Griz out for revenge in Bozeman

Friday, November 7

Bozeman, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

Montana State

Photo by: Marley Barboeisel/University of Montana

11/5/2025 12:59:00 PM | Volleyball

Match Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

MONTANA (14-8, 6-5 Big Sky) at MONTANA STATE (11-11, 6-5 Big Sky)
Friday, Nov. 7 / 7:00 p.m. / Watch / Live Stats

Montana volleyball will head across the state on Friday for the second matchup of the season against Montana State. The Grizzlies are looking to snap a two-match losing streak and remain in the top half of the Big Sky standings.

This is the third straight road match for Montana and is part of an extended run of five out of seven matches on the road to close out the season. The Grizzlies have already played the two most difficult games of the stretch, losing in four sets to both Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado last weekend.

The Lumberjacks (9-2) are in first place and the Bears are tied for second as both teams are very much in the hunt for the Big Sky regular season title. Northern Colorado is tied with Sacramento State at 8-3, two games clear of the next cluster of teams.

The Griz and Cats are both part of that grouping as the two Treasure State schools sit at 6-5 in Big Sky play this season. They are tied with Portland State and just a half-game clear of Weber State for 7^th place.

The parity in the league has been on display all season, and it makes the final weeks of the season crucial as Montana looks ahead at a potential return to the Big Sky Tournament.

Montana and Montana State have mirrored each other for much of the league season as both come into the week on two-match losing streaks having won two total sets last week.

They met in Missoula earlier this season and there was very little to separate them in a five-set victory for the Bobcats. Montana will now look to even the score on the road.

"It's a big game. It's always fun to go there and one of our team's favorite memories from the year," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "They always have a huge crowd so we're looking forward to a great atmosphere and playing a great team and having that bring our best out."

The rest of the league will have two matches this weekend while the Grizzlies have just the rivalry to focus on. It could lead to plenty of shifting in the league standings by the end of matches on Saturday.

It's been the case all year long as the Griz and Cats were the top two teams in the conference the last time they met. They have both dropped slightly to the middle of the pack, and while this match could play a big role down the stretch in terms of tiebreakers separating the two schools, Lawrence knows not to get overly worked up about her team's place in the league.

It's all about how your team is playing at the end of November.

"A lot is on the line in some ways, and in other ways every Big Sky match that we have played it seems like you move up 10 spots in the standings or down, either way with each win or loss," Lawrence said. "I think it will be a big jumble until the end so we're trying to keep our sights on getting better and evolving so that we can enter the conference tournament feeling like one of the hottest teams. That's our goal."

But enough with the talk of the league standings and looking ahead at the conference tournament. Lawrence said her team is focused on the game in front of them, a task that is easier to do when you are hitting the road to play your rival.

Montana is looking to snap a five-match losing streak to Montana State. The Bobcats won in five sets earlier this year in Missoula and swept the season series with the Griz last year. The last win in Bozeman for the Grizzlies came in 2022.

The Grizzlies have yet to be swept in league play and have competed very well against even the best teams in the Big Sky. They already have at least one win over six of the other nine teams in the league. They were swept by Northern Colorado and haven't played Eastern Washington yet.

They will hope to add Montana State to that list on Friday night.

"I think this time of year you can get really focused on the end, but we aren't at the end yet. Even though it feels like the conference tournament is only a few weeks away, we have a significant amount of matches to play and I think there are big time things to do," Lawrence said. "We're trying to stay one game at a time and not project too far into the future. We need to take care of business and keep getting better."

GRIZ NOTES

Montana has lost three straight games on just one occasion this season, opening the year by going 0-3 at the Utah Valley Invitational. Since then, they have lost consecutive matches just twice and haven't lost three straight. They enter Friday on a two-match slide.
The Griz are 4-4 on the road this season. They are 2-3 in Big Sky road matches.
They rank 13^th in the NCAA in digs per set with 16.89. It's the top mark in the Big Sky Conference.
In addition to digs, Montana also leads the league in assists per set (12.62) and kills per set (13.69).
Montana has finished with a winning record on the road just once since 1994, going 7-5 in 2022.
The Grizzlies are 13-1 when hitting over .200 this season.
In first sets, Montana has been very good this year. They are 16-6 in the opening set of matches. The Griz are also 16-6 in second sets, but fall to 12-10 in the third and 6-8 in the fourth.
They have outdug opponents in 17 of the 22 matches this year. The Griz are 13-4 when finishing with more digs than their opponent.
Montana is 7-2 at home this year. It's just the 4^th time this century that they have won at least seven home matches in the same season.

