Griz take 5-set thriller for first win in Portland since 2015

Saturday, October 18

Portland, Ore.

8:00 PM (MT)

Montana

12-6,4-3Big Sky

Portland State

7-11,3-4Big Sky

Montana

Portland St.

Photo by: Scott Larson/Portland State Athletics

Griz take 5-set thriller for first win in Portland since 2015

10/18/2025 11:40:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

It certainly wasn't easy or stress free for Montana volleyball on Saturday night, but the Grizzlies made big plays when they needed them most in a five-set win over Portland State on the road.

The Grizzlies (12-6, 4-3 Big Sky) had lost their previous two matches, both in five sets. It went the distance again inside Viking Pavilion against a Portland State team that had won a five-setter over Montana State on Thursday.

This time the Grizzlies prevailed, picking up a road win over Portland State (7-11, 3-4 Big Sky) for the first time since 2015.

"I think for me I don't feel relief, I just feel pride," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "I think largely this weekend that pride is for all of our seniors, but our two seniors that have been here for four years and been a part of the losses that we've had here. I think they have been really deliberate in their leadership with how we talk about the history of certain gyms and certain matchups. It just didn't feel like there was any past history or preconceptions of how we play or what this feels like."

Delaney Russell had a career day with 23 kills on .224 hitting to lead Montana. She added 16 digs for a double-double, recording career highs in both kills and digs. It was an impressive day for Montana's back row defense overall.

Alexis Batezel had 22 digs to lead the way and freshman Madeline Sanderson had a season-high 20 digs as Montana had a big advantage in that category. They outdug PSU 90-73, which allowed them to overcome a slight deficit in overall hitting percentage.

"I think when we are in our toughest gear we are being playmakers," Lawrence said. "In our conference, every match is being decided by two points really, it's a battle, so the playmaking efforts and execution are the difference. I think we made more of those tonight."

The two sides, both coming off five-set matches on Thursday, came out looking fresh in the early portions of the first set with plenty of kills on efficient offense. The teams had 12 combined kills on the first 20 attacks of the first set and traded the lead back and forth.

The Vikings started to separate at home with four straight points to take a 16-13 lead. The Grizzlies went to Carley Spachman to get them back into the set and the senior middle delivered with back-to-back kills that tied it back up at 16-all.

Portland State would extend the lead out again and went up 22-20 after an attack error by Montana. The Grizzlies came back with kills from Russell and Blake, combined with a PSU error, to retake the lead at 23-22.

The Grizzlies would have four set points down the stretch and finally closed things out on a kill from Russell.

It was a huge first set from Russell. The sophomore outside hitter had seven kills on eight swings with no errors in the opening set, hitting .875 to pace Montana to the win.

"We wanted to come out really physical and we needed our lefts. We didn't have much of a presence from our left sides in Sacramento, and we knew we were going to need those pieces," Lawrence said. "We got them some more in-system balls and Delaney had great vision and was so terminal."

Montana went ahead early again in the second set as Russell had two early kills and the Griz scored seven of the first 11 points. The Griz led for much of the set, but a 3-0 Portland State run late gave them an 18-17 lead, the first for the hosts since 3-2.

The teams were tied at 18, 19, 20, and 21 before a 3-0 Grizzly run finally provided some separation. Portland State battled back to once again push the set into extra points, but kills from Blake and Pierce closed things out for Montana 26-24 to allow the Griz to take a 2-0 lead for the second straight night.

The theme continued in the third set as the teams traded points back and forth. It wasn't until a 3-0 Portland State run to make it 18-16 that either team had a two-point lead the entire set.

From that point, the Vikings busted things open, going on an 8-1 run to jump ahead 23-17. The Vikings would close out the third set with a 25-19 win to extend the match.

The fourth followed a similar script with the teams going back-and-forth early. Montana took a 12-11 lead following back-to-back kills from Spachman, but Portland State once again took control late in the set.

The Vikings pulled away for another 25-19 set win to force a fifth set, giving Montana some unfortunate déjà vu from Thursday night where the jumped out 2-0 against Sacramento State and ended up losing the match.

Montana's offense, which hit .326 in the first set and .231 in the second in wins, had fallen under .100 in the fourth set as they struggled to find the rhythm.

There were no such problems in the fifth set. After an early 6-5 Portland State lead, Montana flipped things completely in the opposite direction. Pierce had back-to-back kills and after an error from the Vikings added a third as part of a 4-0 Grizzly run.

One of the biggest plays of the match came at 6-6 when Portland State had what appeared to be a kill up the line to retake the lead. Instead, freshman Annika Wright made a miraculous one-handed dig that set Pierce up for a kill.

The middle blocker then went back to the service line for four straight Grizzly points as they took a 13-7 lead.

Russell closed things out with kills for the final two Grizzly points as they put it away 15-9 in the fifth to leave the Rose City victorious for the first time in a decade.

Montana hit .571 as a team behind the trio of Pierce, Russell, and Spachman. They combined for all eight of Montana's kills on just 11 total swings in a dominant final set.

It was a near disaster for Montana after leading 2-0 for the second straight match, but this time they countered the adjustments that PSU and head coach Michael Seemann made for a successful fifth.

"We have a lot to learn from that match, both matches this week we were up two sets and feeling in rhythm offensively and hitting our scouting report defensively, but as we shift into sets three and four our opponents are making adjustments and it's taking us a while to respond to that and recover," Lawrence said. "I loved our response in the fifth, but it took us kind of collecting ourselves and that's something we can take from this."

Setter Gracie Cagle had 51 assists and 11 digs for her fourth straight double-double and 10^th overall this season. Wright, the freshman setter, had seven assists and 12 digs as the Grizzlies operated out of a 6-2 for stretches.

Pierce had a dozen kills on .429 hitting and Spachman reached double figures for the second consecutive match with 10 kills on .261 hitting.

Every win is important in a tightly contested Big Sky Conference this season. Entering the match, 1-8 in the league standings were separated by just one game in the loss column. The Grizzlies could have dropped to 8^th with a loss, but instead go up to a tie for 4^th place following the win.

"I love how hard this is, I love how hard we are having to grind through the most pressure, and our team loves it, too," Lawrence said. "I love that when our backs were against the wall, we had a response. It was frustrating that it took two sets for us to get back on track, but I'm really glad that we found it and that will be something we use."

They will have another difficult week ahead of them at home as Weber State and Idaho State come to Dahlberg Arena. The Bengals are 3-3 while the Wildcats are in solo 3^rd place at 4-2.

"We brought the battle to Sacramento State and Portland State. Fifth sets are risky and tough, it feels like there's always one momentum swing that happens, but I love how we battle and our fight. We had a breakthrough, but we need to reset and find a new level of our game next week. It only gets harder from here."