Griz face Cats with postseason hopes on the line

The last time that Montana and Montana State met, the Bobcats swept the Griz, knocking the hosts down to just 1-8 in Big Sky Conference play. Oh, how different the season looks now.

The season seemed lost, and all hopes at a fourth-straight Big Sky Conference Tournament appearance appeared to be dashed. It prompted head coach Allison Lawrence to make a change to the formation.

Since then, the Griz have gone 4-2, and they now enter the rivalry rematch with the longest winning streak in the Big Sky. The only two losses came to second-place Idaho State in a five-setter that Montana led 1-0 and 2-1, and a loss to 10-4 Weber State.

They will hope that momentum carries into an intense atmosphere in Bozeman.

"I'm really excited. It's one of the best weeks of the year," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "I love our momentum from the last couple of weeks and just feel like we have a team that's really hungry and motivated not only for postseason hopes that are still alive but also just to put together our best performance of the year in one of the biggest, high-stakes, hostile environments. We love it, and we can't wait."

There are several scenarios at play over the final weekend of Big Sky volleyball, but there is one thing that Montana absolutely needs to have a chance to make the postseason. Win.

The Grizzlies are 5-10 in conference play, and would be eliminated from the postseason at 5-11. If they are able to beat the Bobcats on the road, it gives them a chance. The full breakdown of possibilities is listed below.

It will be a tall task for the Grizzlies, but the current run of form has been nothing short of inspiring. Montana is hitting .292 as a team over the previous four matches, all Grizzly wins. For reference, Montana hit better than .292 just once over the first 22 matches.

Senior night against Portland State was the perfect send-off for Montana's six departing players. The Griz entered knowing that a sweep would give them the head-to-head tiebreaker of the Vikings, and set that as their goal.

The emotions that always come with a Senior Night celebration were on display before the first serve, but the staff and players took those tears and emotions and channeled them into a fantastic performance. The Griz swept the Vikings, outhitting them .296 to .121 in a dominant performance.

"I was incredibly proud," Lawrence said. "We talked a lot in the locker room about wanting to pair how we felt emotionally, not only about each other but also our season and seniors, with how we feel physically and what we're capable of doing. I think we have an emotionally bonded and driven team, and you go into senior night knowing those extra emotions are going to be there and I love that those were on display."

The emotions will once again be high on Friday. It's not only a rivalry match, but it also coincides with the football Brawl that will be played the next day in Bozeman, and could have massive implications to both teams' postseason aspirations.

If Northern Arizona wins a single match this weekend, then it puts the Montana schools at odds, as if they weren't already. In that situation, the only way Montana makes it in is by knocking Montana State out, and the only way the Cats reach the postseason is by denying the Griz a bid.

The Griz will hope to channel the emotions, embrace the moment, and deliver another special performance on Friday night.

"I think you always get extra emotions when you play at MSU and in the rivalry, and I know for the seniors the rivalry is one of their best memories of being a Griz, and the gratitude of playing in those games will be forefront in their minds," Lawrence said. "Let's keep it going."

THE POSTSEASON PICTURE
It's a bit fuzzy for Montana with so many teams floating around a similar win total. As it stands, Montana are on the outside looking in at 9^th in the league standings. A loss in Bozeman would end the season for the Griz, but a victory opens up all sorts of possibilities.

Portland State, Montana State, Northern Arizona, and Montana are all still in play for the final three spots in the league standings. The Vikings and Lumberjacks each have two matches remaining, while Montana and Montana State play just each other.

If Montana wins on Friday night, they finish the regular season at 6-10. Montana State is also 6-10 in that situation.

Northern Arizona is 5-9 entering the final week. They will host Eastern Washington and Idaho. Portland State is 6-8, and will host Weber State and Idaho State.

If all four teams finish at 6-10, the tiebreaker would be head-to-head record among all of the tied teams. In this situation, Northern Arizona and Portland State would advance with a 3-2 record, and Montana and Montana State would then go to a head-to-head tiebreaker.

In order to win the tiebreaker over Montana State, the Grizzlies would need to sweep the Bobcats, and do it by a scoring margin greater than 17.

If Montana, Montana State, and Portland State all finish at 6-10, then the Grizzlies would advance to the tournament as the No. 8 seed. Portland State would be 2-1, Montana 2-2, and MSU 1-2 in the head-to-head tiebreaker between that trio of teams.

If Montana, Montana State, and Northern Arizona all finish at 6-10, then the Grizzlies would be eliminated. Northern Arizona would be 2-1, MSU 2-2, and Montana 1-2 in the head-to-head tiebreaker between that trio of teams.

The Griz could outright jump Northern Arizona in the standings if the Lumberjacks go 0-2 in the final week, but that situation is unlikely. NAU host an Idaho team that have lost 38 straight Big Sky matches dating back to 2022.

In simple terms, the path for Montana would be to beat Montana State, have Northern Arizona finish 2-0, and Portland State finish 0-2. They could also sweep the Bobcats by 18 or more points, and have both NAU and PSU finish with at least seven wins to make it in.

