Thursday, October 25
Portland, OR
7 p.m.
Montana State University
at
Portland State
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Bobcat Spikers Head to Pacific Northwest
10/24/2012 3:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Montana State volleyball team will play six of its final eight matches on the road, beginning on Thursday, Oct. 25, when it faces league-leading Portland State in the Rose City at 8 p.m. (MST) in the Stott Center.
THIS WEEK'S VOLLEYBALL NOTES: (pdf)
HAPPY TRAILS:
The Montana State volleyball team will play six of its final eight matches on the road, beginning on Thursday, Oct. 25, when it faces league-leading Portland State in the Rose City at 8 p.m. (MST) in the Stott Center. The Bobcats will conclude weekend play at Eastern Washington on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 8 p.m. at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
CATCH THE 'CATS:
Portland State:
www.goviks.com - (live stats)
www.americaonesports.com/bigsky.asp - (live web-streaming video)
Eastern Washington:
www.goeags.com - (live stats)
www.americaonesports.com/bigsky.asp - (live web-streaming video)
QUICK RECAP:
The Montana State volleyball team posted a 1-2 record last week in Shroyer Gym. Unfortunately, the mark could easily have been 3-0 as the Bobcats lost a 16-25, 17-25, 25-20, 26-24, 15-10 decision to Montana and a 26-24, 29-27, 26-24 contest to Northern Colorado, before righting the ship with a hard-fought 25-18, 21-25, 25-15, 22-25, 15-11 victory over North Dakota on Saturday night. MSU was paced in the three matches by junior Sarah Horton, who pounded down 75 kills (5.77 kps), while hitting .314 and adding 31 digs.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
* Sarah Horton, 6-0, Junior, Outside Hitter, Fresno, California
Sarah Horton had one of the best offensive weeks in the history of Montana State volleyball. The junior from Fresno, Calif., notched a whopping 75 kills (5.77 kps), while hitting .314 from the field and adding 31 digs (2.38 dps), four blocks and two service aces. Horton recorded a career-high and Big Sky best 38 kills against Montana, last Monday night, while posting a .351 attack mark and adding 15 digs, four assists and a service ace.
* Taylar Barney, 6-1, Senior, Middle Blocker, St. George, Utah
Senior Taylar Barney had a solid week for the Bobcats recording 30 kills (2.31 kps) and 17 blocks (1.31 bps), while hitting a team-best .393 from the field. The St. George, Utah, native notched a career-high 17 kills in Montana State's 3-2 win over North Dakota on Saturday night. For the match, she had an impressive .727 attack mark (17-1-22). Barney also posted a match-high seven blocks against UND.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES:
No other team at the NCAA Division I level has moved up the NCAA RPI rankings like Montana State. From the final 2011 RPI ranking to this week's ranking, the Bobcats have moved up a whopping 167 spots. MSU finished last season ranked 304th in the RPI. In this week's listing, Montana State is currently ranked 137. The next best jump of 151 spots belongs to Southern Illinois.
THE SCOUTING REPORT:
Portland State (15-8, 11-1) picked up a pair of Big Sky wins last week with a sweep of then-winless Eastern Washington and a four-set victory over Sacramento State to improve to 11-1 in conference play. Portland State started the weekend by holding Eastern Washington to a negative hitting percentage at -.010 en route to the sweep by scores of 25-16, 25-16, and 25-18. It was the first time the Vikings held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage since holding Weber State to a -.031 mark last season. Portland State owns the all-time series record against Montana State 36-20-1. The Vikings are 17-7-1 against the Bobcats overall at home and are 9-6 in Big Sky home matches. The Vikings have won the last 15 meetings. In MSU's 3-1 loss to PSU on Sept. 22, the Bobcats were led by Sarah Horton, Macy Page and Eli Svisco with 13, 12, and ten kills, respectively. Megan Ellis guided the Viks in the victory with a match-high 19 kills. After 22-consecutive losses in the 2012 season, Eastern Washington (1-22, 1-11) finally celebrated their first victory on Monday (Oct. 22) at Reese Court. Behind a complete team effort, Eastern swept Sacramento State, 3-0. A key to the epic win was a hard-fought 29-27 victory in the opening set - Eastern's first first-set victory of the entire 2012 campaign. Making the first Big Sky Conference start of her career, freshman middle blocker Allison Doerpinghaus had a major impact in Eastern's first win of the season. The Palo Alto, Calif., native earned the starting nod after veteran Talia Fermantez went down with an injury to her left ankle. Doerpinghaus certainly made the most of her opportunity. She led the team with 10 blocks - the most in a single match by any Eagle in the 2012 season. She also had eight kills with zero errors on 14 attempts for an impressive .571 attack percentage, while also contributing three digs, one assist and one ace. In its first meeting with the Eagles, the Bobcats posted a 3-2 win as Macy Page pounded-out 27 kills, while Sarah Horton added 17 winners and 16 digs. EWU was led by Shelby Puckett with 12 kills and seven digs.
