Thursday, October 29
St. George, Utah
6:00 PM
Montana
6-16,2-9Big Sky
0
at
3
Utah Tech
18-3,11-0Big Sky
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | 20 | 19 | 21 | 0 |
| Utah Tech | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Photo by: Justin J. Johnson
10/29/2026 8:51:00 PM | Volleyball
Utah Tech's dream season rolled right along on Thursday night as the host Trailblazers defeated Montana in three sets 25-20, 25-19, and 25-22. It's the fourth straight sweep for Utah Tech, 15th straight win overall, and 17th straight home win for the top team in the Big Sky.
Against all that success, Montana (6-16, 2-9 Big Sky) held its own, hitting .224 with 44 kills compared to 45 for the Trailblazers. It's just the second time in league play that Utah Tech (18-3, 11-0 Big Sky) has allowed an opponent to hit over .200.
"I thought there were components of our game where we competed really thoughtfully and aggressively and felt like we were in control of our decision making and execution," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "That felt really good and we weren't passing consistently so to do that with wavering ball control makes it more impressive."
Alex Stone led the way for the Grizzlies with 11 kills on .409 hitting. Josie Blazina added eight kills on .313 hitting and Delaney Russell also had eight on .231 hitting.
Stone played a big role all night with several momentum grabbing kills and clutch play near the ends of sets to give Montana chances.
"She played a phenomenal match," Lawrence said. "She blocked really well, she swung with so much power and made adjustments so that no two of her swings were the same. Her range both with power and off-speed were really good. She hit all of her details playing off blocker and any time she had to make a defensive play she made it. She was really in control of her game and caused a lot of problems for them."
It was an efficient offensive night for most of Montana's roster behind the setting of Gracie Cagle (21 assists) and Annika Wright (12 assists).
Unfortunately for Montana, they couldn't slow down the high-powered Utah Tech attack as the Trailblazers hit .362, the second highest percentage by a Montana opponent all year.
"I thought we played clean volleyball, we extended rallies really well, but they did too," Lawrence said. "I think there were minor pieces that added up over time. We just weren't able to ever gain control any of the sets."
The two teams played each other close in the early going, trading points and small leads up until the first media timeout of the match. It was 14-13 before the Trailblazers scored to force the break, and they came out of it momentum, going on a 7-2 run to take a 20-14 lead.
Stone helped lead a charge for Montana, sandwiching a block inside of two kills for a personal 3-0 run that made it 21-18 late, but the Trailblazers pulled away for the 25-20 win in the first set.
Montana and Utah Tech had nearly identical attacking numbers in the first set. The Grizzlies had 15 kills to the Trailblazers 16 and both sides committed four errors. The biggest difference came at the service line where Montana committed four errors with zero aces. Utah Tech had one ace and one error to gain an advantage.
"The amount of aces we have doesn't always tell the story, but it didn't feel like we were able to go on runs based just on our serving alone," Lawrence said. "In a lot of matches we are able to do that whether we're serving aces or just serving people into trouble and are able to turn some pretty simple defensive points, but this didn't feel like that."
The Grizzlies settled back in early in the second set. They led for nearly half of the set, trailing for just a single point out of the first 24 in the set. The Trailblazers again left their mark through the middle portion of the set, going on a 9-3 run surrounding the media timeout to pull ahead 20-15.
Once again, Stone helped the Griz pull closer as they scored three out of four thanks to a couple kills from her and Pierce, but Utah Tech ended the set on a 3-0 run to win 25-19.
"Maybe a passing breakdown midset or a small thing here or there where they win a long rally, but basically they point scored on a higher clip through the middle of the set," Lawrence said. "We started well and then would match them or make a comeback at the end, but we couldn't ever gain control."
The Trailblazers move came earlier in the final set. Montana led 8-6 following an error from Utah Tech, but the hosts followed that up with an 8-1 run to jump in front 14-9.
The Griz battled to get it within three points on multiple occasions, but they couldn't get over the hump and fell in straight sets with a 25-21 loss in the third.
The biggest advantage of the night for Utah Tech came at the net where they outblocked Montana 9-2. Outside of that, the two teams were comparable with Montana finishing with just one few kill, one more assist, and three fewer digs.
Montana has a big match upcoming on Saturday as they travel to Cedar City to take on Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds are 1-20 overall and have lost 12 straight matches to sit in last place in the Big Sky Conference.