KREMER NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior outside hitter Maddie Kremer was named the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. Kremer was fantastic in Montana's winning weekend against Sacramento State and Portland State.

The senior averaged 3.88 kills per set on .307 hitting for the weekend. She had 16 kills in the Sacramento State win, hitting .310. She backed that up with a 15-kill effort in the sweep of PSU, averaging 5.00 kills per set on .304 hitting while committing just a single error.

It's her first career Player of the Week honor, although she had a very worthy performance last week as well, excelling over the current winning streak for Montana.

MONTANA'S WINNING STREAK
The Grizzlies enter the final week of the regular season the hottest team in the Big Sky Conference, riding a league-long four-match winning streak. The Grizzlies swept Idaho State and Eastern Washington on the road, and then returned home to beat Sacramento State in 5 and Portland State in a sweep.

Montana has won 12 out of 14 sets during the streak, playing with confidence at the most important time of the season. The Griz are hitting .292 as a team during the stretch, and limiting opponents to just .179 hitting.

Maddie Kremer has been the focal point of the Montana offense, averaging 4.00 kills per set on .331 hitting. The senior has double-digit kills on better than .300 hitting in all four matches during the streak.

They have been balanced in the 6-2 with Paige Clark on 38 kills, Maddie Pyles 31, and Delaney Russell 27 across the four matches. They have done so behind improved ball-handling and good setting from the duo of Gracie Cagle and Casi Newman.

Newman has 77 assists (5.50 per set) in the last four, and Cagle has 69 (4.93 per set).

Alexis Batezel is battling through a shoulder injury and missed two sets at Eastern Washington, but she has gritted through it in some gutsy performances at libero. Batezel is averaging 4.25 digs per set during the winning streak

Defensively, Sierra Dennison has made a resurgence, averaging 1.00 blocks per set during the four matches.

SERIES HISTORY VS. MONTANA STATE
Montana State leads the all-time series 64-61. The Cats are on a three-game winning streak in the series, but prior to that Montana had won four straight matches. The Griz actually lead the series in Bozeman 27-26

Head coach Allison Lawrence is 6-10 in the rivalry. The senior class for Montana is 4-4 against MSU in their time with the program. In the last 75 meetings, Montana is ahead 45-30.

MONTANA NOTES

The Grizzlies clinched their fourth straight 10-win season last Saturday. It's the first time since 2008-2011 that the team has strung together this many consecutive seasons of 10-plus wins.
Montana had lost six straight matches by a combined set score of 18-2, and had lost 11 out of 12 matches overall entering the road trip to Eastern Washington and Idaho. They have completely turned the season around since then, winning four straight matches by a combined set score of 12-2.
Head coach Allison Lawrence won her 75^th career match at Montana last Thursday against Sacramento State. She is third all-time in program history for wins, trailing Dick Scott and Jerry Wagner.
The Grizzlies started the season 3-9 in matches decided in straight sets. They have now won their last three sweeps. The Griz have only played three sets in 15 of their 26 matches this year.
The win over Sacramento State last Thursday was Montana's first five-set win of the year. They had lost six straight fifth sets overall dating back to the non-conference schedule in 2023.
Keeping the offense clean has been the key for Montana this year. When they commit more attacking errors than their opponent, the Griz are winless. They are 10-4 when committing the same or fewer errors.
In close sets, Montana struggled at the start of the year. The Griz had a 4-12 set record when decided by just two points on the year entering the current winning streak. Since then, Montana has flipped their fortune and played clutch at the end of sets. They have won four straight sets that were decided by the minimum score.
Paige Clark jumped from 8^th to 6^th in Montana program history last weekend by increasing her career kill total to 1,262. She's had 307 this season, the third straight year that Clark has recorded at least 300 kills.
Clark also moved into a tie for 10^th in program history with her 128^th career service ace. Clark has 32 total this season.
Maddie Kremer has recorded at least 10 kills on .300 hitting in four straight matches.
Kremer is just two kills away from 600 in her career. She has played in 86 career matches over her four years.
Alexis Batezel is just 13 digs away from 1,000 in her career. The Griz libero is averaging a career-best 4.07 per set this year, despite playing through injury.
Maddie Pyles has at least five kills in seven straight matches. She's been particularly effective lately, hitting over .231 in every match during Montana's four-match winning streak.
Freshman Delaney Russell has at least five kills in seven straight matches. She did not reach the five-kill total in any of Montana's first 19 matches. The move to insert the freshman into the rotation has coincided with Montana's turnaround.
Sierra Dennison has 93 blocks in her career. She's had seven blocks in a match on three different occasions this year, so she could possibly reach the milestone on Friday.
Gracie Cagle needs 13 more assists for 250 total this season.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Alexis Batezel

Gracie Cagle

Paige Clark

Sierra Dennison

Maddie Kremer

Casi Newman

Maddie Pyles

Delaney Russell

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