled to finish points against a scrappy Wildcat defense.

The visitors blitzed Montana out of the gates and finished with authority, but the Grizzlies had a good performance across the middle portions of the match. Weber State won 25-15, 24-26, 25-21, 25-13 to improve to 8-4 overall and start league play with a win. It's the 10^th straight victory in the series for Weber State, who are consistently at or very near the top of the conference.

"We just didn't seem in rhythm with each other really," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "Weber State's defensive effort, and not just effort but their structure, led to moments where we were expecting to get kills but it turned into a one-armed positive touch or a pancake or a slow down with the block that allowed them to be in play. I think their pursuit plays and their ability to extend rallies was frustrating."

The Grizzlies hit .167 in the match and had consistent numbers across all four sets. It took a lot of chances to get the ball by the Wildcat defense, however. Weber State had 76 digs compared to Montana's 53.

The second set went to Montana, and it looked convincing until Weber State scored seven out of eight points down the stretch to make things interesting. The Griz kept it up in the third set and were within a point or two for much of the homestretch, needing one big run to tilt the balance of power in the match in their favor.

Instead, the Wildcats closed out the set strongly and then rolled in the fourth and final set.

"We felt like we found our rhythm in the second set and were playing well and holding our structure and then they did a nice job of making it hard for us to score and we lost details offensively and defensively after that."

Ellie Scherffius had a career-high eight blocks in the match. Madi Chuhlantseff had six blocks which matched a season high and was one off her career-best number. It was part of a 14-block night for the Grizzlies as a team, which is the best defensive effort of the year.

It was most notable across the middle two sets, and particularly the second when Montana forced Weber State into nine errors and held them to .125 hitting. The Wildcats were above .350 in the other three sets.

"We were ending play with our block. I feel like the second and third set, we held our lineups and assignments well," Lawrence said. "We had really good vision and presence over the net. It's something we've been stressing a lot, and I think middles and pins did such a great job doing that."

Weber State had an 8-1 lead out of the gates in the first set and were perfect on the first seven attacks. It was part of a run where Montana was struggling with serve receive, which allowed the Wildcats clean looks on the attack. The Griz wouldn't get back within five points in the opening set.

They flipped the page quickly in the second set. The teams battled early before Montana reeled off four straight points with Paige Clark at the service line to move ahead 14-12 for their first multi-point lead of the match.

Another 4-0 run, this time with Carly Anderson serving well, made it 23-17 Montana and had completely swung the momentum in favor of the home team. It wouldn't be an easy victory, though, as Weber State rallied to tie the match up at 24.

The veteran Catie Semadeni delivered with one of her nine kills on the night to put Montana up 25-24 and an error from Weber State ended the set and evened the match. After hitting .500 for the match midway through the second set, Weber State was held in check over the final 20 points or so and dropped all the way to .267.

A big point from the veteran Catie Semadeni down the stretch in the second to help put the Wildcats away.#GrizVB | #BigSkyVB | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/bFRRDogVMx
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) September 21, 2023

The third set started out tight again before Weber State started to pull away slightly. Clark sparked another Grizzly run with a good service game that led to four straight Montana points and a Weber State timeout with the visitors up 14-13.

They continued to trade points, and a well-executed dump by Anderson followed by a kill from Chuhlantseff got the Grizzlies within a point at 19-18. Weber State closed the set strong, and used that momentum to run away in the final set.

Scherffius had two blocks in the final set to reach her career high. The senior had a good night offensively as well, recording seven kills on a team-high .294 hitting.

"She's playing like a senior and is hungry to go make plays at the net. She's fighting on tight balls to win jousts and hitting overpasses. She fought so hard to get her feet to Carly in mid-range ball situations where she was always an offensive threat, and that's what we need out of that position and out of a senior middle."

Paige Clark had 13 kills on .150 hitting, reaching double-digits for the ninth time in 13 matches this season. Carly Anderson had her fifth double-double of the year with 39 assists and 10 digs.

Montana is typically strong in the service game, but recorded just four aces on the night. Weber State had five as a team, although they kept Montana well out of rhythm in that facet of the game.

"They served well. First contact has been a theme for us as far as the quality of it for the last several weeks," Lawrence said. "We're pretty good in bad ball situations and have to be, but Weber State did a nice job putting pressure from all sides of the ball."

The Grizzlies will look to bounce back and snap a three-match losing streak on Saturday at Eastern Washington. Montana won in Cheney last year for the first time since 2018 and expect another tight match this year.

"I think in our conference it's anyones night on any night. I think we need a bounceback and we are looking for a major aggressive response," Lawrence said. "But Eastern Washington plays really well at home and that gym is hard to play in."