Thursday, October 10
Missoula, Mont.
7:00 PM
Montana
6-10,1-4Big Sky
3
vs
0
Idaho
1-14,0-4Big Sky
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho | 18 | 10 | 18 | 0 |
| Montana | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Photo by: Taylor Decker/University of Montana
Offense soars as Griz demolish Vandals
10/10/2024 10:09:00 PM | Volleyball
There have been plenty of close calls for Montana volleyball through the first four matches of Big Sky play, but the Griz came home this week still searching for their first league win. They left no doubt on Thursday night, demolishing Idaho in three sets while hitting their best percentage in a decade.
The Griz trailed for just a single point the entire night, holding at least nine-point leads in all three sets to improve to 6-10 overall and 1-4 in Big Sky play. It was a complete team effort for Montana with 13 players taking the floor and 10 of them recording at least one kill.
"It feels great and it was such a team win," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "Everyone that came in added something and really pushed our confidence and our standard and I just thought it was a great win."
Montana had 46 kills to just 10 errors on the night, hitting .375 as a team. It's the best percentage since Oct. 30 of 2014 when they hit .385 in a win over Eastern Washington.
The Grizzlies had yet to hit .400 in a single set this season, but they would do it two out of three times against the Vandals. They closed out the match by hitting .448 in the second set and .400 in the third, recording just four total errors over the two sets.
The defense also showed up again as they had 10 blocks, making this the third straight match they've reached double figures. Maddie Kremer, Sierra Dennison, and Sydney Pierce each recorded five blocks to lead the way.
The ball control was also top notch for Montana all night long as they outdug Idaho 40-36 and got the ball in the right positions all night. It's what helped lead them to the historic offensive performance.
Montana jumped out to a huge lead early, setting the tone for the entire night. They scored seven of the first eight points of the match behind six kills on six swings as a team, forcing an early Idaho timeout.
Idaho pulled back within five, but Montana scored four straight to push the lead back out to 15-6. They had it all the way into double figures at 22-12 before the Vandals made a late run, but it never threatened as Ginny Pace came in to end things for Montana.
Pace entered the night with four kills on the year. She exploded down the stretch, scoring the final three points of the set for Montana on her own with three kills to match her career high.
The balance started in the opening set as six different Grizzlies had at least five attacks in the first set. It was the closest set of the night as Montana outhit Idaho .297-to-.200. It gave Montana a level of comfort, and allowed them to play with confidence once they had the lead the rest of the night.
It's been a difficult area for Montana on the year. The Griz have been very good at staging comebacks and making life hard for their opponents, but in a few conference matches they have seen leads slip away late. They weren't going to let that happen on Thursday.
"To be ahead and execute at the highest level, I think that's the challenge for this team," Lawrence said. " We saw that in multiple matches, so our goal tonight was to create a gap in the score, to lead, and to win those mini-games to 5, 10, 15 and then execute at the highest level to hold down the stretch."
Idaho scored the first point of the second set, taking the only lead they would hold all night as a result. It didn't last long as Montana took the next four points and once again pulled away.
Setter Casi Newman had three kills in Montana's first five points of the set, and ended the night matching her career high with six total kills. Newman also recorded 23 assists to lead Montana.
Newman and company really started to pull away through the middle portion of the set, going on a 6-0 run to take a double-digit lead while hitting over .500 at the time. With the score at 18-8, Newman made way for sophomore Gracie Cagle.
It was the best offensive set for Montana since hitting .517 last season on Oct. 5 in a loss to Northern Colorado.
They put the exclamation point on the night in the third set, starting out with an 10-1 lead. The highlight of the night and perhaps the season came when the freshman Russell jumped out of the gym for a huge kill to make it 15-8.
It was one of a handful of plays that showed the potential of the younger players on the Montana roster.
"Delaney's swing, the whole gym erupted. You got to see our younger players come in and be explosive and dynamic and be momentum grabbers," Lawrence said. "I think we talk about that a lot, you have to come of the bench and be a change maker and all of them did. This is the perfect opportunity for them to gain experience."
The Griz got plenty of players involved as they closed out the final set 25-18. Sierra Dennison had the final touch of the night to seal the sweep. It's Montana's sixth straight win over the neighbor Idaho team.
