Griz come from behind to win in five

Saturday, September 5

Corvallis, Ore.

11:00 AM (MT)

Montana

3-2,0-0Big Sky

Cal Baptist

2-3,0-0Big West

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Montana	18	25	16	25	15	3
California Baptist	25	18	25	23	9	2

Photo by: Kassidy Gerono/University of Montana

9/5/2026 2:26:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

It wasn't always easy for Montana on Saturday, but they were able to make the necessary adjustments to come from behind and defeat Cal Baptist in Corvallis, Ore. The win improved Montana to 2-1 on the weekend and 3-2 overall.

It's the first five setter of the season for the Grizzlies and a squad with plenty of experience on the roster showed its poise. Montana fought from behind all match, finally overtaking the Lancers in a dominant 15-9 final set.

Montana starts 3-2 through the first five matches for the second time in the last three seasons.

"I'm really proud of our win this morning. It wasn't the prettiest match on either side of the court, but I think we were able to find enough stabilization to outlast them," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "You don't always get the match you want, but you have to love the match that you are in. I think this one tested us culturally and mentally in ways that will pay us back big time once we get to conference."

The service line played a huge role on Saturday morning with both teams operating very aggressively from the line. The two sides combined for 26 service aces and 24 service errors.

While Cal Baptist had more aces at 14-12, the Grizzlies were a net positive from the line as they committed just nine errors to CBU's 15. Montana's 12 aces were the most in a match since November of 2024.

Lawrence's team had a quick turnaround from an emotional match the night before, and both teams were playing their third match in three days.

"Typically, the way you see that fatigue break down first is ball control and serve receive," Lawrence said. "I loved that we had answers for their serving and I love the problems that their serves gave us to work on. It wasn't fun, we had to kind of crawl through the desert with our ball control, but I think we got there. I was really proud of our responses and that's all we can ask."

Montana had an up-and-down day attacking. The Grizzlies hit over .275 in three sets, but were in the negatives once and under .100 in another set. There were big runs from both sides, but Montana was able to withstand every Lancer run and come away with the win.

A sweet start for Montana quickly turned sour. The Griz led 5-0 behind a strong service start from Gracie Cagle and a pair of early kills by Delaney Russell. Cal Baptist would score eight of the next nine points to move ahead 8-6.

The Lancers would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way, hitting over .300 while limiting Montana to just nine kills with seven errors for a .074 hitting percentage. The Lancers serve had Montana off balanced all set with five service aces.

Cagle's serving is what got Montana off to a fast start, and it may be what saved them in the second set as well. Montana trailed 12-10 following a run from Cal Baptist that forced a timeout from Lawrence.

Out of the timeout, Russell got the Griz a sideout with a kill and then Cagle served during a 6-0 run that featured multiple service aces from the Grizzly setter. The stretch put Montana in front 16-12.

The Grizzlies shut the door on the Lancers late in the set with a 5-0 run, pulling away for a 25-18 win in the second set. After a difficult first set offensively, the Grizzlies showed a huge response in the second.

They recorded 12 kills with just a single error, hitting .423 in the second. They also improved from the service line with five aces, evening things up in that department after they improved on the serve receive as well.

It's a sport of runs, and it was Cal Baptist on the right end a big run in the third set that allowed them to pull away as Montana's attack went cold. The Grizzlies led 13-9, but allowed the longest scoring streak against them all season with 10 straight CBU points.

Cal Baptist would score 16 of the final 19 points of the third set for a 25-16 win to move ahead 2-1. The Grizzlies committed nine errors in the set, hitting in the negatives while also committing three errors on serve receive.

It was another big run from the Lancers that looked like it would put the match away in the fourth set. Montana pulled into a comfortable lead at 16-12, but CBU responded with six of the next seven points to take the lead.

Cal Baptist had a 22-20 lead, but Russell pulled through for her team with back-to-back kills to tie it up at 22-all. Two straight errors by the Lancers gave Montana set point and they would hold on with a 25-23 win after a service error ended things.

"In the fourth, we went to the 6-2 a little bit so I think this win really took everybody on our roster," Lawrence said. "We were subbing pretty liberally, we were making defensive and offensive sub switches point-to-point, we were just trying to find one point out of everybody to help us string together some momentum. Everybody stepped up when we needed them."

The roller coaster offensive day continued for Montana. After hitting in the negatives in the third set, they responded with 13 kills on .276 hitting as a team to win in the fourth.

Sophia Vella helped the Griz get off on the right foot in the fifth set, recording a pair of kills during a 5-1 start for Montana. After Cal Baptist got back within two points, the Grizzlies went to Josie Blazina and she delivered with back-to-back kills. An error from CBU followed by a block from Cagle made it four straight Grizzly points and a 13-7 lead.

Cagle finished it of with a solo block on the final play of the game to secure the 15-9 win in the final set and complete the comeback.

Russell led Montana with 15 kills on .263 hitting, setting a new season high as the preseason All-Big Sky pick continues to find her rhythm this season. Sophia Vella set a new career high with 11 kills on .273 hitting to cap off an impressive weekend for the opposite hitter.

"I just love that once we got into the fifth set we found a way to be loose enough and aggressive enough to risk it," Lawrence said. "We might make an error, but we're going to go risk it by trying to make something happen. I think (Vella) did that right away to establish it and then it was contagious throughout the fifth set."

Cagle had another very good day operating the offense for Montana with 35 assists and five kills on .500 hitting. The setter also had four service aces.

She wasn't the only Grizzly that had a big day at the service line. Libero Madeline Sanderson not only led Montana with 13 digs, she also recorded a new career high with four service aces.

"I think Gracie has been a top server for us and will continue to be," Lawrence said. "She has the ability from the service line to stabilize the match and then earn us big time momentum. I think (Sanderson) absolutely did that for today as well."

The Grizzlies were 2-4 in five-set matches in 2025 but started things off with a win this year. Montana also picked up its first ever win against Cal Baptist in the second ever meeting between the two schools.

Montana will head east next week to play in the Golden Grizzly Invitational hosted by Oakland. The Grizzlies will play Eastern Michigan, Oakland, and UAB at the tournament. The three teams have a combined 10-6 record as of Saturday afternoon.

"We're kind of in the trenches of preseason where we had some tough turnaround time and condensed rest in this tournament and it only increases next weekend," Lawrence said. "I think managing rest and preparation, there are parts of our game that we really have to add layers to and shore up this week, but we have to do it while finding a way to be fresh next weekend."