Montana takes long winning streak on the road

MONTANA at GONZAGA (6-3)
Thursday, Sept. 18 / 7:00 PM (MT) / Watch / Live Stats

MONTANA vs. SEATTLE (6-3)
Friday, Sept. 19 / 3:00 PM (MT)

PREVIEW
The Montana volleyball team will wrap up the non-conference schedule this week with two matches in the state of Washington. The Grizzlies play Gonzaga on Thursday before a neutral site match against Seattle in Cheney on Friday.

The Grizzlies will enter the week as one of the hottest teams in the country after sweeping through the last two weeks of matches. Montana's six-game winning streak is the program's longest since 2006. They will look to make it seven on Thursday, a number that hasn't been reached in 31 years.

Montana's been rolling on both sides of the net during the streak, hitting .306 while holding opponents to just .180. The Griz have 39 aces, nearly double the blocks of their opponent, and average nearly 3.0 digs per set more during the winning streak.

"It's been a really fun two weeks," head coach Allison Lawrence said.

Indeed, it has. Montana has a young core of players that have united in impressive fashion. The Griz haven't just been winning. They have been dominating. It's been a throwback to the early 90s era of the program when Montana was routinely winning Big Sky Championships.

In the last two weeks, the Griz have won 18 out of 20 possible sets. They dropped a four-point set to Oakland in the final match of the Ellesyn Invitational at home after winning five straight against the Golden Grizzlies. The only other set Montana has lost was a 29-27 marathon set against Eastern Illinois.

"This last weekend, especially the two-game day where we went into the Butler match pretty quickly after Indiana State, it was just a little bit surreal to feel that much in control of those matches," Lawrence said. "There were a few close ones, but I think we all were just in a really good flow together."

It's led to plenty of celebrations within the team and some honors from the Big Sky Conference and the tournament hosts along the way. Montana has had a Player of the Week two straight weeks and had four players named to the All-Tournament Team last weekend.

Gracie Cagle double-dipped her awards with the co-Offensive Player of the Week honor in the Big Sky to go with the Tournament MVP at the Pepsi Sycamores Invite. The setter averaged 11.1 assists per game and had two double-doubles while leading Montana's offense to a .305 hitting percentage.

She found a strong partnership with plenty of Grizzly attackers, including middle blocker Sydney Pierce. Pierce joined her on the All-Tournament team after hitting .500 with 27 total kills. The offensive numbers are eye-popping, but Pierce said the success has all started from the back.

"I think the team's ability to pass really well," Pierce said of the key to Montana's offense. "It's hard to run the middle if you're not passing well, and I think we've been super great and working a lot on forcing the middles out of system and in uncomfortable situations. I think doing that has allowed me and also Gracie to grow our game and our connection."

The winning streak has countered what was a difficult start to the season at Utah Valley. Montana had a two-set lead in its first match of the season, but wasn't able to close it out. They then dropped the next two matches to go 0-3 on the opening weekend.

Even following the weekend, Lawrence said that there were plenty of reasons to be excited about the season despite the results. A winning streak the likes of which hasn't been seen in Missoula for nearly 20 years has put a new spark in the team.

"It's been a confidence booster," Pierce said of the winning streak. "The first weekend didn't go how we wanted it to, but we could have continued to go downhill or go uphill, and we decided to go uphill. I think that's the best thing and it's continuing to grow our team and help build connections. We really love playing together and it's just been such a joy."

Montana had 11 different players play 10 or more sets in Terre Haute last weekend. They range from true freshmen all the way up to a senior making her season debut after an injury in fall camp. Everyone that has taken the floor has impacted winning in some way.

It's led to plenty of good times, but Lawrence also said that they are looking at every little thing that has gone wrong and working on how to improve upon it. She wants her team to enjoy the moment while also remembering that Big Sky play is what it all comes down to in the end.

"It's been so fun early to get some reward for all of the hard work and toil that the team goes through in preseason and the offseason," Lawrence said. "It feels really good and I think we have to enjoy our victories in that way. I hope that instills belief that we can be in any match for the remainder of our season, but what we need is failure as well."

There are matches where things won't be going Montana's way, but Lawrence wants her team to know there is always something that they can do. Montana saw an improvement in tight situations in the final match of last weekend.

They dropped a 29-27 second set when there were opportunities to close things out. They learned from that set, and when the fourth went long they were able to pull out the winning plays to take it 28-26. It's those little moments that she's excited about.