Montana's previous high for team hitting percentage was .278 in a win at Kansas City a few weeks ago. They blew that out of the water, hitting .375 as a team with three players recording at least six kills on over .500 hitting.
Paige Clark had a team-high eight kills on .615 hitting. It breaks a streak of 13 straight matches reaching double figures for the senior, but she will absolutely take it as it was her most efficient night of the year.
Casi Newman had six kills on .667 hitting, and Pierce had six on .500. Maddie Kremer and Sierra Dennison both finished with six kills as well, and Maddie Pyles had five.
Russell was next with four kills on .333 hitting, tripling her career total in one night. It was her first kill since an Aug. 30 match against Fresno State. Pace added three important kills in the first set.
Alexis Batezel had a team-high 11 digs, including an impressive diving save in the first to set up a Grizzly point.
Montana is now 3-2 at home on the year. They will get another chance to play in front of the home crowd on Saturday night following the football game as part of UM's Homecoming festivities.
"There is no better place to be than here in Dahlberg and here in Missoula," Lawrence said. "I think we're all swept up in the Homecoming spirit and we want to do our part to bring wins to the Griz. We know football is going to do it, soccer did it today, we know softball will do it on Sunday, so we're just doing our part."
Gallery: (10-10-2024) VB: Idaho (10.10.24)
The Grizzlies are participating in the Dig Pink program from The Side-Out Foundation on Saturday. Montana is raising funds, and all donations will go directly to the Side-Out Foundation. To donate, click HERE.
The Side-Out Foundation, established in 2004, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit making a significant impact on the lives of metastatic breast cancer patients and their families. Through innovative approaches and precision medicine research, Side-Out provides hope and treatment options for those with metastatic breast cancer.
Their educational and community-driven programs, Dig Pink® and the Ambassador Program, engage a new generation in advocacy and fund revolutionary research. Side-Out envisions a future where breast cancer is not a terminal diagnosis and every patient has hope for more tomorrows.
The Griz trailed for just a single point the entire night, holding at least nine-point leads in all three sets to improve to 6-10 overall and 1-4 in Big Sky play. It was a complete team effort for Montana with 13 players taking the floor and 10 of them recording at least one kill.
"It feels great and it was such a team win," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "Everyone that came in added something and really pushed our confidence and our standard and I just thought it was a great win."
Montana had 46 kills to just 10 errors on the night, hitting .375 as a team. It's the best percentage since Oct. 30 of 2014 when they hit .385 in a win over Eastern Washington.
The Grizzlies had yet to hit .400 in a single set this season, but they would do it two out of three times against the Vandals. They closed out the match by hitting .448 in the second set and .400 in the third, recording just four total errors over the two sets.
The defense also showed up again as they had 10 blocks, making this the third straight match they've reached double figures. Maddie Kremer, Sierra Dennison, and Sydney Pierce each recorded five blocks to lead the way.
The ball control was also top notch for Montana all night long as they outdug Idaho 40-36 and got the ball in the right positions all night. It's what helped lead them to the historic offensive performance.
"I think we went into this match knowing that we were going to measure success based on how we executed our standard. It starts with ball handling, so we passed and dug well to get our offense in rhythm," Lawrence said. "I think every player had a hand in that, and I think both setters held that rhythm as well. We had great looks and were finishing kills to the floor."First point of the match goes to the Griz as Paige Clark moves into 8th all-time in kills at Montana!#GrizVB | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/XVGCyPaB4V
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 11, 2024
Montana jumped out to a huge lead early, setting the tone for the entire night. They scored seven of the first eight points of the match behind six kills on six swings as a team, forcing an early Idaho timeout.
Idaho pulled back within five, but Montana scored four straight to push the lead back out to 15-6. They had it all the way into double figures at 22-12 before the Vandals made a late run, but it never threatened as Ginny Pace came in to end things for Montana.
Pace entered the night with four kills on the year. She exploded down the stretch, scoring the final three points of the set for Montana on her own with three kills to match her career high.
The balance started in the opening set as six different Grizzlies had at least five attacks in the first set. It was the closest set of the night as Montana outhit Idaho .297-to-.200. It gave Montana a level of comfort, and allowed them to play with confidence once they had the lead the rest of the night.
It's been a difficult area for Montana on the year. The Griz have been very good at staging comebacks and making life hard for their opponents, but in a few conference matches they have seen leads slip away late. They weren't going to let that happen on Thursday.
