Homecoming Griz-Cat showdown takes center stage in Big Sky

MONTANA (11-4, 3-1 Big Sky) vs. MONTANA STATE (8-7, 3-1 Big Sky)
Missoula, Mont. / Saturday, Oct. 11 / 8:00 PM / Live Stats / Watch / Tickets

As if the Brawl of the Wild wasn't big enough already. Montana and Montana State will meet on the volleyball court for the 128^th time on Saturday night inside Dahlberg Arena and the stakes have never been higher.

Homecoming weekend for Montana will bring extra attention to campus already, but it's the product that these two teams have put onto the court in 2025 that is the real storyline.

It's more than just Griz vs. Cats. It's 1 vs. 2 in Missoula with first place in the Big Sky Conference on the line.

The two teams are co-leaders of the conference through two weeks of play with matching 3-1 league records. Montana has wins over Sacramento State, Idaho, and Northern Arizona. Montana State spit its opening weekend with a five-set win over Eastern Washington and a loss to Portland State but bounced back last weekend with two home wins over Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado.

It sets up a very important early season showdown in Missoula in the only match of the week for both squads. But head coach Allison Lawrence knows that this early in the season it can be easy to put too much stock in a single match.

"It always feels big just because of the rivalry," Lawrence said. "I think what feels nice and kind of removes some of the fluff around this game is that the standings really don't mean anything. Yes, we are both where we are but not everyone has even played the same number of matches, so I think in terms of that stuff it's still pretty early."

There is an unavoidable fact that both teams enter with plenty of momentum. Montana has won 11 of its last 12 matches and held leads in all three sets it lost against Northern Colorado. The Grizzlies have been putting up record-setting offensive numbers behind a balanced attack led by setter Gracie Cagle, who ranks 2^nd in the Big Sky in assists per set.

Then there has been the back row play of senior Alexis Batezel, who was named to the NCAA's Starting Rotation of the Week as the top libero in the entire country last week. Batezel's 40 digs against Northern Colorado were 3^rd most in Montana history and tied for the most in a single match this season.

Montana State comes in after a historic weekend of their own, beating Northern Colorado in Bozeman for the first time in 20 years as part of a 2-0 weekend. They outlasted Northern Arizona in five sets last Thursday and are now tied atop the league standings with Montana at 3-1.

"I think both of us have momentum and that's fun," Lawrence said. "It's fun going into this match feeling like both of us are trying to remain in some sort of lead or remain ahead. They are a very new team, we are a very new team, so I think the matchup will look completely new."

After an 0-3 start to the season, much of the talk surrounding Montana was focused on the winning streak that they were building. It came to an end last Thursday, but that loss could prove to be beneficial down the road.

The Bears won the regular season championship last year and are perennial title contenders in the Big Sky Conference. Montana built large leads against them in several sets, but UNC came from behind multiple times to win in four sets.

It showed Montana what they need to work on if they want to stay in the title hunt as the season progresses.

"I think that Thursday was such a good lesson for us in that championship teams, which UNC is, that program has won a lot, is we're going to come out with whatever scout and things against them tactically, they are going to adjust, and then we have to be able to adjust again," Lawrence said. "I think those counter-adjustments and that relationship with our opponent throughout the match has to be better and sharper."

They put that to work right away with a win over Northern Arizona on Saturday. The Lumberjacks entered tied for first with the best overall record in the Big Sky. The visitors took the first set, but Montana adjusted and won the final three to improve to 11-4 and 3-1 in league play.

It has set up a showdown that is as large as you could ask while still being just two weeks into the Big Sky season. There will be plenty of extra fanfare in Missoula over the weekend with Homecoming and the rivalry, but on Saturday night all that matters will be how well the Grizzlies game plan for the six players on the opposite side of the floor.

"I think mostly we are just trying to make it not about the rivalry but make it about what we need to do to prepare tactically to beat the team on the other side of the net," Lawrence said. "We will leave that other stuff out floating around. I think that's the healthiest place to be, everything else is just distractions."

MAIN LINE TROPHY UP FOR GRABS
The Brawl of the Wild has a traveling trophy given to the winner of the rivalry match. The Main Line Trophy will be back up for grabs on Saturday. The trophy, which was introduced to the rivalry in 2021, spent last season on the east side of the state after MSU swept the season series.

Since its creation, Montana is 4-6 in regular season matches against Montana State. It's been a tight rivalry not only over the last 10 years but dating all the way back to the first meeting in 1975.

Montana State leads the all-time series 66-61, but Montana has the advantage in Missoula with a 31-26 home record in the series. The Bobcats have won four straight over the Grizzlies.

