Griz move into 1st place with 3-1 win over Northern Arizona

Saturday, October 4

Missoula, Mont.

2:00 PM

Montana

11-4,3-1Big Sky

Northern Arizona

12-5,2-2Big Sky

Northern Ariz.

Montana

Photo by: Marley Barboeisel/University of Montana

Griz move into 1st place with 3-1 win over Northern Arizona

10/4/2025 6:11:00 PM | Volleyball

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By: Montana Sports Information

When one streak ends, all you can do is look to the next game in the hopes of starting another. That's exactly what the Montana volleyball team did on Saturday, knocking off Northern Arizona in four sets in a battle between the top two teams in the Big Sky.

Montana (11-4, 3-1 Big Sky) have now passed the 2024 win total in impressive fashion with a 17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 win over the Lumberjacks. Northern Arizona entered on the top line in the league standings with a 2-1 Big Sky record and a 12-

The Grizzlies dropped the first set, but made some adjustments from there and never looked back in a dominant final three sets. They leaned heavily on the arms of Delaney Russell (21 kills) and Olivia LaBeau (17 kills on .500 hitting) in the win.

The match dragged on with plenty of reviews in very important moments, but Montana withstood it all to come away with the win.

"I feel good, that was tight in a lot of ways and some of the challenges and other moments added to the anxiety for me," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "But I'm so proud of our team for not only weathering the NAU storm that was coming at us because I think they are a very good team but also we made a lot of lineup changes and switches after the first set, but also throughout."

LaBeau, as she has been for much of the season, was nearly unstoppable on Saturday afternoon. The graduate middle blocker had just one error on her 32 swings, putting 17 of those balls either into the ground, off a defender, or into the rafters on some occasions.

She hit .500 and also added four blocks. Montana opened the match in a 6-2, which limited the options for LaBeau to hit. The Lumberjacks were able to pull away for the big opening set win at 25-17.

Lawrence made an adjustment in the second set and the Grizzly offense rolled from that moment on. LaBeau had 15 kills on .625 hitting over the final three sets, leading Montana to over .200 hitting as a team in all of them.

"She is so physical. I think anyone listening to the game or seeing it, the ball off of her arm is so fast and heavy," Lawrence said. "She gets a kill and no matter what you know about volleyball you feel it in your belly and you get on your feet in the stands. I think she's a big momentum grab for us and I just don't think she's very stoppable when she's in rhythm. Her coming alive after that first set where we couldn't get her too many balls was a big difference maker for sure."

Montana had a 6-0 run early in the second set to get the momentum back on their side. Freshman Annika Wright had two aces during the run to continue her hot play from the service line over the last two weeks. She now has seven aces over the last four matches.

The Griz would never trail in the second set, but Northern Arizona made things interesting late with four out of five points to tie things up at 20-all. LaBeau delivered back-to-back kills to put Montana up 23-21, but NAU responded with two straight. Delaney Russell gave Montana set point with a kill and setter Gracie Cagle had a dump kill to win it 25-23.

The teams traded runs in the third set with NAU scoring the first three but Montana answering back with four in a row. The Grizzlies started to break it open with a 7-2 run in the middle of the set, and it was the duo of LaBeau and Russell at the center of it again.

LaBeau had three kills and a block during the run and Russell had two kills late to make it 20-14. They withstood a rally from the Lumberjacks and Maddie Pyles finished it off with a kill to win the set 25-21.

Pyles has returned to health after missing the start of the season with injury. They have worked her back into the rotation and she played a variety of positions on Saturday as they look to find the best way to get her back involved.

"It's such a giving thing," Lawrence said. "I think when you have a senior that is willing to give in the ways that she is, she's such a utility player, she's such a force on the right but has also played middle a lot in her life and can block well. She just does it all."

The fourth set was very tight early with the teams tied at every score up to 8-8. Montana then had a 4-0 run with Cagle at the service line, thanks in large part to the arm of freshman Mylee Blake. Blake had two kills during the stretch and finished her night with a dozen kills.

Northern Arizona brought it back to a tie at 12-all and started another back and forth all the way up to 19-all. The momentum was hard to find with several lengthy reviews during the set.

LaBeau had a kill to make it 19-18, Russell followed it with another, and then Carley Spachman and LaBeau combined for a block to make it 22-19. Northern Arizona fought right back with three straight points to tie it at 22-all.

But it was the night of LaBeau for Montana. They went to her for back-to-back kills to set up match point. Grace Ryland, a defensive specialist wearing the second libero jersey, served up the final two points of the night.

Ryland was also at the service line at the end of the second set. She has seen limited action this year, but when her name was called she delivered on Saturday.

"She served two beautiful serves that were aggressive. They weren't just, I have to make this serve," Lawrence said. "I'm just really proud of Grace. She handled her first ball perfectly and just did her job and went for it. She's been in-and-out of that role, so I think for her to come in under that kind of pressure was great."

Montana hit .219 as a team with 65 kills and 23 errors. They won the game with their defense, leading the match in both digs (93-85) and blocks (9-7). The aggressive service game also played a huge role for the Grizzlies as they had five aces with just two errors.

It's the 11^th win in the last 12 for Montana as they look to start another winning streak. It's already more wins than Montana had all season last year.

The win also sets up a huge matchup next weekend. Montana will have just a single match, hosting Montana State on Saturday night inside Dahlberg Arena. The game will follow the Homecoming football game that afternoon and should draw a huge crowd.

It's a matchup between the top two teams in the Big Sky through the first two weeks of league play. The Grizzlies and Bobcats are the only 3-1 team in the conference after MSU swept the weekend against Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona.

"It's always the best week of the year and the toughest week in that sense. We're going to relax into it. I think we will be focused on us for a large part of the beginning of the week and then obviously hyper focused on them, but I think that's a team that we match up very well with this year and in Griz-Cat you just never know what is going to happen."