Final non-conference weekend ahead for Montana

MONTANA (3-5) vs. NORTH DAKOTA STATE (5-2)
Thursday, Sept. 17 / 3:30 p.m. (MT) / Live Stats / Watch

MONTANA vs. SEATTLE U (3-4)
Friday, Sept. 18 / 3:30 p.m. (MT) / Live Stats / Watch

MONTANA at GONZAGA (3-6)
Saturday, Sept. 19 / 3:00 p.m. (MT) / Live Stats / Watch

The Montana volleyball team will look to rebound this weekend in Spokane as they head over Lookout Pass to play in the Zags Volleyball Classic hosted by Gonzaga. The four-team tournament features the Griz and Zags, along with familiar opponents North Dakota State and Seattle U.

This is the second straight season Montana has played Gonzaga, the fourth match in the last three years against North Dakota State, and the third in the previous two vs. Seattle, including a 3-1 win earlier this year at Oregon State's tournament.

Since 2024, Montana is 4-2 against these three opponents. It sets Montana up with three chances against familiar opponents that have typically competed at a level similar to the Big Sky before they open league play next Tuesday.

Head coach Allison Lawrence said that she expects a young Seattle team to have grown a lot since their first meeting this year.

"It's always interesting to play a team twice," Lawrence said. "Gonzaga is a very different team and getting stronger and stronger each year. Those matches are stressful and great regional rival type matches," Lawrence said. "North Dakota State has played a lot of conference teams already so we have like-opponents and it's always interesting to see how the Big Sky is matching up against a common team. They are very well coached and a fun team to play against."

Montana will try to reclaim some momentum before league play begins with Montana State on Sept. 22. The Grizzlies were swept in all three matches at the Golden Grizzly Invitational in Rochester, Mich. last week.

Gracie Cagle was named to the All-Tournament Team and Madeline Sanderson averaged 5.00 digs per set for Montana at the event, but they struggled to find a rhythm on offense as they hit just .127 over the three matches.

"Week three was a giant disappointment and what was interesting about that weekend was I think we learned some things about ourselves that we have not learned even in fall camp," Lawrence said. "We had some breakdowns that we didn't anticipate and while those things are painful and something you don't want to go through, at the same time I think using week three and take what we can from it for a tough week four and then the Cats right after."

While the results didn't go Montana's way in Michigan, it was good to test out her roster and play with some different lineups. 13 different Grizzlies saw the floor at Oakland with five reaching double-digit kills.

It's part of the process of a season as you hope to be playing your best volleyball in October and November.

"I think in non-conference the priority is to win and test as many of your roster iterations as you can," Lawrence said. "The winning part comes from doing all the other things you want to do well, but I do think this last weekend we were in even more lineup changes than we have been in the previous two weeks."

After this week, Montana opens Big Sky Conference play. They will be at home for three of the first four matches of the year with one road match at preseason favorite Northern Colorado.

The Big Sky Conference is shaping up to be a highly competitive league. The Grizzlies open with rival Montana State, hit the road against Northern Colorado, and then return home to face Idaho and Eastern Washington.

The Vandals and Eagles combined for just four conference wins last season, but they have started 2026 with a combined 12-6 record and should provide a challenge to Montana in the early weeks.

"I think we have a very good team, I think we have a very smart team, and I think we're capable of competing in the top third of the conference," Lawrence said. "The least predictable part of this answer is the Big Sky. We have a conference where I think there will be nine teams that are so close to each other that things are going to come down to two points match after match, weekend after weekend."

WHERE TO WATCH
Montana's match with Gonzaga will be streamed live on the Pac-12 YouTube channel with a full broadcast package. The neutral site matches against North Dakota State and Seattle U will be streamed on the Gonzaga Volleyball Facebook page with one stationary camera view.

CAGLE NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Setter Gracie Cagle was named to the Golden Grizzly Invitational All-Tournament Team. Cagle averaged 8.78 assists per set over Montana's three matches. She also averaged 2.78 digs per set and recorded four kills.

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE (5-2)

The Bison have won three of their last four matches entering the week. They have already played two Big Sky opponents this year, beating Idaho State in three sets in a neutral site match and losing in five sets at Montana State.
NDSU was picked 4^th in the Summit League Preseason Poll.
North Dakota State is 4-0 in neutral site matches this year and have won five straight dating back to 2025.
Head coach Jennifer Lopez is in her 10^th season at North Dakota State. She has a 136-121 (.529) career record.
The Bison are hitting .213 as a team while holding opponents to .194 hitting.
They average 1.63 aces per set to rank 112^th in the NCAA. They are also 119^th in kills per set with 12.81.
Lauren Jansen averages 3.58 kills on 10.26 attacks per set. She is in the top five of the Summit in both categories and ranks 59^th in the country in attacks.
Setter Sarah Pfiffner averages 9.26 assists per set to rank 3^rd in the conference and 82^nd overall.
Arianna Blohm his averaging 3.19 kills per set on .350 hitting. She has the second best hitting percentage in the Summit.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BISON
The Bison lead the all-time series 4-2 against Montana. The Grizzlies won the last meeting in straight sets on Sept. 6, 2025. Prior to that, NDSU had won four straight dating back to 2008. This is just the second neutral site meeting between the two. NDSU won the last neutral matchup in 2016.

