Griz open Big Sky play with split weekend

MONTANA VS. NORTHERN COLORADO
Thursday, Sept. 26 / Missoula, Mont. / 7:00 PM / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

MONTANA AT PORTLAND STATE
Saturday, Sept. 28 / Portland, Ore. / 6:00 PM (MT) / Watch / Live Stats

Big Sky play has finally arrived for the Montana volleyball team, and it brings with it a unique schedule as Montana opens the conference slate up with a home-and-away weekend. The Griz play Northern Colorado at home on Thursday before making the quick trip west to play Portland State inside Viking Pavilion on Saturday.

It's a tough challenge for the opening week of league play, but one that Montana has prepared for by playing a difficult non-conference schedule. The Grizzlies enter league play at 5-6 overall, winning five games for the fourth time under head coach Allison Lawrence.

Prior to Lawrence's arrival, Montana hadn't entered the conference season with five wins since 2005.

"I think there's been a colossal effort by me, our staff, our players to have that be our norm," Lawrence said. "I look at it and think, on paper there are definitely more wins that we wanted. We feel like we came up short in ways that I like. I like that we're aggressive, I like the way we're scheduling, and I really thought this was my favorite preseason schedule in terms of quality of opponent."

There have been plenty of highs for Montana in the non-conference, and they reached what may have been their peak on Friday in Kansas City, winning two matches in the same day behind very different strengths.

The Grizzly defense shut down Bradley in the morning match, holding the Braves to just .099 hitting. It was the third time on the season that Montana held an opponent under .100. The Griz had eight blocks in three sets and 14 more digs than Bradley.

Montana then hit its best percentage of the season in the win over Kansas City. They had 54 kills for a .278 attack percentage, which were both season highs. The Griz also had a season-best nine aces in the win.

They dropped the final match of the tournament, but still left Kansas City feeling like they had taken a big step in the right direction.

"I think when we are in rhythm, we are really offensively and defensively sound," Lawrence said. "When we are executing our system consistently, aggressively, I think there is a certain physicality that we have to get into and that comes from work ethic and attitude when we play. When we get into that space, we are a formidable opponent against anyone."

Now, Montana preps for what appears to be the top team in the Big Sky Conference through the first month of the season. Northern Colorado was picked fourth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, but has put together an impressive non-conference resume.

The Bears have the second-best record in the league at 9-4, and did so playing against high-level competition. UNC has wins over Michigan State, Colorado State, Ole Miss, Colorado, and Air Force.

They have been very good offensively, leading all Big Sky teams in kills and assists while ranking second in hitting percentage and aces.

Montana's strength for much of the year has been its defense. The Griz rank second in the Big Sky and 34^th in the NCAA in blocks per set, and have held opponents to just .185 hitting this year. They will need the defense to play well in order to win on Thursday.

"We go into a match against UNC where every time, year-after-year, their offensive numbers are insane," Lawrence said. "They are beating incredible teams this year and had a really amazing preseason, so we're going to need those (defensive) pieces."

Montana follows that up with a road match against Portland State. It's been a trying non-conference for the Vikings, who enter Big Sky play with just a single win. Viking Pavilion is always a difficult place to play as the Griz are looking for their first win there since 2015.

The Vikings are hitting .172 on the year while allowing opponents to hit .257. Both stats rank near the bottom of the conference. Portland State will start conference play on the road at Idaho, a team that also finished 1-10 in the preseason and were picked to finish last in the Big Sky.

"We head back on the road to Portland State in a gym that I think is notorious for being hard to play in," Lawrence said. "We have to love that. I think being on the road and being all over the place has set us up to grit out tough wins and put ourselves in position to win matches when there are some things stacked against us."

Montana will begin the conference season with three of its first four matches on the road. The Griz were picked seventh in the Big Sky preseason poll, but have their sights set on a higher finish.

Libero Alexis Batezel, who earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team at the Kangaroo Klassic, said the team is peaking at the right time as they get ready to begin Big Sky play.

