Griz back on the road

MONTANA AT EASTERN WASHINGTON
Nov. 7 / 7:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats

MONTANA AT IDAHO
Nov. 9 / 7:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats

The Montana volleyball team will play two matches on the road this week. They open with Eastern Washington in Cheney on Thursday night before playing Idaho on Saturday night. Both matches will begin at 7:00 PM (MT) and will be streamed on ESPN+.

The Griz are looking to snap a six-match losing streak as they hit the road to take on the pair of regional rivals. It's a road trip that historically has caused problems for the Grizzlies, but also one that they have had the upper-hand on lately.

Montana have won two straight in Cheney and three straight in Moscow. The Griz didn't play at Idaho last year, and also hosted the Vandals in the shortened spring 2021 season, meaning the last loss on the road in the rivalry came in 2018.

They will lean on that history as they look to snap the losing streak and remain in the hunt for the Big Sky Tournament. Montana currently sits in ninth-place in the league with the top eight teams advancing to Sacramento on Thanksgiving week.

They lost both at home last week, but the Grizzlies looked like a new team ready for the final month of the season with some formation and lineup changes. The most notable move was putting freshman Delaney Russell into the starting lineup.

Russell, the former Gatorade Player of the Year in Colorado, made an instant impact. Russell had nine kills in the first set on just 11 swings, committing zero errors to hit over .800. It helped Montana win the opener against Idaho State.

They would also take a 2-1 lead over the red-hot Bengals, but came up excruciatingly short in the end, losing in five sets. Russell ended the night with 18 kills on .316 hitting. Her 18 kills were just one off the most by any Grizzly in a match this season as Paige Clark has recorded 19 on two occasions.

The Grizzlies were balanced offensively against a very good Weber State team, but lost in three close sets to the Wildcats.

They now prepare for rematches against Eastern Washington and Idaho. The Eagles swept the first meeting between the two in Missoula, but won two the final two sets by a combined four points as the margins were as slim as it gets in a competitive match.

The Griz won the first meeting with the Vandals in straight sets in Missoula, hitting a season-best .375 in the match. Montana dominated, winning every set by at least seven points. Their 25-10 win in the second was the largest set win of the season.

UP NEXT
Montana will return home next week for matches against Sacramento State and Portland State on Nov. 14 and 16. Thursday's match against the Hornets will begin at 4:00 p.m. while Saturday's will start at 7:00 p.m. following the Griz football game against the Vikings earlier in the day.

AROUND THE BIG SKY
Northern Colorado continues to lead in the conference standings at 9-1 followed closely by Idaho State at 9-2. Weber State, Sacramento State, and Eastern Washington round out the top five and are all above .500.

Portland State is 5-5, followed by Montana State at 5-6 and Northern Arizona at 3-7.

Montana trail Northern Arizona by 2.5 games with five matches left on the schedule, but the Lumberjacks also own the tiebreaker over the Griz having won the only meeting between the two this season. They won't play again.

SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON (10-11, 6-5 BIG SKY)

The Eagles got hot in the middle of conference play, winning five straight at one point to get out at 5-2. Since then, they have lost three of their last four matches, including falling 3-1 twice last weekend at Portland State and Sacramento State.
Jon Haruguchi has improved the Eagles every year as he's now in his third season with the program. They won 11 matches in 2022, 13 in 2023, and are on track for more this season.
Eastern Washington is 3-3 at home this season.
They are one of the best blocking teams in one of the best blocking conferences, ranking 13^th in all of the NCAA and 2^nd in the Big Sky with 2.78 blocks per set this year.
Bri Gunderson leads the Big Sky and ranks 3^rd nationally with 1.62 blocks per set.
The Eagles don't have a single player averaging over 3.0 kills per set, but the balanced offensive attack has still been great with four players over 2.00. Kalista Lukovich leads the team with 2.99 kills per set.

SCOUTING IDAHO (1-21, 0-11)

The Vandals have lost 15 straight matches and are 0-11 in Big Sky play. They have won just a single set in league matches this year, and are 0-6 at home.
Idaho has lost 35 straight Big Sky matches dating back to Oct. 2022.
They are hitting just .138 as a team this year and have allowed opponents to hit .312.
Zuzanna Wieczorez leads Idaho with 2.39 kills per set.

SERIES HISTORIES

Montana leads the all-time series with Eastern Washington 61-45, but the Griz are 20-27 in Cheney. Montana had won four straight over the Eagles prior to the loss earlier this season.
Idaho leads the all-time series 40-35 over Montana, including a 17-13 mark in Moscow. The Griz have won six straight in the series dating back to their last loss on March 1, 2021.

MONTANA NOTES

Paige Clark has had 13 kills in back-to-back matches. She had been held in single digits in five straight matches prior, but still has 15 matches this year with at least 10 kills.
Clark is one service ace away from entering the top 10 in program history. She currently has 127 career aces, and has 30 this season. She's 2^nd in the Big Sky and 125^th in the NCAA with 0.38 aces/set this year.
Freshman Delaney Russell has been a bright spot for the Griz, staring the previous two matches at outside hitter. Russell had 18 kills on .316 hitting in her first career start, helping lead Montana to a near-upset of second-place Idaho State.
Russell is averaging 3.0 kills/set in her two starts, and hit over .280 in both of them. The undersized freshman has impressed with her leaping ability and heavy arm.
After missing four matches, including the first meetings with both EWU and UI, Brenley Hansen is back from injury and has started the previous three matches. The transfer has 66 kills (1.10/set) this year and ranks 6^th in the Big Sky and 66^th in the country with 1.22 blocks per set.
Jackie Howell filled in at libero for the final two sets of last Saturday's match against Weber State. The senior finished with a season-high 11 digs, reaching double-figures for the first time this year. She also had three assists, which was one off her career high.
Alexis Batezel ranks 3^rd in the Big Sky with 4.04 digs/set. The junior libero left last Saturday's match against Weber State with an injury but should be back for the weekend.
Batezel has at least 10 digs in 18 matches this year. She has improved upon her numbers from her sophomore season from 4.02 to 4.04 digs/set.
Maddie Pyles had eight kills and eight digs to go with six blocks in a complete performance last Thursday at Idaho State. She is averaging 2.06 kills/set and 2.03 digs per set, both career highs for the junior.
Gracie Cagle has started the previous three matches at the setter position as Montana has reworked its offensive formation. Cagle has had 7 of her 12 kills on the year during the streak of starts, and is averaging just over 21 assists per match.
Freshman Sydney Pierce has started seven matches this season for Montana, and has at least three kills in four straight and seven of the last eight appearances.
Montana's six wins have all come when the Griz had more blocks and digs than the opponent. They have done both 11 times, and have 6-5 records during such games.
The Griz fell to 0-2 in five-set matches with last Thursday's loss to Idaho State.
Montana have played in a dozen three-set matches this year. They have a 3-9 record.

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Players Mentioned

Alexis Batezel

Gracie Cagle

Paige Clark

Brenley Hansen

Jackie Howell

Sydney Pierce

Maddie Pyles

Delaney Russell

University of Montana Athletics