Griz battle to the end in five-set loss vs. Portland State

Saturday, November 7

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

7-18,3-11Big Sky

Portland State

13-12,9-5Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Portland St.	25	16	25	22	15	3
Montana	16	25	20	25	8	2

Photo by: Jacob Piapot/University of Montana

11/7/2026 11:05:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana battled until the very end on Saturday night against the hottest team in the Big Sky Conference, but Portland State extended its winning streak seven matches with a five-set victory in Dahlberg Arena.

The Grizzlies fought back on two occasions, winning the second and fourth sets to keep the match rolling, but Portland State (13-12, 9-5 Big Sky) eventually won 25-16, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-8.

Montana (7-18, 3-11 Big Sky) celebrated its two seniors on the night, paying tribute to Olivia Liermann and Halle Walker prior to the opening serve of the match.

The Grizzlies had more kills and digs on the night, but couldn't overcome 30 attacking errors as the Vikings hit .234 to Montana's .184.

"After the match on Thursday we talked about needing to execute. We were executing well for part of Thursday but we needed to sustain that for longer and find some more consistency," Lawrence said. "I think we did that tonight."

Delaney Russell led Montana on the night with 16 kills on .244 hitting, picking up the double-double with 13 digs. Alex Stone was in double figures for the fifth straight match with 13 kills.

Gracie Cagle had 32 assists, Annika Wright had a 23-assist, 11-dig double-double, and Madeline Sanderson recorded a match high 20 digs.

In a tight match overall, the sets themselves played out with little drama with just two total lead changes all match.

Portland State scored the first point of the match and led wire-to-wire in the opening set. The Grizzlies were able to get within a point at 5-4, but the Vikings quickly extended the lead back out and pulled away for a big win in the opening set.

Montana got back at them in the second set, scoring the first four points behind a strong service game from Gracie Cagle. The Vikings pulled within a point at 10-9, but Cagle ripped a kill to end a streak and then served for three more Grizzlies points to push the lead out to 14-9.

Josie Blazina had a block and a kill to give the Grizzlies a seven-point lead and Isa Taylor came in and served up back-to-back aces late in the set to help the Griz close out the Vikings in dominant fashion.

Montana hit .323 as they won the second set 25-16 with Delaney Russell leading the way with five kills on .556 hitting.

The third set was the most tightly contested set of the match as it featured the only two lead changes all night. Portland State led 4-1 early before Montana came from behind with a 4-0 run to jump ahead 9-7.

Portland State went on the biggest run of the night immediately following the Grizzlies taking the lead, scoring five straight and 10 of the next 11 points to take a 17-10 lead.

The Vikings would close things out at 25-20 to take the 2-1 lead.

The Grizzlies made some changes in the fourth set and it paid off. The teams were tied at 3-3 and again at 5-5, but Montana broke things open with seven straight points behind strong serving from Wright.

The Vikings entered the match with the most aces in the conference, but the Griz held them to just three across the five sets. Wright and her teammates applied pressure from that area all night long, and her run helped Montana build a large lead in the fourth.

The grit from the Griz was also on display as they held off a late charge from the Vikings. Sophia Vella and Delaney Russell each had a pair of kills as Montana took a 21-20 lead and saw it out to win 25-22.

Vella and freshman Kaylee Paulson both came into the match off the bench and provided a spark for the Grizzlies. Paulson finished with six kills on .385 hitting to go with four digs on the night.

"I think Kaylee Paulson came in and really helped us steady out in some serve-receive moments," Lawrence said. "She executed her roles and responsibilities and I think she was just such a consistent presence and improved the game."

After an impressive fourth set that saw the Griz hit .237 and hold the Vikings to .179 hitting, things came apart in the fifth.

The Vikings scored the first four points and had an 8-3 lead early. Lawrence used both of her timeouts to try to stop the bleeding, but the Vikings were able to capitalize on the big lead and get the road victory.

Montana is now 1-2 in five-set matches this season. After averaging 5.3 errors per set during sets 2-4, the Grizzlies committed five in the shortened final set alone.

"The disappointing part of the match was the difference in our production and kind of just how different we were in our rhythms and executions from the fourth to the fifth set," Lawrence said. "That was really disappointing, but I know our group wants to turn the corner and get the big reward for the changes we're making not only in match but from match-to-match. We haven't gotten it yet, so we have to just keep building."

Montana will have its biggest weekend of the season upcoming as they hit the road to face off with Idaho and Eastern Washington next week. The Eagles defeated the Vandals on Saturday night to move one game ahead of both Idaho and Montana in the league standings.

The Grizzlies will look for a sweep to get them into 8^th place and into the driver's seat for a postseason position as the top eight teams will head to Flagstaff on Nov. 23-25.

"Next week we have a really important road trip and I know that our team is hungrier than ever to go get results and still be in charge of our postseason hopes," Lawrence said.