"I think we're in a really good place right now for conference. Especially in this last tournament, we really got to see what we can do through fatigue and pressure," Batezel said. "We really rallied in some tough moments, we won ugly plays, we pushed ourselves to see what we can do. You never know until you go, so everyone was really playing both sides of the ball well and taking risks and aggressive swings, and I think those are all things we need to take into conference that will make us contenders."

CLARK EARNS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Senior Paige Clark was named the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time in her career following a stellar weekend in Kansas City. Clark averaged 4.64 kills per set on .219 hitting.

Clark joins Linde Eidenberg and Karen Goff-Downs as the only four-time winners in program history.

She also had a double-double in the sweep of Bradley and recorded at least one ace in every match. Clark was targeted 63 times on serves and committed just three errors, while she also had 22 digs overall.

In the final two matches of the weekend, Clark recorded 38 kills. She had at least five kills in 6 of the 11 sets that Montana played, including a couple of sets with eight kills in the win over Kansas City.

"I think her weekend on a whole, she entered that gym as a playmaker and we relied on her to do that," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "It's a pretty normal role for Paige to be in, but it was fun to see her range and her execution throughout the whole weekend."

Clark recently recorded her 1,000^th career kill. She is the first Grizzly since Amy Roberts in 2011 to reach the 1,000-kill mark. She is only the third player to reach the mark with all four of her years in the 25-point scoring era, and just the sixth player since 2000 to reach 1,000.

The senior is also a three-time All-Big Sky selection. She is just the sixth Grizzly in program history to make three separate All-Conference teams, and is looking to join Jaimie Thibeault (2007-10) as the only four-timers in school history.

ALL-TOURNAMENT GRIZZLIES

Montana played in three tournaments during the non-conference and placed three different players on All-Tournament Teams to showcase the balance and depth of this year's squad.

Alexis Batezel was the latest Grizzly to earn the honor. She found a place on the Kangaroo Klassic All-Tourney team following a 52 dig weekend that saw her average 4.73 per set.

Batezel was impressive in serve-receive and in establishing a good structure for Montana to attack out of, while also making several key plays in keeping balls alive. She gave plenty of credit to her teammates, but had a spectacular weekend individually.

"I think my success came from what my team did for me," Batezel said. "Our blockers were able to put me in position to go make a play and whatever I did on my side of the ball, it wasn't perfect and my teammates bettered it after me and we were able to capitalize on just getting the ball up or moments that could spark us into transition. I think it was an overall team effort."

Paige Clark earned a spot on the Ellesyn Invitational All-Tournament team, and Maddie Pyles was the first Grizzly to earn the honor at the Grand Canyon Invitational.

RECAPPING THE NON-CONFERENCE

The Grizzlies finished at 5-6 in the preseason, playing three tournaments and a two-match trip to North Dakota State. It's the third time in the last four years, and fourth time overall, that the Grizzlies have won at least five non-conference matches under Allison Lawrence.

The two coaches prior to Lawrence's arrival combined to win five non-conference matches in a season zero times. The Grizzlies did not hit the five-win mark until conference play every year from 2005-2017.

It was a well-balanced, difficult schedule for the Grizzlies with the opponents combining to go 51-61 (.455) in 2024. They played against four teams with winning records, and while they dropped a few matches that they would love to have back, overall it was a successful month of volleyball for Montana.

The highlight came with a home win over Utah Valley, a team that enters conference play 9-3 overall. The only other losses for the Wolverines were true road matches against a Georgia team that was receiving top 25 votes and #19 BYU.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO (9-4, 0-0 BIG SKY)

Northern Colorado enters Big Sky play coming off a 1-2 weekend at the Shocker Classic in Wichita, Kan. The Bears fell in five sets to Cal Poly in their last match out.
The Bears had an impressive non-conference season that includes wins over Michigan State, Colorado State, Colorado, Air Force, and Ole Miss. They are a perfect 4-0 in true road matches.
They are second in the Big Sky Conference in hitting percentage (.227) and have held opponents under .200 hitting for the year. They lead the league in assists (11.87/set) and kills (13.21/set), and are ranked in the top five nationally in both categories.
Setter Syd Cole leads all of Division 1 volleyball with 534 total assists this season. Cole, the 2022 Big Sky Player of the Year, was a unanimous first team selection in 2023 and the Setter of the Year.
Northern Colorado has two players in the top 10 in the Big Sky for kills per set. Gabi Placide (3.04, 7^th) and Maddie Davies (2.90, 8^th) lead a fairly balanced attack for UNC.
The Bears have won 18 straight matches against Montana and hold a 27-9 lead in the all-time series against the Griz. Montana's last win came in 2013. The Griz are 7-10 all-time in Missoula in the series.