HOMECOMING FESTIVITIES
It's Homecoming week for the University of Montana and there is an action-packed weekend in store for all Griz fans. Montana is hosting volleyball, soccer, and football this weekend.

Fans attending the Grizzly football game vs. Cal Poly at 2:00 p.m. can get into the volleyball match for half-price by showing their gameday ticket.

FREE PIZZA FOR STUDENTS
Students will receive free pizza in between the first and second sets of Saturday night's match. Students, with the help of Monte, will deliver them to the student section on the north end of the court.

BATEZEL'S BIG WEEK EARNS NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Alexis Batezel made some history over the weekend with her play on the court and was recognized at the conference and national level as a result. Batezel's 40 digs against Northern Colorado were the most by a Grizzly in the 25-point era and 3^rd most in program history.

It's the most digs by any player in the NCAA in a four-set match this season and tied for the most in any match.

She averaged 7.63 digs per set over the two matches to earn both co-Defensive Player of the Week honors from the Big Sky and a spot on the NCAA's Rotation of the Week.

Batezel earned the libero spot on Michella Chester's Starting Rotation for Week 6, joining players from #1 Nebraska, #5 Louisville, #12 Purdue, #13 Creighton, and #20 Indiana.

She's now been named Big Sky Player of the Week three times this season, which matches the most by a Grizzly in program history (Linde Eidenberg x3, 1994). Batezel lead the Big Sky and ranks 21^st nationally with 4.83 digs per set this year.

If the season were to end today, Batezel would have the 3^rd best digs per set average in program history. Jackie White set the record in 2005 with 5.19.

STARTING A NEW STREAK
Montana's 10-match winning streak, the longest for the program since 1994 and 5^th longest all-time, came to an end last Thursday. It didn't take long for UM to get back to the winning ways as they took down Northern Arizona in four and have now won 11 of the last 12 matches.

The Grizzlies have now won 15 of their past 20 matches dating back to the conclusion of last season.

HOMECOMING HISTORY
This is the sixth time under Coach Lawrence that Montana will be in Missoula for homecoming, and the fourth time that they will play on Saturday alongside football. They have a 2-3 record overall under Lawrence and a 1-2 record on Saturday Homecoming matches.

Overall, Montana is 10-6 in Homecoming matches and 9-3 when playing on the Saturday of Homecoming week. The Grizzlies set the program record for attendance during Homecoming with 2,237 fans in 2023 against Montana State. Last year's crowd of 1,046 against Eastern Washington was the largest for a non-rivalry game since 1995.

ALUMNI WEEKEND
There will be over 20 alumni in attendance on Saturday night that will be honored on the floor in between the second and third sets. The group spans every decade of Griz Volleyball with players from the 80s all the way up to players that suited up in the last few seasons.

HISTORIC NOTES FOR 2025

The Grizzlies have hit over .300 in six different matches already this season. It's the 3^rd most in a single season in program history. The record is 7, set in both 1991 and 1989.
The Grizzlies went 8-3 in non-conference play in 2025. It's tied for the 3^rd best winning percentage in program history for a non-conference schedule and tied for the 3^rd most wins.
This is the first time in program history that Montana has been undefeated in the month of September. It's just the 6^th time ever that they've had a perfect month, and the 10 wins are the 2^nd most in an undefeated month in program history.
The current team hitting percentage of .232 is the 2^nd-best for Montana in program history. It trails only the 1991 team at .240.
Montana's single season record for individual hitting percentage is .353 by Jaimie Thibeault in 2009. Olivia LaBeau (.373) and Sydney Pierce (.369) are both ahead of that mark through 15 matches.
Montana has had the Big Sky Player of the Week five times already in 2025. It's the second-most all-time, trailing only the 1994 season when Montana had six Player of the Week honors.
Montana's .416 hitting percentage against Butler was the best in the 25-point scoring era and the best by the team since hitting .500 against Canisius in 2007.
The five errors committed by Montana in the Butler match are the fewest by a Grizzly team in program history. It broke the previous record of 7 set on four occasions.

BEST BIG SKY STARTS
Montana is 3-1 in Big Sky play for the first time since 2022 and just the third time overall under head coach Allison Lawrence. The last time that Montana had four wins through the first five matches in league play was 2018, but the Griz would go cold down the stretch that season and finish 7-11 in conference.

