Montana (3-4) battled North Dakota State point for point throughout the match. They lost by at least two points in the first and third sets and were close against NDSU in the second set, except for a late 8-0 run by the Bisons. North Dakota State won 25-23, 25-17, 26-24.
The teams were also close statistically. North Dakota State was slightly better than Montana, .245 to .231, and had three more aces than the Grizzlies. But Montana’s defense, a strength all season, showed up again, giving the Griz a 9-3 advantage in blocks.
“It felt very close and point-by-point,” said head coach Allison Lawrence. “We were putting them in situations that would throw them off with difficult serves or a great swing, but they were just scoring too often in bad ball situations. I think that had an obvious impact on our offense as we weren’t extending rallies and getting opportunities to hit more shots. We were hitting at a decent rate but just weren’t getting enough kills per set to win.”
It was a very strong start for the hosts, who opened the match with an 11-3 lead in the first set. They scored six kills in the first 10 shots of the match and forced an early timeout from the Grizzlys after a 3-0 run.
But Montana found its way into the environment and the game thanks to solid attacking play from middle blocker Brenely Hansen. She had two kills as part of a 4-0 run by the Grizzlies that put them back up 11-7, and had a kill on her first three shots of the match. Four of her six kills in the match came in the opening set.
The Griz were able to get back to within 16-12 after a 4-0 run and then scored two points for every point NDSU scored and fought back to within a single point at 21-20 after a block by Hansen. Maddie Pyles.
However, the set was similar to last Sunday’s loss to Boise State. The Grizzlies came within one point twice in the final phase, but were never able to equalize and lost the first set 25-23.
Hansen led with four kills, but Pyles, Paige ClarkAnd Maddie Kremer all finished the first set with three kills each, with the Griz averaging .273. There were many elements on display that would normally lead to victory, but it wasn’t quite enough, as some of the closer points went to the hosts.
The Grizzlies seemed to be in control from the start of the second set, taking a 6-3 and then a 10-6 lead with Clark, Pyles and Kremer each contributing two early kills. The Bison were able to tie the game at 12-12, then again at 13-14 and 15-15. It wasn’t until 15-14, when Ally Barth took over at the service line, that the set changed.
North Dakota State scored eight straight points to take a commanding 22-15 lead. They finished the game 25-17, with the eight-point run being the difference between the teams. Despite losing the set, Montana’s offense still hit .194, thanks to five kills on seven attempts from Clark. They actually hit better than NDSU (.179), but four aces from the Bisons made the difference.
“We were able to get them out of the system but weren’t able to capitalize on that and score the points. They did a great job, they were very smart with their attacking decisions and I think they really took advantage of moments where they weren’t in a good situation,” Lawrence said. “That’s something we’ll have to deal with tomorrow.”
The final set was a fierce battle. The teams were tied for most of the time. When they reached a 10-10 tie, it was the eighth different score they had been tied for in the third set with four lead changes. Both numbers were higher than in the first two sets combined.
The Grizzlies scored four points in a row thanks to good serves from Casi Newman and a few blocks of Sierra Dennison. It forced a timeout from North Dakota State, which the hosts caught up with five of the next six points. The scores kept coming back to ties, and at this point the score was 17-17 after 13 ties.
The Bison were able to gain a three-point lead twice, but Montana had an answer to both runs and tied it at 20-20 and then 23-23. NDSU had match point, but Clark got a huge kill, her 12th of the game to extend it.
In the end, it was a heartbreaking game because the Bisons scored the last two points of the evening and won by a landslide.
Montana had a lot of good going for it. The offense was good, they posted a .231 batting average as a team, with four players recording at least six kills. Clark led the way with 12 on a .292 batting average. It’s the fifth straight game with double-digit kills for the senior. Pyles had eight kills on a .389 batting average, Kremer had seven on a .190 batting average and Hansen had six on a .455 batting average.
The defense also did an excellent job at the goal, blocking a total of nine attacks and achieving an average of 3.0 per set. Sierra Dennison had five blocks (the most on the team), while Pyles added four blocks and Hansen contributed three.
They also had one of their best service games of the year, recording a positive aces-to-error ratio for only the third time this season. But despite all that, North Dakota State’s ability to score out of system was too strong to overcome.
“The atmosphere in the hall is great. We served well for long stretches, we kept up well and we definitely blocked them. It felt very systemic,” said Lawrence. “We had good control and were able to slow down players that we had identified in scouting, but then that second level was outside the system.”
Montana has a chance to respond immediately, as the two teams will meet again about 16 hours after Friday night’s game, finishing the weekend at 12:00 p.m. MT on the same floor against the same team.
Paige Clark will try to make a bit of history in this match. If she reaches double-digit kill counts for the sixth match in a row, she will reach the 1,000-kill mark in her Grizzly career. She would be the 15th.th Player in the 1,000-kill club in Montana and only the fourth since the beginning of the 25-point rallies era.
“I really like the road trip because we get a chance to react,” Lawrence said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to work on some things in 24 hours and see how we can adapt.”