SCOUTING PORTLAND STATE (1-10, 0-0 BIG SKY)

The Vikings enter conference play on a two-match losing streak. The only win this year came on Sept. 15 against Butler on a neutral floor.
PSU has been swept in seven of their 10 losses.
They rank 7^th in the league in hitting percentage (.172) and 9^th in opponent hitting percentage (.257).
Ella Hartford ranks 2^nd in the Big Sky in assists per set at 8.41.
Reese Biesemeyer ranks inside the top 100 nationally and 2^nd in the Big Sky in hitting percentage at .355.
Montana is 19-64 all-time vs. the Vikings. The Grizzlies are just 5-34 in Portland and have lost seven straight on the Park Blocks dating back to 2015. The Griz did win the last meeting between the two schools 3-0 in Missoula on Nov. 16, 2023.

GRIZ NOTES

The Griz rank 34^th in the NCAA and 2^nd in the Big Sky in blocks per set. They are averaging 2.63. Idaho State is the national leader with 3.43 per set.
Montana is allowing opponents to hit just .185 on the season. It's the third-best mark in the Big Sky and ranks just outside the top 100 nationally.
Allison Lawrence has led her team to at least 6 conference wins in five of her seven seasons at Montana.
The Griz are 2-1 inside Dahlberg Arena this season. They are 1-3 in true road matches.
The most telling stat this year has been digs. Montana is 5-0 when finishing with more digs than its opponents, and 0-6 when finishing with fewer.
In 11 matches, Montana have been outblocked just twice. They are 5-3 when finishing with more blocks than their opponent.
Paige Clark ranks at or near the top of the Big Sky Conference in multiple statistical categories. Clark is…
- the Big Sky leader in points with 4.74 per set.
- the Big Sky leader in aces with 0.47 per set.
- 2^nd in the Big Sky with 3.87 kills per set.
- Clark also ranks 43^rd in the NCAA in points per set, 64^th in kills per set, and 67^th in aces per set.
Clark has recorded at least 10 kills in nine consecutive matches. She was held in the single digits in the first two matches of the year, but has reached double figures every match since then.
Brenley Hansen ranks 32^nd in the NCAA and 4^th in the Big sky with 1.38 blocks per set.
Maddie Pyles hit .526 (12K-2E-19TA) in Montana's win against Kansas City. It's the fifth-best attacking match by any player in the Big Sky Conference this season (min. 12 kills).
Casi Newman is 4^th in the Big Sky with 7.97 assists per set. The transfer setter had 37 assists in the sweep of Bradley. It's tied for the most assists in a three-set match by any player in the Big Sky Conference this season.
There have only been 12 matches where an individual in the Big Sky recorded at least 19 kills this season. Paige Clark did it in back-to-back matches to close out the non-conference schedule.
The Big Sky Conference has 10 matches where a team has recorded at least 15 blocks this year. Montana has two of them, and did it in consecutive matches against Utah Valley and Oregon State. It was the first time since 1999 that Montana had at least 15 blocks in two straight matches.

HOMEWOOD SUITES & ERCK HOTELS

The presenting sponsor of Montana Volleyball is Homewood Suites and Erck Hotels. The hotel is partnering with Griz Volleyball to bring exclusive deals and rates to fans coming to town for any Griz volleyball event.

The following promotions are available for Montana volleyball fans through the partnership with Erck Hotels.

$159 team rate/20% off fan rate for all of the non-Griz football weekends
10/12-$189 team rate/20% off fan rate for homecoming weekend
11/16- $169 team rate/20% off fan rate for that weekend

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Players Mentioned

Alexis Batezel

Paige Clark

Brenley Hansen

Casi Newman

Maddie Pyles

University of Montana Athletics