"Unbelievable effort from the athletes to prepare for the way that they did, to execute in the way they did, and then capitalize when they all felt in rhythm together to finish off a pretty complete weekend," Lawrence said. "I couldn't be more proud and impressed, and I'm still kind of reeling from it a little bit in a good way."

COMPLETING THE NON-CONFERENCE
Montana has already secured a winning record in non-conference play for the first time since 2022 and the second time in Coach Lawrence's nine years. In fact, this is just the second winning non-conference record since 2006 for the Grizzlies.

The six non-conference wins for Montana is already tied for the ninth-most since the team's first Big Sky Conference season in 1988. If the Grizzlies are able to add to that, it could go down as a historic preseason. They have won eight or more games in non-conference play just six times since '88.

If Montana were to win both this weekend, the .727 winning percentage would be tied for the 3^rd best in program history entering Big Sky Conference play.

SIX-MATCH WINNING STREAK
The Griz have won six straight matches by a combined set score of 18-2. They have been dominant offensively over the previous two weeks, hitting .306 as a team while averaging over 15 kills per set.

It's been a balanced effort with big-time kills coming from all across the court. Delaney Russell leads the team with 73 kills (3.65/set) during the winning streak and freshman Mylee Blake is close behind at 70 (3.50/set).

But it's been the impact, and efficiency, from the middle and right that has been the biggest catalyst to the winning streak. Olivia LaBeau is averaging 3.05 kills per set on .456 hitting. Sydney Pierce is at 2.75 on .455 hitting. When the defense focuses in on one arm, the Grizzlies can quickly pivot to another.

Cue Gracie Cagle. The Grizzly setter has averaged 11.3 assists per set over the previous two weeks while also averaging 3.10 digs. The setter was named the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week this last week for her efforts.

The ball control and passing is where everything starts, and Montana has been very good on that front behind the efforts of libero Alexis Batezel. The senior is averaging 4.95 digs/set during Montana's winning streak.

HISTORICAL NOTES ON THE STREAK
This is Montana's longest winning streak since 2006. The Grizzlies' streak ended at six that year. The last time Montana has won seven straight matches came back in 1994 when the team won 16 straight. A win at Gonzaga on Thursday would give Montana its longest winning streak in 31 years.

The Griz have won 18 out of 20 (.900) sets during the winning streak, which is the best six-match stretch for the program since doing the same thing in 1992. The last time the Grizzlies won a higher percentage of sets during a six-match streak came in 1991 when they won 24 straight sets as part of an 8-match winning streak.

Montana has won 7-or-more matches in a row 12 times in program history. They will look to make it 13 on Thursday night.

CAGLE NAMED CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Montana setter Gracie Cagle was named the co-Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week on Monday following a perfect 3-0 weekend for the Grizzlies. Cagle guided Montana's offense to a .305 team hitting percentage with 11.10 assists per set.

It's the first career honor for Cagle, a junior in her second year in a major role but first year operating solely in a 5-1. The product of Reedy HS in Frisco, Texas also averaged 3.4 digs to rank second on the team and had two double-doubles in Terre Haute.

GRIZ NOTES

Mylee Blake had 20 kills in Montana's win over Eastern Illinois. It's the most kills by a freshman since Paige Clark had 23 on Oct. 14, 2021 against Portland State.
Montana averages 17.38 digs per set as a team, which ranks 4^th nationally and leads the Big Sky Conference.
The ability to dig balls and extend rallies also means that Montana get plenty of attacking opportunities every match. They currently rank 11^th nationally with 37.56 attacks per set.
The Grizzlies are holding opponents to .175 hitting this season, which ranks 78^th nationally.
Montana has hit over .300 in four separate matches this season. It's already more than last year, when they did it three times, and the most since doing it five times in 2023.
The Grizzlies lead the Big Sky in both digs per set (17.38) and assists per set (12.59).
Gracie Cagle leads the Big Sky and is 27^th nationally with 10.13 assists per set.
Carley Spachman ranks 44^th in the country and 2^nd in the Big Sky Conference with 1.35 blocks per set.
Olivia LaBeau had her best attacking match of the season in Saturday's win over Eastern Illinois. She recorded a season-high 16 kills on .556 hitting.
The Grizzlies are 7-2 in sets decided by two points.
Depth has been on display for Montana during the winning streak with 11 different players playing at least 10 sets of action.
Senior Maddie Pyles made a limited return to action last weekend, serving as a backup libero for serving situations for Montana. It was the first appearance of the season for Pyles, who had 19 digs and three service aces.

