Griz fall in four at Oregon State

Friday, September 4

Corvallis, Ore.

7:00 PM (MT)

Montana

2-2,0-0Big Sky

Oregon State

3-2,0-0Pac-12

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Montana	21	25	20	18	1
Oregon St.	25	20	25	25	3

Photo by: Cassi Evans/University of Montana

9/4/2026 10:12:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana volleyball had a strong start offensively but cooled off down the stretch in Corvallis, Ore. on Friday night, falling in four sets to the Oregon State Beavers. The Grizzlies were hitting well over .300 through two sets and were tied with the Beavers at that point after a second set win, but the hosts pulled away in the final two sets.

The Grizzlies hit .303 in the first set and then a season-best .462 in the second set, leading the Beavers on total points but even on sets after two. Oregon State was able to adjust defensively and held Montana under .135 hitting over the final two sets.

For the second time in a week, Montana faced off against a Pac-12 team in its own gym as part of a challenging non-conference schedule. The Grizzlies kept pace offensively in the first two sets and they also made their own adjustments, limiting Oregon State to just .189 hitting in the third and under .270 in the fourth.

It wasn't enough as the Beavers were able to pull away to improve to 3-2 on the season, while the Grizzlies fell back to .500 at 2-2 in head coach Allison Lawrence's return to her alma mater.

"I think so many parts of that match are so encouraging and show how good we can be this year," Lawrence said. "Other parts of that match really exposed layers of our game that we need to address right away."

Montana lead by a point early in the opening set but fell behind by as many as three as Oregon State led 13-10. Freshman Isa Taylor had two kills during a 4-0 Grizzly run that put them ahead 14-13 in a competitive first set.

Oregon State gained the separation that it needed with a 4-1 run that gave them a 20-17 advantage. Despite Montana's offensive numbers in the first set, hitting .303 with just three attacking errors, they couldn't climb back past the Beavers and fell 25-21.

The second set featured plenty of ties early as the two sides were knotted up at 8-8, but Montana had a 5-0 run to gain control. Sydney Pierce was at the service line during the run and Delaney Russell had a pair of kills during it as the Griz went up 13-8.

They led by as many as six, but Oregon State was able to claw back into it and get back within a point at 20-19. The Griz did very well closing the set from there with five of the final six points, including a pair of kills and a set-winning ace from Pierce.

Russell had seven kills on 11 swings in the second set and Pierce had three kills on .600 hitting to go with her ace.

After the extended break between the second and third sets, Oregon State came out with an improved defensive plan and led 5-1 early. They would never relinquish the lead as they held Russell in the negatives hitting and dropped Montana from a .462 percentage in the second down to a .100 percentage in the third.

It was Montana that started strong in the fourth set, leading 4-2, but Oregon State bounced right back with six straight points to take the lead for good. They closed out the set on a 5-1 run to finish things off at 25-18.

Gracie Cagle had a 42-assist, 10-dig double-double while leading Montana's offense to a .226 hitting percentage on the match. She got plenty of Grizzlies involved in the attack with five players finishing with at least seven kills.

"I thought Gracie set a really great match," Lawrence said. "Her decision making was really strong and she ran a really smart offense. That was a big highlight."

Russell led the team with 14 kills while Josie Blazina had a career high nine kills on .316 hitting. Sophia Vella was one off her career high with nine kills. She had just one error and hit .400 in the match.

"One piece that we had desperately needed from last weekend was our right side presence," Lawrence said. "I thought Sophia Vella did an incredible job at being up on the slide and terminating on the slide."

Madeline Sanderson and Isa Taylor shared the co-lead in digs for Montana with 13 digs each.

While the final result may not have gone Montana's way, Lawrence was encouraged by her team's response to the what the coaching staff addressed during the week of practice between the Cougar Classic last week and their first two matches this weekend.

"We added so many pieces from last weekend that we needed. Our responses were great and the things we worked on at practice showed up," Lawrence said. "And I just love this group's toughness. It's something you feel when you watch us play on a whole new level and it's so encouraging and motivating. I love watching them play."

Montana will close out the weekend on Saturday morning with a match against Cal Baptist. The Lancers were swept by Oregon State and bounced back with a four-set win over Seattle on Friday afternoon.

"We are trying to get them fed and get them back to resting. We've been able to scout Cal Baptist and have seen them play live so we feel like we will have a good plan and be ready to go. It's mostly just getting them off their feet and getting them to check out so we can lock back into that high of a gear and that high of competitiveness tomorrow."