GRIZ NOTES

The NCAA released the first RPI Ranking of the season on Monday. Montana came it at 121. It's 139 spots higher than they finished last season in the final ranking of the season. It's the highest ranking for a Grizzly team in the Allison Lawrence era.
Head Coach Allison Lawrence is looking for her 50^th career Big Sky win. She has a 49-87 league record in 11 seasons at Montana.
Montana ranks 6^th in the NCAA in digs per set this season and leads the Big Sky Conference with 17.61. They also lead the league in kills per set (13.93), assists per set (12.70), team attacks per set (38.31) and winning percentage (.733).
Montana has already passed its win total from 2024. The Grizzlies have 10+ wins for the 5^th straight season, which is the longest streak for the program since having 7 straight 10-win seasons from 2005-11.
The Grizzlies have reached 12 wins just once previously in the last 12 seasons. They won 17 matches in 2022, but prior to that they haven't reached 12 since going 16-15 in 2013.
At home, Montana is 5-1 this season. It's the 4^th straight season they've won at least five home contests, but they've won six or more games in Missoula just once over the previous 12 seasons by going 7-4 in 2022.
Four different players are averaging over 2.30 kills per set for Montana. Delaney Russell leads with 3.44, followed by Mylee Blake (2.80), Olivia LaBeau (2.70) and Sydney Pierce (2.37).
Freshman Annika Wright has seven service aces in the previous four matches. She set a new season-high with 18 assists against Northern Colorado on Oct. 2.
Delaney Russell recorded her 250^th career kill in the win over Northern Arizona. She had 21 kills in the match, the 2^nd most in a single match in her career.
Sydney Pierce had nine kills and zero errors against Northern Arizona for a .474 hitting percentage. It's the fourth time this season that Pierce has recorded at least seven kills in a match without committing an error.
Freshman Madeline Sanderson averaged 13.5 digs per match last week. It's the first time in her career that she's recorded 10+ digs in consecutive matches. The freshman has played all 54 sets for the Grizzlies this year.
Freshman Mylee Blake reached double-digit kills for the 8^th time this season in the win over NAU. Blake is averaging 2.80 kills per set to rank 2^nd on Montana.
Montana's single match attendance record is 2,237, set in the Brawl of the Wild game in 2023. Three of the top four attendances in program history have come in the last three years of the rivalry game, and they should have a chance to break the record once again on Saturday.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE (8-7, 3-1 Big Sky)

The Bobcats are coming off a 2-0 weekend at home against Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado. They defeated the Lumberjacks in five sets to hand NAU its first loss of Big Sky play and followed it up with a four-set win over Northern Colorado, beating the Bears in Bozeman for the first time since 2005.
Montana State came in at 194 in the first RPI Rankings of the season. They are 6^th among Big Sky schools in the ratings system.
Head coach Matt Houk is in his 3^rd season at Montana State. He has a 41-35 record with the Bobcats.
The Bobcats rank 7^th in the Big Sky in both hitting percentage (.191) and opponent's hitting percentage (.229).
The only major statistical categories that MSU ranks in the top half of the Big Sky in are aces per set (1.66, 3^rd) and digs per set (13.53, 5^th).
They are 2-1 on the road this year with wins over Gonzaga and Eastern Washington. The only road loss came at Oregon State back on Sept. 11.
The two liberos on the floor on Saturday are both in contention for the Big Sky Conference's Libero of the Year award at this point of the season. Lauren Lindseth ranks 2^nd in the Big Sky and 28^th nationally with 4.67 digs per set. Lindseth led the league last season and was a Second Team All-Big Sky selection.
Freshman setter Teagan Jaynes ranks 3^rd in the Big Sky with 9.07 assists per set. Jaynes missed three matches with an injury, and MSU lost all three. In matches where Jaynes takes the floor, the Bobcats are 8-4.
Karli Heidemann leads Montana state with 3.19 kills per set. Elli Tufto is the only other Bobcat averaging over 2.00 per set with 2.40.
Camryn Greenwald leads the Bobcats with a .362 hitting percentage, which ranks 7^th in the Big Sky.

SERIES HISTORY

Montana State has won the previous four meetings and leads the all-time series 66-61. Montana leads 31-26 in Missoula. Head coach Allison Lawrence is 6-11 against MSU.

Homecoming Griz-Cat showdown takes center stage in Big Sky

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alexis Batezel

Mylee Blake

Gracie Cagle

Olivia LaBeau

Sydney Pierce

Delaney Russell

Madeline Sanderson

Annika Wright

University of Montana Athletics

Homecoming Griz-Cat showdown takes center stage in Big Sky

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alexis Batezel

Mylee Blake

Gracie Cagle

Olivia LaBeau

Sydney Pierce

Delaney Russell

Madeline Sanderson

Annika Wright

Related Videos