SCOUTING SEATTLE U (3-4)

The Redhawks have played just three times since the last meeting with just a single match last weekend. They defeated new Big Sky member Southern Utah 3-1 on Sept. 11.
Seattle U was picked tied for 9^th in the WCC Preseason Poll.
Prior to the Southern Utah Win, Seattle had lost four straight matches while winning just two total sets.
Montana defeated Seattle 3-0 at the ASICS Invitational in Corvallis, Ore. on Sept. 3.
Head coach Dan Behnke is 19-44 in his third season at Seattle U.
The Redhawks are hitting .149 as a team while allowing opponents to hit .224 this season. They rank in the bottom 40 of the NCAA in hitting percentage, digs, kills per set, and assists per set.
Lexi Jones averages 1.32 blocks per set to rank 54^th in the country. Jones has 33 total blocks on the year.
Hailey McEllrath averages 0.50 aces per set to rank 58^th in the country.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE REDHAWKS
Montana leads the all-time series 3-2 over Seattle. This is the second meeting this year, and third of the last two years, between the sides. Montana has won eight straight sets over Seattle U dating back to 2021.

SCOUTING GONZAGA (3-6)

The Bulldogs are in their first season in the newly formed Pac-12 this year. They were picked to finish 8^th out of 9 teams in the preseason poll.
They went 1-2 last weekend in in San Antonio, Texas with a five-set win over IU Indy and losses to host UTSA and a five-set loss to East Texas A&M.
Head coach J.T. Wenger is in his second season at Gonzaga. He led the Bulldogs to a 14-15 record in his first year and is 17-21 overall. He spent eight years as head coach of UT Arlington where he compiled a 141-92 record.
Three of Gonzaga's six losses have come in five sets this year, including a loss to Eastern Washington on Sept. 5.
The Bulldogs are 1-1 against Big Sky opponents this year, beating Southern Utah in a sweep and losing in five to Eastern Washington.
Gonzaga's offense has been impressive this year, hitting .230 while ranking in the top 50 in the country in total kills, assists, and service aces.
The Zags lead the Pac-12 with 1.70 aces per set.
Claire Wagstaff leads Gonzaga with 3.63 kills per set. Wagstaff has done it all, totaling 158.5 points this season to rank in the top 25 nationally. She also averages 0.43 aces per set.
Daniele Clewis ranks 4^th in the Pac-12 with 254 total assists this year.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BULLDOGS
This is the 48^th all-time meeting between Montana and Gonzaga. The Griz lead the overall series 30-17. This is the 4^th time that Lawrence has coached against the Bulldogs. She holds a 2-1 record, including a five-set win in Spokane last season.

In Spokane, Montana is 14-7 overall.

MONTANA NOTES

Gonzaga is the third Pac-12 opponent that Montana will play this year. They are 0-2 against the league so far, losing in four sets to both Washington State and Oregon State.
Lawrence has used the same starting lineup in seven of the eight matches this year. The only change was when Sydney Pierce rested during the Oakland match and Mylee Blake entered the starting seven.
The Griz rank second in the Big Sky in aces per set at 1.61.
Montana's 14.00 digs per set rank 121^st in the country.
Entered last week 6-2 in sets decide by five points or less, but went 0-6 last weekend in close sets.
As a team, Montana has hit over .200 three times and are 2-1 in those matches.
They have held opponents below .200 hitting in four matches, going 2-2 when doing so.
Madeline Sanderson averaged 5.00 digs per set at the Golden Grizzly Invitational last weekend.
Delaney Russell leads Montana with 3.11 kills per set. She is the only Grizzly averaging multiple kills per set this year.
3-2 in neutral site matches this year.
Montana is 1-0 in five-set matches.
Since the spring 2021 season, Montana has won at least four non-conference matches every year. They went 8-3 last season for the best non-conference for the best non-conference winning percentage since 1999.
Swept three times last weekend, which matches the total of 3-set losses from all of 2025.
The Griz have yet to outblock an opponent this year. They have fewer blocks in all eight matches.

PRESEASON ALL-BIG SKY
Delaney Russell and Gracie Cagle were both named to the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference team, as voted on by the league's head coaches. Russell led Montana and ranked 4th in the Big Sky in kills at 3.56 per set. Cagle led the league in assists and service aces.

They are the first Grizzlies to receive the preseason accolade, which is in its second year.

GRIZ PICKED THIRD
Montana was picked to finish 3rd in the Big Sky Preseason Coaches' poll. They were tied with Idaho State in the poll but received two first-place votes to ISU's zero. It's the highest preseason placement for Montana since 2011.

The Grizzlies also had not received a first-place vote in the poll since 2010. They finished tied for third in the league that season.

LAWRENCE CLOSES IN ON 100 WINS
Head coach Allison Lawrence is in her 10th season leading Montana and is closing in on a career milestone. Lawrence has 96 wins with Montana. She would become just the third coach in program history to reach 100 wins, joining Dick Scott (403) and Jerry Wagner (102).

Lawrence could move into second in program history for career wins this year with another 10-win season. Her teams have won at least 10 matches in each of the previous five seasons.

ROAD WARRIORS
Montana will play the entirety of its non-conference schedule on the road this season. It's the first time since 2017, Lawrence's first year as head coach, that Montana does not have a home non-conference game.

The first home game of the regular season for Montana will be on September 22 in the Big Sky opener against Montana State. It's the latest home opener since 2017 when the Griz made their home debut on September 28.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mylee Blake

Gracie Cagle

Sydney Pierce

Delaney Russell

Madeline Sanderson

University of Montana Athletics