Lawrence gets 100th career win at Southern Utah - University of Montana Athletics

Saturday, October 31

Cedar City, Utah

6:30 PM

Montana

7-16,3-9Big Sky

Southern Utah

1-21,0-11Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Montana	25	29	26	3
Southern Utah	17	27	24	0

Scenes from Montana’s game against the Weber State Wildcats in Dahlberg Arena, on October 24, 2026.

Photo by: Noah Epps/university of Montana

10/31/2026 9:20:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

It was treat, not trick, for the Montana volleyball team at Southern Utah on Saturday night as the Grizzlies picked up a Halloween sweep of the Thunderbirds to get back in the win column.

Head coach Allison Lawrence picked up her 100^th career win as the Grizzlies won 25-17, 29-27, 26-24. They were tested by the Thunderbirds, but Lawrence's team pulled through in the clutch moments to get her to the century mark.

Lawrence is just the third coach in program history to reach 100 wins, joining Dick Scott and Jerry Wagner. She has picked up all 100 wins with associate head coach Dana Hallisey at her side as the duo is in their 10^th season at Montana.

"I think this milestone feels special because it is a moment to reflect on all the people that are wrapped up in those 100 moments," Lawrence said. "I think to have done that with Dana is one of the most special things about my coaching career and one of the things I'm most grateful for and it feels good to reflect on all the players that contributed to that and to doing whatever they could to help move Griz volleyball forward."

Congratulations to head coach Allison Lawrence on 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒 👏 #GrizVB | #GoGriz https://t.co/V4L7ssWyMv
— Montana Griz Volleyball (@MontanaGrizVB) November 1, 2026

Montana (7-16, 3-9 Big Sky) hit its second-best percentage on the season with 51 kills and just 17 errors, good for a .279 hitting percentage. They started the match strong in the first set with a .432 percentage and carried it through two tight sets down the stretch.

Gracie Cagle and Annika Wright captained the ship with each recording 21 assists for Montana. They spread the ball around well to get Montana into a great rhythm all night long.

"I thought both setters did a great job of executing our scout plan and distributing the way we needed them to to start the match," Lawrence said. "I thought they really opened things up for us offensively, and then we got great looks throughout, but we were getting dug. It was nice to see our attackers adjust and finish the match strong."

Southern Utah had an early 6-3 lead in the match but Montana rallied with a 4-0 run capped off by an Annika Wright service ace that put Montana up 8-7. The Grizzlies really found a rhythm behind the duo of Sydney Pierce and Delaney Russell who each recorded two kills during another 4-0 run that made it 15-10 Grizzlies.

The Griz continued to run away from the Thunderbirds in the opener, winning 25-17 in the opener. Pierce had a terrific opening set with six kills on just eight swings for a .750 hitting percentage.

Russell added four kills on .444 hitting as the Grizzlies had a .432 team hitting percentage in the first set with 18 kills and just two errors.

Southern Utah again had an early lead in the second set but Montana took the lead at 5-4 and didn't give it away the rest of the set.

Montana led for a majority of the second, but the set wasn't without its drama. The Griz had two set points with a 24-22 lead but the Thunderbirds got back-to-back kills to force it into extra points.

The set appeared to turn in favor of Southern Utah with a kill that made it 26-25, but Lawrence challenged the call. After a review, the officials determined the ball hit the antenna, flipping the point in Montana's favor.

It helped Montana stay in front, but the Thudnerbirds fought off two more set points before the Griz were able to put them away. Cagle delivered the final blow with one of her three kills on the night to win it 29-27 for the Griz in the longest set they have played in this year.

Southern Utah again led 4-1 early in the third set to force a Grizzly response. Delaney Russell had a stretch with two kills and a solo block that was part of a 5-0 Montana run to retake the lead.

This time, Southern Utah was able to match Montana's rally and went back out in front with six straight points of their own. They led 18-13 and looked to be on their way to forcing a fourth set, but the Grizzlies slowly started to claw back.

Montana scored six of the next seven points with kills from four different players and a block from Josie Blazina to tie the set up at 19-all. The teams traded points before Southern Utah got its first set point opportunity with a 24-23 lead.

Alex Stone kept Montana in it with a kill and an error by SUU on the next point gave the Grizzlies match point. Stone finished things off with a powerful kill to win it 26-24 for Montana.

The Grizzlies have been close to plenty of wins this season but have had some struggles in the late-game situations when sets are decided by two points. They pulled both out on Saturday night.

"I loved our fight and our belief in that. We have been in a lot of tight sets and I think I could just feel from our group that anything less than the win was unacceptable," Lawrence said. "Whatever it took to get it done, they were willing to do it."

Delaney Russell led Montana with 16 kills on .308 hitting. She did it in a variety of ways, overpowering Southern Utah's block on several occasions while also playing the offspeed attack well to find gaps in the defense.

"She was seeing the block well, seeing the defense well, and looked really in rhythm," Lawrence said of Russell. "It's been fun to see her make some changes to her offense and her timing and spacing and work on breaking some stuff down, and that's paid her back in big ways."

Stone had 10 kills on .471 hitting and has now reached double figure kills in three straight matches. She has hit over .333 in all three matches.

Madeline Sanderson had a team high 15 digs and Blazina led with three blocks. Every single player in a uniform saw the floor for the Grizzlies, including Isa Taylor who had missed over a month with an injury but played in both matches this weekend.

"One of the other highlights from tonight was that everyone on the trip went in and contributed," Lawrence said. "I thought that everyone went in ready to go and ready to make an improvement, and I just think we relied on everyone tonight to win us that match, so it was a fun way to win."

The Grizzlies made the necessary adjustments to win on the road against a scrappy Thunderbirds team. Montana had just one ace, typically a strength for them, but found other ways to win even as the Thunderbirds changed their looks.

"I'm proud of the way we started the match, I thought we came out really loose and aggressive," Lawrence said. "We were in our highest gear and that was great to see. I thought Southern Utah did a nice job adjusting and challenging our block and floor defense in different ways and kind of got us out of rhythm a little bit. We had parts of sets two and three where we kind of went cold offensively, but what I loved is that no matter what we were the aggressors. When we had breakdowns we were able to fight and claw our way back."

The Grizzlies return home next week with matches against Northern Arizona on Thursday and Portland State on Saturday. Montana is tied for the final postseason position in the conference with three weeks left on the schedule.