Successful non-conference schedule ends with a loss

Saturday, September 21

Kansas City, Mo.

10:00 AM (MT)

Montana

5-6,0-0Big Sky

Lindenwood

6-6,0-0OVC

Montana

Lindenwood

Photo by: Sydney Siemens/UMKC

Successful non-conference schedule ends with a loss

9/21/2024 1:46:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The quick turnaround after a double-day on Friday, combined with some good defensive play from the Lindenwood Lions, was too much for Montana to overcome on Saturday morning. The Grizzlies fell in four sets in the final match of the Kangaroo Klassic.

Montana had just about 12 hours between last night's big win over the host Kansas City Roos and the first serve of Saturday morning's match. They had slow starts to several sets, and were unable to rally back.

The Griz still finish the non-conference slate at 5-6 overall. It's the fourth time that Allison Lawrence has won five non-conference games in a single season at Montana. The previous two coaches at UM were never able to get five wins, and Montana hadn't done it since 2005 prior to Lawrence's arrival.

"I'm really proud of our non-conference effort," Lawrence said. "I really liked our schedule. There are a few matches where we came up what felt like slightly short. I wish we had more time in that way to get a little more out of the preseason because we are so close."

It's a testament to how far the program has come that finishing at 5-6 this year feels slightly disappointing. When Lawrence took over, it would have served as a record year. For this year's senior class, it has become the norm as they have won at least five non-conference matches in three-quarters of their seasons.

It's a stinging way to end the preseason, but it can still be considered a success as they prepare for Big Sky play next week.

"We feel like this wasn't enough and that's the new norm," Lawrence said. "These seniors have owned that, it's been such a good effort over the last few years. It's a big deal."

Paige Clark had 19 kills for the second straight match and did it on one of her most efficient days of the year, hitting .239. The Lions defense was able to hold Montana mostly in check as the Griz hit just .113 for the match and were held under .100 in three sets.

Casi Newman finished with 25 assists and sophomore Gracie Cagle had 10, reaching double figures for the fifth time this season. Alexis Batezel and Maddie Kremer co-led Montana with 13 digs each.

Batezel was named to the All-Tournament team following the match for her stellar defensive effort all weekend long.

"I felt like the biggest part of Lexi's impact this weekend was that she was competing, and competing hard," Lawrence said. "I can think of several plays where she was just a spark in a way that we would win crazy rallies. She was rallying the team and in a gear where she was pushing, competing, and leading."

Ginny Pace also had extended time in the match, providing a spark of the bench for the Griz.

The Lions were able to successfully evade Montana's block, which has been a key for the Grizzlies so far this season. Montana averaged just 1.0 per set with no player recording more than two.

Lindenwood took the first three points of the set and led for most of it to take the early lead in the match. The Grizzlies were able to get it back to a tie on a few occasions, and took the lead after a fantastic stretch from Clark. She had four straight kills for Montana as part of a 5-2 run that put them ahead by a point.

The Lions retook the lead at 14-13 and didn't look back, pulling away for a 25-20 set win. The Grizzlies were held in check in the first, hitting .000 with seven kills and seven errors. Clark had five of Montana's kills in the first.

"I think fatigue played a role in that match for sure, but it did on both sides," Lawrence said. "I think that the difference between the two teams was that we were high error, more than we had been all weekend. More receive errors, more service errrors, and just more defensive errors."

Montana scored the first point of the second set, but quickly fell behind and played catch up the rest of the way. Lindenwood pushed the lead up to as many as six points through the middle portions of the set, but the Grizzlies showed grit to get back into it.

Montana scored seven out of 10 points to tie it up at 20-all, the first level score since 1-1. An area that was strong for Montana in Friday's two matches came up short down the stretch as the Griz committed a few errors and the Lions were able to close out the second 25-21.

Backs up against the wall, the Griz found their response in a very tightly contested third set. The teams traded short runs, and neither team led by more than two points for the majority of the set. After several lead changes, Montana finally got some breathing room at 22-19.

Lindenwood used a timeout, and scored the next three points out of the break to tie it at 22-all. Facing a sweep, Montana went to Clark and the senior delivered, recording two kills down the stretch to put it away 25-22.

Montana's offense was much improved in the third set, hitting .273 with 13 kills and just four errors.

The Lions were able to pull away with another fast start in the fourth, scoring five of the first six points to take an early lead and hold it for good. There were no ties in the final set as the Lions cruised to also finish the weekend at 2-1 overall.

The Grizzlies begin Big Sky Conference play next week with a home-road split. They open at home on Thursday night against a very talented Northern Colorado team that already has multiple Power 4 wins on their resume.

Then comes the quick trip to Portland to take on an always dangerous PSU Vikings team in their home gym.

"I think we've learned a ton. I think the teams we played mimicked lessons that we need to learn going into conference play," Lawrence said. "I feel like this is the most prepared we have been in that way for conference. An aggressive schedule, but one where we were able to improve and add so much to our game.

"This weekend, leaving with a loss on the last day leaves a little bit of a bad taste in our mouth, but a phenomenal day yesterday and I think every tournament has its obstacles. We needed to feel them and we battled, and I'm happy with how we did that."