Montana to host Ellesyn Invitational

Montana vs. Utah Valley
Thursday, Sept. 5 / 6:00 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

Utah Valley vs. Southern Miss
Friday, Sept. 6 / 1:00 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats

Southern Miss vs. Boise State
Friday, Sept. 6 / 5:00 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats

Montana vs. Southern Miss
Saturday, Sept. 7 / 11:00 a.m. / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

Boise State vs. Utah Valley
Saturday, Sept. 7 / 2:00 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats

Montana vs. Boise State
Sunday, Sept. 8 / 2:00 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats / Tickets

The Montana volleyball team will play host to three schools this week for the third annual Ellesyn Invitational Sponsored by Homewood Suites & Erck Hotels. The Grizzlies will welcome Utah Valley, Southern Miss, and Boise State to Dahlberg Arena for the four-day event.

The Grizzlies will open things on Thursday against Utah Valley and close the event up against Boise State on Sunday afternoon. In between, there will be two matches a day on Friday and Saturday with the Griz taking on Southern Miss on Saturday morning.

Montana (1-2) comes into the weekend off an up-and-down weekend at the Grand Canyon Invitational. The Griz were swept by the hosts on day one and Fresno State on day two. Both teams won their conference championships last season and are expected to contend again in 2024.

The lone win of the weekend came in impressive style as Montana dominated Oregon State in a 3-1 victory. Head coach Allison Lawrence, playing against her alma mater for the first time, watched her team block 15 OSU attacks and hold the Beavers under .100 hitting on the way to the win.

It doesn't get any easier this week, although it will be good for Lawrence and company to be playing back at home inside Dahlberg Arena. Montana's three opponents this weekend bring a combined 8-1 record to Missoula and have lost a combined five sets through those nine matches.

This will be the second of three non-conference tournaments that Montana is participating in this season. They will also play two matches on the road against North Dakota State next weekend.

This weekend's matches will all be streamed live on ESPN+ with Ace Sauerwein on the call.

SCOUTING UTAH VALLEY (3-0)

The Wolverines started off the season in impressive fashion at home last week at the Utah Valley Invitational. The hosts went 3-0 on the weekend, dropping just a single set in the process.
Utah Valley started off the weekend with a sweep of Big Sky foe Eastern Washington before also sweeping a future Grizzly opponent in Kansas City.
They were impressive offensively all weekend, hitting .313 as a team over the three matches. They averaged .350 over the final two matches, recording 99 kills to just 28 errors. They rank 16^th in the NCAA in hitting percentage.
Perhaps just as impressively, the Wolverines averaged 3.20 blocks per set over the opening weekend to rank 14^th in the NCAA.
Head coach Sam Atoa is in his 26^th year as head coach at Utah Valley. He has a career recod of 482-299.
Avery Shewell had a dominant first weekend, recording 40 kills (4.00/set) on .386 hitting to be named the MVP of the Utah Valley Invitational. Shewell also had 7 aces, 17 digs, and 9 blocks.
Three other Wolverines were named to the All-Tournament team last weekend. Setter Evalyn Chism had 115 assists (11.5/set) to rank 12^th in the NCAA after the opening weekend of matches. Middle blocker Bella Wooden recorded 27 kills on .500 hitting with a team high 16 blocks. Libero Lani Matavao also earned a spot after leading the team with 35 digs (3.5/set).
This is the fourth all-time meeting between Montana and Utah Valley. The Wolverines have won the previous two meetings in 2004 and 2017, and are 1-0 against the Grizzlies in Missoula.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN MISS (3-0)

The Golden Eagles also started the year off strong by going undefeated at their own home tournament. They defeated Northwestern State 3-1 in the opener and then swept Jacksonville and Southern.
Head coach Jenny Hazelwood is in her third season as head coach at Southern Miss. Hazelwood is 36-28 while leading the Golden Eagles.
Southern Miss hit .214 over the weekend while holding their opponents to .148.
Sadie McAda was named the MVP of the Southern Miss Invitational. McAda recorded 40 kills (4.00/set) on .255 hitting over the weekend. She was also second on the team with 21 digs and 6 blocks.
Aysu Dalogullari also earned a spot on the All-Tournament team with 30 kills (3.33/set) on .307 hitting. The grad student from Istanbul transferred to Southern Miss from Tulsa last season.
Sophomore libero Sunni Sheppard was also named to the All-Tournament team at the Southern Miss Invitational after leading the team with 48 digs (4.8/set). She ranks 41^st in the country.
This is the second all-time meeting between Montana and Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles won the only previous meeting 3-0 in 1999 in Corvallis, Ore.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE (2-1)