PLAYER NOTES

Maddie Pyles had a season high 11 kills last Saturday at Northern Arizona, starting in place of the injured Olivia LaBeau. Pyles hit .194 in the match, recording five digs and one block. It was the first time this season that Pyles reached double figures in kills.
Gracie Cagle has recorded 37-or-more assists in eight straight matches. Cagle had a career high 13 attacks last Thursday at Northern Arizona, turning them into three kills.
Delaney Russell has recorded 10-plus kills in 11 straight matches. She had 25 total kills over the two matches last weekend.
- Russell ranks 4^th in the Big Sky in kills per set this season at 3.44.
- She had her 11^th double-double of the season last Saturday at Northern Colorado.
Alexis Batezel had 10+ digs in nine straight matches before recording 7 at Northern Colorado last Saturday.
- Batezel ranks 2^nd in the Big Sky with 4.73 digs per set.
Carley Spachman has recorded at least seven kills in seven straight matches. She had eight kills on .636 hitting last Saturday at Northern Colorado.
Sydney Pierce was held to just seven kills on negative hitting over the previous two matches. She had recorded double-digit kills in five straight matches entering last week's matches.
Josie Blazina had three kills at Northern Colorado on Nov. 1, which tied a career high. She hit .750 in the match and had a block.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE (11-11, 6-5 Big Sky)

The Bobcats also lost both of their matches on the road last week at Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona. MSU was swept by UNC and lost a five-set match to NAU.
In Big Sky matches, Montana State ranks 8^th in the league in hitting (.204) and 4^th in opponent hitting percentage (.209). They are 4^th in the league in digs at 15.64 per set.
In Bozeman, the Bobcats are 6-4 this season and on a four-match winning streak. They have lost just once at home in Big Sky play, falling to Portland State in three on Sept. 27.
Head coach Matt Houk is in his third season at Montana State. He has a 44-39 overall record in Bozeman and a 141-124 career record in nine seasons as a head coach.
The Bobcats are 2-4 in their previous six matches with both wins coming at home.
This will be the first time this year that Montana State has played inside Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. They typically play their home matches in Shroyer Gymnasium.
MSU averages 1.55 aces per set, which ranks 3^rd in the Big Sky this year. They are also in the top five in the league in blocks per set (2.10, 5^th) and digs per set (14.19, 5^th).
Libero Lauren Lindseth leads the Big Sky and ranks 27^th nationally with 4.74 digs per set this year. She was a Second Team All-Big Sky selection last year while leading the league with 4.80 digs per set in conference play.
Lindseth is second in MSU history with 1,843 career digs. She's been named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week four times this season.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BOBCATS

The Bobcats lead the all-time series 67-61 over Montana. They have won five straight in the series dating back to 2023 and won the first meeting between the two schools this year in five sets.
In Bozeman, the Bobcats hold a 27-27 record against Montana. The Griz have lost two straight in Bozeman, but are 3-2 over the previous five matches there.

BATEZEL CLIMBS THE RANKS
Alexis Batezel has continued to climb in the record book at Montana for career digs. The senior libero became the fourth player in program history to reach 1,400 career digs last week. She enters Friday's match with 1,402.

She now trails Brittney Brown by 53 digs for 3^rd place. Batezel is averaging 4.73 digs per set this season, which is the 4^th highest average in program history. She currently ranks 29^th in the NCAA and 2^nd in the Big Sky in digs.

PIERCE CHASES SINGLE SEASON RECORD
Sophomore middle blocker Sydney Pierce has the chance to make some Montana history in the final stretch of the season. The Billings product is hitting .335 this season, which would be the 4^th best mark all-time by a Grizzly if the season ended today.

The current record is .353, set by Jaimie Thibeault in 2009.

Pierce ranks 7th in the Big Sky Conference in hitting percentage and 133rd in the NCAA entering the week. She has hit over .400 10 times on the year and over .700 three times.

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 finished 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. The 1991 team holds the program record at .240.
Montana's single season record for individual hitting percentage is .353 by Jaimie Thibeault in 2009. Sydney Pierce (.367) is on pace to break that record while Olivia LaBeau (.333) is having a top five season all-time in terms of hitting percentage for Montana.
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 10-match winning streak this season was the longest for the program since 1994 and tied for the 5^th longest all-time.
Montana won a match at Portland State for the first time since 2015. The Grizzlies had dropped eight straight in the Rose City. It was the first win for Coach Lawrence in Portland.
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.