Montana celebrates Homecoming with sweep of Idaho

Saturday, October 3

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

5-10,1-3Big Sky

Idaho

9-7,0-4Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Idaho	17	20	26	0
Montana	25	25	28	3

Photo by: Kassidy Gerono/University of Montana

10/3/2026 10:06:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana volleyball celebrated Homecoming in impressive fashion on Saturday night, sweeping Idaho to pick up the first Big Sky win of the season. The Griz showed a little bit of everything, dominating the first 25-17, pulling away 25-20 in the second, and coming from behind for a 28-26 win in the third.

The Griz put together their best offensive night of the season, hitting .323 with 44 kills to just 12 errors to muscle past the Vandals. Montana (5-10, 1-3 Big Sky) defeats their neighbor to the west for the 10^th straight time and has now won the last 18 sets over Idaho.

It was an ideal first set for the Griz, winning by eight points and only trailing 1-0. It's the third straight match at home that Montana went up after one, but they had dropped the previous two.

There was a bit of déjà vu for the Griz as they fell behind 12-6 early in the second set. But this time around, Montana rallied from behind to win. They trailed 17-7 in the third set, but once again showed grit to claw back and take down the Vandals in a sweep.

"I'm proud of how we battled back. I think in our last few matches we've won our first sets pretty handily with some big spreads and then started the next two sets with not a lot of momentum," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "We're just trying to break that pattern and I'm really proud of our team for fighting out of that. I think we're learning how to compete when things aren't perfect and we aren't ball handling well and we took some big strides in that."

Montana as a team was nearly perfect in the first set, and middle blocker Sydney Pierce was individually, recording six kills on six swings to start things off. Montana as a team hit .500 in the first, recording 18 kills to just three errors. Idaho scored the first point, but it was all Montana after that.

The second went a little differently with the Vandals leading 5-2 and then 12-6. Montana was forced to use an early timeout, but adjusted from there. Josie Blazina recorded a kill, one of six for her on the night on just seven swings as she posted an impressive .857 hitting percentage.

Her fellow middle Pierce ended the night with eight kills on .571 hitting as the Griz received a huge boost from that position on Saturday night.

"I think both middles had a great response from Thursday night. I thought we were physical, fast, looking for lanes and finishing with fast arms," Lawrence said. "I think their teammates really allowed for that success. We were running a 6-2 offense so we always had three arms across the front row which allowed our middles to be more one-on-one so that was helpful."

Blazina then recorded a block and Idaho committed three straight errors to let Montana get back within one at 12-11. The Griz took their first lead since 2-1 after another error from the Vandals made it 17-16. The two sides were tied at 17-all, but Montana would take eight of the final 11 points.

They went on a run that showcased their depth with Annika Wright at the service line. Blazina, Mylee Blake, Sophia Vella, and Alex Stone all recorded kills during a 4-0 run.

Freshman Kaylee Paulson had the final point of the set, ripping a kill through the defense to win it 25-20. Despite the big deficit early, Montana's offense remained hot in the second set. The Griz committed just two errors and had 14 kills for a .414 percentage.

Montana was forced into an early timeout again in the third as Idaho jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The Vandals maintained much of that momentum through a majority of the set, scoring three straight later on to lead Montana 17-7.

Lawrence used one timeout early, but allowed her team to settle themselves through the Idaho rally and it paid off.

"I'm not trying to have my head explode because that's kind of what it feels like and I think they can feel that, too," Lawrence said. "You are just kind of jumping out of your own skin like this has to change and the way you address ball control things is to relax and be able to feel your body and your game. We have to have that intensity of calm and it's mental and we just have to do it."

They were able to improve the passing and reeled off seven straight points, which forced Idaho to use both timeouts, as the Griz got back to 17-14. Gracie Cagle was at the service line during the run and had a pair of aces.

The Grizzly setter finished the weekend with 10 service aces, averaging well over one per set.

Idaho went back up 21-15 before the Griz roared to the finish line. Paulson got things started followed by two kills from Blazina. The Griz scored four straight to get it back to 21-19, but Idaho again pulled in front, getting set point at 24-21.

Backed against the wall, Montana scored four straight points, the final one coming on a massive block from the duo of Pierce and Paulson to give the Griz a 25-24 lead, their first of the set.

Idaho punched back with two straight to get set point for the fourth time, but again the freshman Paulson stepped up with a kill for Montana. An Idaho error gave Montana match point at 27-26.

On a night when the offense stole the show, it was the defense that provided the biggest point. Pierce and Avery Merritt met a challenge at the night and sent it straight back to Idaho's side to end things at 28-26.

It was the 7^th block of the night for Montana, which is one off the season high as they had everything clicking on Saturday night.

Montana switched things up, changing to a 6-2 that allowed Annika Wright to record a season high 17 assists. Cagle added 14 assists to her three aces and eight digs as the duo controlled things all night for Montana's offense.

Paulson led the team with nine kills on .240 hitting. She also had five digs and a pair of blocks. Mylee Blake also added seven kills on .385 hitting. Overall, eight different players recorded multiple kills for Montana.

It took them all to get the sweep of the Vandals. Montana now prepares for a road trip to Portland State and Northern Arizona next week and will hope to keep the momentum rolling away from Dahlberg Arena.

There are still things the Grizzlies can work on as the progress through Big Sky play, but Saturday night was a huge step in the right direction for the team.

"Big Sky play is super tight. Tonight didn't always feel like a sweep just because it was so tight and I think that's how every night is going to be," Lawrence said. "I think some of our breakdowns where we're just dropping a lot points in a few minutes we have to stop. I think we got better tonight with that but there are some things we still have to address and we have to be ready for battles every night."