Cagle's strong serve leads Griz to win over Thunderbirds

Thursday, October 15

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

6-12,2-5Big Sky

Southern Utah

1-16,0-6Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Southern Utah	19	25	14	17	1
Montana	25	22	25	25	3

Photo by: Casandra Evans/University of Montana

Cagle's strong serve leads Griz to win over Thunderbirds

10/15/2026 10:14:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana soared past Southern Utah on Thursday night inside Dahlberg Arena, beating the Thunderbirds in four sets to get back into the win column. The Griz held Southern Utah to just .114 hitting to win 25-19, 22-25, 25-14, 25-17.

The Grizzlies made progress in returning back to full strength with the return of Sydney Pierce, who missed both matches last weekend, and continued to find the right lineup changes.

They were tied after two sets, but the adjustments made down the stretch allowed Montana to dominate in the third and fourth for the win.

"I think all season we have kind of battled through moments where we've gotten tight and had some breakdowns," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "I love how we responded to those tonight and it's something we have to keep responding to faster. I think that's a challenge that we've named, you name it to tame it, so we responded and regrouped."

Montana was consistent offensively all night, ending the match hitting .205 with 49 kills. They had a huge advantage from the service line, which has been a strength for Montana all season.

Gracie Cagle, who led the Big Sky in aces last year and ranked 3^rd in the league entering the week, had six service aces. It's the second most in a match in her career and she now has 17 aces in the previous five matches for Montana.

She led a strong team effort as Montana had 11 aces as a team. It's the most since they recorded 12 in a five-set win over Cal Baptist back on September 5.

"We talk about having sustained pressure from the service line a lot," Lawrence said. "And then if you are the receiving team, if points are being run on you regardless of the strength of the serve, as soon as an athlete holds her serve twice, it starts to feel really stressful. Not just getting it in, but where the stress is all on the receiving side, so if we can hold that pressure it opens it up from there."

The pressure from the service line helped Montana hold Southern Utah to just .114 hitting as they recorded 41 kills with 25 attack errors. The service line also allowed for big momentum grabbing runs throughout the match.

Southern Utah actually led early, building up an 11-5 advantage in the first set. The Griz scored four straight to get back within two, but the big run came with Cagle serving. Montana scored six straight to take a 17-13 lead. Cagle had an ace during the run, but Southern Utah's offense also recorded four errors as the serve disrupted their offensive rhythm.

The hot streak continued for Montana from there as they scored six of the final seven points in the set to win it 25-19. The Griz hit .258 in the first, their best single-set percentage on the night.

The Grizzlies had a 9-0 run with Cagle at the service line in the second set. She ended the night with 33 service attempts and committed zero errors in a highly efficient performance.

This time it was Southern Utah that found the come from behind rallies as they overcame a 16-12 Griz lead to win the second 25-22.

Montana has won the first set in four of the first seven Big Sky Conference matches, but opponents have been able to come from behind for a pair of wins. They shut the door down on that trend on Thursday night.

Lawrence made some changes to the lineup in the third and it paid dividends. Montana opened with an 11-3 lead after a 6-0 run with Annika Wright at the service line. Wright and Cagle, Montana's two setters, both played huge roles in keeping Southern Utah off balance.

Cagle had 20 assists to go with her six service aces. Wright finished the night with 10 assists, five digs, and two aces.

The Griz rolled in the third, winning 25-14 as they held Southern Utah to a negative hitting percentage.

Cagle started the fourth set on the service line and Montana was able to jump out to a 6-0 lead as she had two early aces. Southern Utah rallied to get within a point at 13-12, but once again Cagle's turn at the service line proved valuable.

She added her final ace of the night during another 5-0 Griz run as they pulled ahead 18-12. They saw things out with ease from there, winning 25-17 to get back into the win column.

Alex Stone matched her career high from last Saturday with 10 kills again on Thursday night. Mylee Blake had nine kills and Delaney Russell led the team with 13 kills on .314 hitting.

Stone started for just the second time and Blake for the fourth time this season as Montana's depth was again on display. They were able to adjust as the match went on to get two dominant set wins in the third and fourth.

"We have a lot of versatile players, so when we get out of rhythm we can make a change and find the rhythm again," Lawrence said.

Sydney Pierce also returned after missing the previous two matches. She had five kills on .308 hitting and a team-high three blocks, but her presence on the floor gave the Griz an advantage even if her usage was lower than it has been in previous matches.

"I think the way Sydney moves and her decisions in her routes, where she chooses to go and how she pulls blockers towards her, all of those decisions help organize us and spread the opponent's block out," Lawrence said. "It kind of has a ripple effect whether she scores the point or not, it really sets up an organized offense and allows us to distribute evenly."

Madeline Sanderson had another big day with 22 digs to lead both teams.

The Grizzlies will now get set to host the hottest team in the Big Sky and one of the most in-form teams in the country in Utah Tech. The Trailblazers are 7-0 in Big Sky play after a win over Montana State on Thursday night and bring an 11-match winning streak to Missoula.

"They are a team that is really in rhythm and really well coached. We are excited to see how we measure up," Lawrence said. "I think we've been in about as many lineup variations as we have players. I think what is going to be our strength over time is the versatility, so I think getting back into practice and knowing these are going to be our options if certain things break down we can keep putting confidence in that versatility. Whatever lineup we're in, I want everybody to be ready to go and be a playmaker."