SCOUTING GONZAGA (6-3)

The Bulldogs are having a bounce back year after going 1-27 in 2024. They are on a two-match winning streak after defeating IU Indy and Bellarmine last week. They have gone 2-1 every weekend this season with tournaments at Grand Canyon, at home, and most recently at IU Indy.
Gonzaga has played one Big Sky opponent this season, losing in straight sets to Montana State on Sept. 6.
They are 2-1 at home this season with the only loss coming to MSU.
Head coach J.T. Wenger is in his 9^th season at Gonzaga and has a 147-95 overall record.
The Bulldogs have put up impressive numbers this season. They are hitting .246 as a team, which ranks 87^th nationally, and holding opponents to just .153 hitting, which ranks 30^th.
Gonzaga averages 13.6 kills per set, the 55^th best mark in the country.
Transfer Sjakkie Donkers leads the WCC with 4.31 kills per set. She also ranks in the top 35 nationally in kills and is hitting .333 on the year. She's reached double figure kills in seven matches, including a season high 24 vs. UTRGV.
The Bulldogs have been very balanced behind Donkers with no other player ranking inside the top 25 in the WCC in kills per set.
Montana leads the all-time series with Gonzaga 29-17, including a 13-7 record in Spokane. The two sides haven't met since the 2019 season, which resulted in a 3-0 win for Gonzaga.

SCOUTING SEATTLE U (6-3)

The Redhawks opened the season 5-1 before going 1-2 last week at the SIUE Cougar Classic. They won in five sets over Austin Peay in a match that was sandwiched by losses to Air Force and SIUE.
Head coach Dan Behnke is in his 11^th season at Seattle U and has a 149-122 overall record.
Seattle U has played two Big Sky opponents already this season and will play two more this weekend. They swept Portland State in the season opener at Air Force and then defeated Idaho in five sets at home. They will play Eastern Washington on Thursday.
They are 3-1 on neutral floors this season.
The net defense has been very good for the Redhawks. They rank 20^th in the country with 90 total blocks this year.
Seattle has also been aggressive from the service line with 62 total aces, a number that ranks 53^rd nationally.
They are hitting .187 as a team and allowing opponents to hit .212.
Taniyah Pruitt leads the team with 1.22 blocks per set.
Seattle leads the all-time series with Montana 2-1. They won the only neutral site meeting between the two back in 2017. Montana did win the most recent matchup 3-2 at home in 2021.

BATEZEL RISING THE RANKS
Senior Libero Alexis Batezel continues to rise in Montana's all-time dig rankings. Batezel is averaging 4.41 digs per set this season to rank 51^st in the NCAA. She has increased her career total to 1,141 digs, which is 11^th in program history.

Batezel needs 13 digs this week to crack Montana's top 10 list. She also ranks 33^rd among active NCAA D1 players in career digs.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM HONORS
Montana has had six All-Tournament Team selections this season. Alexis Batezel earned the recognition after the first week of play at the Utah Valley Invitational. The Grizzly libero averaged 3.50 digs per set on the opening week of play.

Olivia LaBeau earned the All-Tournament nod following the Ellesyn Invitational after her blistering performance offensively. LaBeau hit .537 with 31 kills and just two errors in Montana's three wins.

Montana brought in four All-Tourney honors after the Pepsi Sycamores Invite, including the Tournament MVP honor going to setter Gracie Cagle. She averaged 11.1 assists/set, 3.4 digs, and had four service aces during Montana's 3-0 weekend.

Joining Cagle on the All-Tournament team were Sydney Pierce, Olivia LaBeau, and Mylee Blake. Pierce was nearly unstoppable on the weekend, hitting .500 while recording 2.70 kills per set and 1.00 block per set.

LaBeau averaged 3.00 kills per set on .383 hitting while Blake led Montana on the weekend with an average of 3.70 kills on .326 hitting.

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Players Mentioned

Alexis Batezel

Mylee Blake

Gracie Cagle

Paige Clark

Olivia LaBeau

Sydney Pierce

Maddie Pyles

Delaney Russell

Carley Spachman

University of Montana Athletics