Navy defeats Montana in final match of Utah Valley Invitational

Saturday, August 30

Orem, Utah

12:00 PM

Montana

0-3,0-0Big Sky

vs. Navy

2-1,0-0Patriot

Navy

Montana

Photo by: Marley Barboeisel/University of Montana

Navy defeats Montana in final match of Utah Valley Invitational

8/30/2025 3:10:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana volleyball fell in four sets to Navy on Saturday afternoon to wrap up play at the Utah Valley Invitational. The Grizzlies close the weekend at 0-3 after falling in both matches of a doubleheader on Friday.

It was a difficult start to the season in terms of scheduling with Montana playing the two best opponents, according to 2024 records, on the first day. Navy also impressed on the opening weekend with a 2-1 record that included a win over host Utah Valley.

"It's a tough first weekend, obviously. We need to get results in these matches, but I think it was a great first weekend in a lot of ways," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "We got exposed big time and have a team that is very new to each other and I feel like we've gotten into a great rhythm at practice, but seeing different serving, different arms on the other side, different defensive schemes, that part exposed us.

Olivia LaBeau led the Grizzly offense in kills for the second straight match by recording 12 on .229 hitting. Freshman Mylee Blake had her best performance of the young season with 11 kills and four digs.

Carley Spachman led Montana with five blocks while Alexis Batezel's 17 digs were a team high. Gracie Cagle set a new career high with 39 assists and just missed out on a double-double with nine digs.

"I was pleased by our serve-receive response from yesterday," Lawrence said. "I thought we passed a lot better and that was led by (Batezel) and our passing core. It was good to see and it got us in rhythm and allowed us to set Olivia LaBeau as many times as we did."

Navy (25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 25-18) hit .206 as a team as Montana's defense once again had a solid day, but it was the offensive struggles that held the Grizzlies back. Montana had 27 attack errors and hit .123 as a team.

The Grizzlies scored the first point of the match, but the rest of the first set went in favor of Navy as the Midshipmen used a 5-1 run early to separate. The Grizzlies made a run of their own, which included service aces from Sydney Pierce and Gracie Cagle, to tie it at 11-all.

Navy continued to roll out to a .270 hitting percentage in the set as they pulled away in the late stages of the set for a 25-19 win. The Griz were held under .100 hitting as they committed eight errors in the opening set.

The second set saw plenty of lead changes early as there were 10 ties and seven lead changes before the first media timeout. Navy was ahead 15-13 at that break with both teams hitting under .150.

The Griz were able to tie it up at 15-all out of the break, but Navy followed that up with a 5-0 run to take control in the second set. After Montana's matches yesterday, Lawrence said that she was disappointed in her team's grit.

They learned from the lessons on Friday and didn't let the run take them out. The Griz battled back and forced a Navy timeout at 21-18 after an ace from Russell. They pulled it back within a point on multiple occasions, but the comeback came just short as Navy held on for the 25-23 win.

"I thought yesterday we kind of lost a sense of who we were and how we wanted to play and were very rattled," Lawrence said. "I thought today we were more ourselves and had great things to say and great feedback and accountability, it was just that we were high error in moments where we couldn't be and had structure breakdowns that Navy could exploit."

The offense improved in the second set with 13 kills to just five errors for Montana, but they committed four service errors in the second set.

Montana's momentum at the end of the second carried over as they used an early 5-0 to take their largest lead of the match. LaBeau reached double-digit kills during the run and set a new season-high with her 11^th kill that made it 8-5 in favor of the Griz.

The lead grew to as many as six after a kill from Pierce followed by a dump from Cagle made it 19-13.

The Grizzlies would close out the set with a huge kill from LaBeau that gave UM a 25-19 win and forced a fourth set. Montana had their best offensive set of the match in the third hitting .172, but it was the defense that led to the win in the set.

Navy committed nine errors in the set and hit just .094 as Montana kept their attack out of rhythm. The Grizzlies had three blocks in the set and allowed just 12 kills.

The run didn't continue into the fourth as Navy pulled away for a 25-18 win behind a near-flawless offensive set as they committed just two attacking errors.

The Grizzlies had six service aces in the match, led by middle blocker Sydney Pierce. Pierce had six kills and three blocks to go along with the aces. Fellow middle Carley Spachman hit .308 with five kills and just one error.

Montana played three true freshmen in the match and several other players with very limited collegiate experience. Blake had her best match with 11 kills, and Emma Williams also contributed four kills at the left side position.

"I was excited about the jobs that Mylee and Emma did when they came into the game," Lawrence said. "We were high error from the left yesterday so our goal for them was to just manage when they had a double-block in front of them and trust that we would score with our middles and right. I thought they hit the scouting report there and then when we gave them more consistent balls they got a lot of kills."

It's a disappointing opening weekend for the Grizzlies, but there were plenty of learning moments for a young Montana team. They will return back to Missoula next weekend for three matches at home as part of the Ellesyn Invitational sponsored by Homewood Suites and Erck Hotels.

The Grizzlies will play Oakland twice and North Dakota State once over a two-day stretch beginning on Friday. They will aim to shore up some areas before the weekend and take a few lessons from their trip to Utah Valley.

"We have some really powerful pieces but there are weaknesses in our game that other teams are able to exploit to an extent that that our strengths aren't overcoming those," Lawrence said. "We need to address our block, get some range in attacking when there is a double block, and we've got to control our defensive touches, we just weren't digging enough balls.

"I think it was a test that we ultimately failed, but I think our youth and our inexperience is going to make us learners quickly," Lawrence continued. "I like our pieces and when we're controlling the ball we're pretty physical and hard to stop. That piece is fun and I have a lot of hope for what we'll be able to do."