Griz drop league opener in four

Tuesday, September 22

Missoula, Mont.

7:00 PM

Montana

4-8,0-1Big Sky

Montana State

8-4,1-0Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Montana St.	16	25	25	25	3
Montana	25	15	14	20	1

Montana goes up against MSU on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, on Robin Selvig Court in Missoula, Montana.

Photo by: Casandra Evans/University of Montana

9/22/2026 11:03:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana volleyball dropped the Big Sky opener on Tuesday night to Montana State in four sets in front of a record-breaking crowd inside Dahlberg Arena. The Griz won the opening set 25-16 in front of the crowd of 3,012 but lost the final three (25-15, 25-14, 25-20) to start league play 0-1.

It was a match full of momentum swings as Montana (4-8, 0-1 Big Sky) hit .245 and looked nearly unstoppable in the first set, leading the entire way to an impressive win. The size of Montana State (8-4, 1-0 Big Sky) quickly swung things back in the visitors favor as they finished the night with 14 blocks, limiting Montana's offense to just .023 hitting in the final three.

There was little suspense in any set with the winning side leading by near-double digits for a majority of the first three. Montana tried to stage a comeback in the fourth, but fell short as the lead changed hands zero times across all four sets and the two teams were tied just three times total on the night.

"The first set we came out and could almost do no wrong," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "They regrouped and sort of did what they're supposed to do and were just steady and waited for us to come back down to earth. I think with a consistent block presence and consistent service they kind of picked us apart and made us feel stressed to score."

It was a dream start for the Grizzlies as the hosts scored five of the first six points of the match in a variety of different ways. After an MSU error opened the scoring, Josie Blazina, Delaney Russell, and Gracie Cagle all recorded kills while Russell added a service ace to open the match 5-1.

Back-to-back kills from Russell forced a Montana State timeout at 11-5 as the Grizzlies extended rallies and found openings in the Bobcat defense during a 4-0 run. Sophia Vella's third kill of the opening set had Montana doubling up the rivals at 16-8.

The lead maxed out at nine points on multiple occasions, including the final score as Vella recorded her fourth kill of the set and MSU followed it up with an error to give the Grizzlies the 25-16 win in the opener.

Montana hit .245 in the first set with Russell recording six kills on .333 hitting to go with her service ace. Vella and Blazina each had four kills while Isa Taylor also had a pair in her best attacking performance in the last few weeks.

"I feel like the middle-right presence was awesome," Lawrence said. "I feel like we have weapons to where if we're handling the ball and distributing evenly, we're difficult to slow down."

Montana State hit .132 in the first set and had just two team blocks in the opener. Things quickly shifted inside Dahlberg Arena as the Bobcats came out in the second set and flipped the script, leading 5-1 out of the gates.

The second was a near-perfect parallel of the first but in the opposite direction as Montana State built a nine-point lead into the closing stages. They would go on to win the second 25-15, holding Montana to a negative hitting percentage with four blocks.

"We were clearly focused and ready. We came out so prepared," Lawrence said. "I think there's just some tactical in-system parts of our game that have to get more resilient, but also just have to produce more for us. Our team doesn't need more heart and hustle, we don't need an emotion response we just need it to be more technical and tactical."

The Cats would run back a similar story in the third set, leading 4-1 early and seizing the momentum. Montana was able to get a rally going, scoring four out of five to tie it up at 5-5 and then again at 6-6. It seemed like the match may turn into a battle from that point, but MSU went on a long run that gave them control the rest of the way.

MSU scored 10 of the next 12 points to double Montana up at 16-8 and they would hold on for a 25-14 win. Montana had lost just two sets all season by 10-or-more points prior to the second and third sets on Tuesday.

The visitors led 6-1 to start the fourth set and after the 8-5 mark never let Montana back within three points.

Blazina and Vella shared the team lead with 10 kills each with both hitting over .200. Russell had nine kills and a team-high 18 digs

For the second straight season, Montana broke a program attendance record in the rivalry match. The crowd of 3,012 stayed until the end to try to help Montana to a victory with 1,037 students in attendance.

Members of the team spent time on the Oval on the UM Campus on Monday connecting with student-athletes and the work paid off with the largest student crowd for a court sport, including men's and women's basketball, since at least 2010.

"Shout out to the crowd," Lawrence said. "Our team spent a lot of time on Monday in between classes connecting with students and they have done that for 10 years, and I think they put a lot of energy into connecting with people. Losing to MSU is the worst feeling you can have as a Griz and I think to get down on the floor afterwards and sign posters and connect with kids says a lot about their character."

Lawrence said that the team is grateful for the support and also motivated by it to get things on track as they continue throughout the Big Sky schedule. The next match won't be an easy one as they hit the road to play preseason Big Sky favorite Northern Colorado in Greeley.

The match will be the fifth in eight days for the Grizzlies, who then get a well-earned rest over the weekend. They return back home next week for matches with Eastern Washington and Idaho on Oct. 1 and 3.