"To be ahead and execute at the highest level, I think that's the challenge for this team," Lawrence said. " We saw that in multiple matches, so our goal tonight was to create a gap in the score, to lead, and to win those mini-games to 5, 10, 15 and then execute at the highest level to hold down the stretch."
Idaho scored the first point of the second set, taking the only lead they would hold all night as a result. It didn't last long as Montana took the next four points and once again pulled away.
Setter Casi Newman had three kills in Montana's first five points of the set, and ended the night matching her career high with six total kills. Newman also recorded 23 assists to lead Montana.
Newman and company really started to pull away through the middle portion of the set, going on a 6-0 run to take a double-digit lead while hitting over .500 at the time. With the score at 18-8, Newman made way for sophomore Gracie Cagle.
In her first year at the setter position, Cagle shared the ball with a couple of other Grizzly newcomers down the stretch. Freshman Sydney Pierce matched her career high with six kills on .500 hitting, and fellow freshman Delaney Russell had a career day with four kills, two of which came down the stretch to close out the second set 25-10.Career high 6th kill for setter Casi Newman!#GrizVB | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/lEhWNdNC9e
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 11, 2024
It was the best offensive set for Montana since hitting .517 last season on Oct. 5 in a loss to Northern Colorado.
They put the exclamation point on the night in the third set, starting out with an 10-1 lead. The highlight of the night and perhaps the season came when the freshman Russell jumped out of the gym for a huge kill to make it 15-8.
It was one of a handful of plays that showed the potential of the younger players on the Montana roster.
"Delaney's swing, the whole gym erupted. You got to see our younger players come in and be explosive and dynamic and be momentum grabbers," Lawrence said. "I think we talk about that a lot, you have to come of the bench and be a change maker and all of them did. This is the perfect opportunity for them to gain experience."
The freshman Delaney Russell with some 𝑺𝑬𝑹𝑰𝑶𝑼𝑺 power ⚡️😳 pic.twitter.com/6dh8DyuGR3
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) October 11, 2024
The Griz got plenty of players involved as they closed out the final set 25-18. Sierra Dennison had the final touch of the night to seal the sweep. It's Montana's sixth straight win over the neighbor Idaho team.
Montana's previous high for team hitting percentage was .278 in a win at Kansas City a few weeks ago. They blew that out of the water, hitting .375 as a team with three players recording at least six kills on over .500 hitting.
Paige Clark had a team-high eight kills on .615 hitting. It breaks a streak of 13 straight matches reaching double figures for the senior, but she will absolutely take it as it was her most efficient night of the year.
Casi Newman had six kills on .667 hitting, and Pierce had six on .500. Maddie Kremer and Sierra Dennison both finished with six kills as well, and Maddie Pyles had five.
Russell was next with four kills on .333 hitting, tripling her career total in one night. It was her first kill since an Aug. 30 match against Fresno State. Pace added three important kills in the first set.
Alexis Batezel had a team-high 11 digs, including an impressive diving save in the first to set up a Grizzly point.
Montana is now 3-2 at home on the year. They will get another chance to play in front of the home crowd on Saturday night following the football game as part of UM's Homecoming festivities.
"There is no better place to be than here in Dahlberg and here in Missoula," Lawrence said. "I think we're all swept up in the Homecoming spirit and we want to do our part to bring wins to the Griz. We know football is going to do it, soccer did it today, we know softball will do it on Sunday, so we're just doing our part."
The Grizzlies are participating in the Dig Pink program from The Side-Out Foundation on Saturday. Montana is raising funds, and all donations will go directly to the Side-Out Foundation. To donate, click HERE.
The Side-Out Foundation, established in 2004, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit making a significant impact on the lives of metastatic breast cancer patients and their families. Through innovative approaches and precision medicine research, Side-Out provides hope and treatment options for those with metastatic breast cancer.
Their educational and community-driven programs, Dig Pink® and the Ambassador Program, engage a new generation in advocacy and fund revolutionary research. Side-Out envisions a future where breast cancer is not a terminal diagnosis and every patient has hope for more tomorrows.
Team Stats
UI
Mont
Kills
27
46
Errors
16
10
Attempts
92
96
Hitting %
.120
.375
Points
33.0
62.0
Assists
26
42
Aces
4
6
Blocks
2
10
Game Leaders
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
3
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH
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