The Grizzlies currently sit one game out of postseason position with seven remaining to play this season. Idaho and Eastern Washington both have three league wins, but Montana could pull level on Saturday. The match starts at 6:30 p.m.
Against all that success, Montana (6-16, 2-9 Big Sky) held its own, hitting .224 with 44 kills compared to 45 for the Trailblazers. It's just the second time in league play that Utah Tech (18-3, 11-0 Big Sky) has allowed an opponent to hit over .200.
"I thought there were components of our game where we competed really thoughtfully and aggressively and felt like we were in control of our decision making and execution," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "That felt really good and we weren't passing consistently so to do that with wavering ball control makes it more impressive."
Alex Stone led the way for the Grizzlies with 11 kills on .409 hitting. Josie Blazina added eight kills on .313 hitting and Delaney Russell also had eight on .231 hitting.
Stone played a big role all night with several momentum grabbing kills and clutch play near the ends of sets to give Montana chances.
"She played a phenomenal match," Lawrence said. "She blocked really well, she swung with so much power and made adjustments so that no two of her swings were the same. Her range both with power and off-speed were really good. She hit all of her details playing off blocker and any time she had to make a defensive play she made it. She was really in control of her game and caused a lot of problems for them."
It was an efficient offensive night for most of Montana's roster behind the setting of Gracie Cagle (21 assists) and Annika Wright (12 assists).
Unfortunately for Montana, they couldn't slow down the high-powered Utah Tech attack as the Trailblazers hit .362, the second highest percentage by a Montana opponent all year.
"I thought we played clean volleyball, we extended rallies really well, but they did too," Lawrence said. "I think there were minor pieces that added up over time. We just weren't able to ever gain control any of the sets."
The two teams played each other close in the early going, trading points and small leads up until the first media timeout of the match. It was 14-13 before the Trailblazers scored to force the break, and they came out of it momentum, going on a 7-2 run to take a 20-14 lead.
Stone helped lead a charge for Montana, sandwiching a block inside of two kills for a personal 3-0 run that made it 21-18 late, but the Trailblazers pulled away for the 25-20 win in the first set.
Montana and Utah Tech had nearly identical attacking numbers in the first set. The Grizzlies had 15 kills to the Trailblazers 16 and both sides committed four errors. The biggest difference came at the service line where Montana committed four errors with zero aces. Utah Tech had one ace and one error to gain an advantage.
"The amount of aces we have doesn't always tell the story, but it didn't feel like we were able to go on runs based just on our serving alone," Lawrence said. "In a lot of matches we are able to do that whether we're serving aces or just serving people into trouble and are able to turn some pretty simple defensive points, but this didn't feel like that."
The Grizzlies settled back in early in the second set. They led for nearly half of the set, trailing for just a single point out of the first 24 in the set. The Trailblazers again left their mark through the middle portion of the set, going on a 9-3 run surrounding the media timeout to pull ahead 20-15.
Once again, Stone helped the Griz pull closer as they scored three out of four thanks to a couple kills from her and Pierce, but Utah Tech ended the set on a 3-0 run to win 25-19.
"Maybe a passing breakdown midset or a small thing here or there where they win a long rally, but basically they point scored on a higher clip through the middle of the set," Lawrence said. "We started well and then would match them or make a comeback at the end, but we couldn't ever gain control."
The Trailblazers move came earlier in the final set. Montana led 8-6 following an error from Utah Tech, but the hosts followed that up with an 8-1 run to jump in front 14-9.
The Griz battled to get it within three points on multiple occasions, but they couldn't get over the hump and fell in straight sets with a 25-21 loss in the third.
The biggest advantage of the night for Utah Tech came at the net where they outblocked Montana 9-2. Outside of that, the two teams were comparable with Montana finishing with just one few kill, one more assist, and three fewer digs.
Montana has a big match upcoming on Saturday as they travel to Cedar City to take on Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds are 1-20 overall and have lost 12 straight matches to sit in last place in the Big Sky Conference.
The Grizzlies currently sit one game out of postseason position with seven remaining to play this season. Idaho and Eastern Washington both have three league wins, but Montana could pull level on Saturday. The match starts at 6:30 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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/ Volleyball
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/ Volleyball
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/ Volleyball
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/ Volleyball
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/ VolleyballTeam Stats
Mont
UTTECH
Kills
44
45
Errors
18
7
Attempts
116
105
Hitting %
.224
.362
Points
48.0
59.0
Assists
42
41
Aces
2
5
Blocks
2
9
Game Leaders
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
0
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