The Broncos went 2-1 at the Cactus Classic in Tucson, Ariz. during the opening week of the season. They fell to the host Arizona Wildcats, but swept the following two matches against Tennessee State and VCU.
Boise State outhit its opponents .241 to .206 on the opening weekend and outperformed them at the net as well with 22.5 blocks compared to just 14.
Shawn Garus is in his 16^th season at the helm of Boise State with a career record of 261-189. The two-time Mountain West Coach of the year led the Broncos to a 14-15 record last year.
Paige Bartsch is the preseason Player of the Year in the Mountain West and is the leader of a team picked to finish third in the conference. Bartsch had 38 kills (3.80/set) in the opening week of play on .206 hitting. She is the twin sister of Lady Griz player Dani Bartsch.
Kiki Remensperger was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Week after her performance in Arizona. She had a team high 31 digs and also recorded five service aces.
Montana leads the all-time series against Boise State 23-18 with a 12-6 mark in Missoula. The Broncos have won the previous two meetings, and the teams haven't played much in recent years with Montana's last win coming in 2003.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Maddie Pyles, a junior starting for the first time in her career, made the All-Tournament team at the Grand Canyon Invitational. The award came after an incredibly balanced weekend that saw her spark the team to a Sunday victory over Oregon State.

Pyles recorded 17 kills, 12 digs, and 12 blocks on the weekend. She had a massive performance against Oregon State, recording a near triple-double with 10 digs, 9 kills, and 7 blocks. Her energy also helped stabilize Montana after a slow start to the weekend, as head coach Allison Lawrence said she was one of two pillars for the Griz on the weekend.

TOP GUN NIGHT

The Grizzlies will be hosting a themed night on Thursday against Utah Valley. The first 150 students in attendance will receive a free Top Gun themed Montana Grizzlies shirt.

GRIZ NOTES

Montana ranks 12^th in the NCAA in total blocks with 38. The Grizzlies had 15 team blocks in the win over Oregon State, which was the most by a Montana team since 2019.
Sierra Dennison ranks 52^nd in the NCAA and 3^rd in the Big Sky with 16 total blocks on the season.
The Griz held Oregon State to just .066 hitting on Sunday. Montana held opponents below .100 just twice during the 2023 season.
Head coach Allison Lawrence played at Oregon State and is still ranked near the top of their program records in many categories. The win over the Beavers on Sunday was her first meeting with them since graduating. It was Montana's first win over Oregon State since 1980.
The Grizzlies started the 2023 season 1-5 and were swept at home in the Ellesyn Invitational, a tournament that featured two Final Four teams from the prior season. Montana went 2-1 in the first-ever Ellesyn Invitational held in 2022.
As last weekend went along, Montana's offense improved. They hit just .070 against Grand Canyon, then improved to .091 against Fresno State, and .153 against Oregon State.
Paige Clark averaged 3.00 kills/set on the first weekend of play, which ranks 7^th in the Big Sky Conference. She has increased her career total to 940, and moved up to 17^th on Montana's all-time charts.
Casi Newman ranks 80^th in the country and 3^rd in the Big Sky in total assists through the first week of play with 96. She had 40 in Montana's win over Oregon State on Sunday.
Alexis Batezel had 39 digs over the first three matches, which ranks 3^rd in the Big Sky and inside the top 200 in the country.
Five different players made their Grizzly debuts at the Grand Canyon Invitational. Transfers Casi Newman and Brenley Hansen played big roles at setter and middle blocker, respectively. Sophomore setter Gracie Cagle also appeared in her first match while two true freshmen (Sydney Pierce and Delaney Russell) saw floor time.
Montana hit .214 as a team last season, the highest hitting percentage in the 25-point rally scoring era.
The Grizzlies were picked to finish 7^th out of 10 teams in the Big Sky Preseason Coaches Poll.

THE ELLESYN INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY HOMEWOOD SUITES & ERCK HOTELS

Montana will be hosting a tournament during the non-conference portion of the schedule for the third straight season. It is once again named after Elle Farmer, who joined the program through Team IMPACT prior to the 2022 season.

In 2023, the field included a pair of teams that reached the Final Four in the prior season. This year won't have the same high-level opposition, but instead should provide three very good contests for the Grizzlies.

Montana opens the four-day tournament on Thursday, Sept. 5 against Utah Valley at 6:00 p.m. There will be two neutral site matches on Friday. Montana will play the opener on Saturday, Sept. 7 against Southern Miss at 11:00 a.m. The Grizzlies close out the tournament with Sunday's lone game at 2:00 p.m. against Boise State.

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.
                  1. 9/5 to 9/8 tournament-$149 team rate/25% off our basic rate for fans
                  2. $159 team rate/20% off fan rate for all of the non-Griz football weekends
                  3. 10/12-$189 team rate/20% off fan rate for homecoming weekend
                  4. 11/16- $169 team rate/20% off fan rate for that weekend

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Players Mentioned

Alexis Batezel

Gracie Cagle

Paige Clark

Sierra Dennison

Brenley Hansen

Casi Newman

Sydney Pierce

Maddie Pyles

Delaney Russell

University of Montana Athletics