WE LIKE IT HERE:
Shroyer Gym, Home of the Bobcats, is one of the toughest venues west of the Mississippi. Over the past few decades, Shroyer Gym and the Bobcat faithful have made Montana State one of the top 50 venues in the nation in terms of attendance. The annual 'Shake Shroyer' match has consistently drawn one of the top crowds in the Pacific Northwest and Big Sky Conference. On Monday, Oct. 15, 2012, over 1,500 fans filed into Shroyer for the annual Cat-Griz clash. MSU's largest attendance in Shroyer occurred as 2,371 spectators witnessed the Bobcats defeat Northern Arizona on Nov. 1, 2003. The largest crowd in the State of Montana and Big Sky Conference history also belongs to the Bobcats as 6,378 fans jammed Worthington Arena on Nov. 15, 2002.
GOLD DIGGER:
Montana State starting libero Nicole Baker established herself as one of the top defensive players in the Big Sky Conference last season, after averaging a whopping 5.0 digs per set in league play. In addition, the Pleasanton, Calif., native recorded 514 digs to set a new Montana State mark for digs in a single-season. The old record of 495 digs had been held by Kandice Kelly since the 2005 campaign. Baker notched a career-best 30 digs against Northern Arizona, last year. Currently, she is averaging a team-best 3.92 digs per set, which ranks fifth among the Big Sky leaders. She has registered 17 matches in double-digits saves, including a season-best 27 digs in MSU's win over Niagara in early September.
A LENDING HAND:
Senior Jennifer Lundquist has seen her assists per set average rise along with MSU's early season success. Last fall, the Surrey, British Columbia native averaged 9.11 assists per game. This season, Lundquist is currently third in the Big Sky Conference averaging 10.80 assists per contest. In MSU's 3-2 loss to Montana, she dished out a career-high 64 assists. In addition, Lundquist is a triple threat on the court as well. She has posted six double-doubles this fall and is averaging 2.32 digs and .62 kills per game. Her current .319 attack mark leads the team and she has committed just 13 hitting errors on 119 attempts.
HORTON HEARS A ... WHOOT:
Montana State volleyball standout Sarah Horton's 38-kill output against Montana a week ago Monday is the highest single-match total at the NCAA Division I level and across 32 conferences this season. Horton, a junior outside hitter from Fresno, Calif., had one of the finest offensive weeks in the history of the Big Sky Conference, totaling 75 kills- averaging an impressive 5.77 kills per set. Her kill total more than doubled any other performer in the Big Sky last week. In addition, Horton hit .314 from the field and added 31 digs (2.38 dps), five assists, four blocks and two service aces in matches against UM, Northern Colorado and North Dakota. Over the course of three matches, Horton also tallied a pair of double-doubles to give her ten on the season, while producing 79 points, averaging 6.08 points per set to add to her league-best total. She currently leads the Big Sky in kills and points in both overall and league matches. Horton is currently averaging 4.34 kills and 4.87 points in Big Sky contests. She also ranks seventh in the league in aces at .32 per outing. Over the last five matches, Horton has logged 117 kills, averaging 5.57 kps. Horton's current season total of 346 kills is the highest offensive production at MSU since Kim Stonehouse recorded 371 kills in 2005. Horton, who still has at minimum eight matches remaining, could also reach the school-record of 547 kills in a season set by Diane Terrall in 1980.
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Wednesday, January 18
Daniel Jones Weekly Press Conference
Monday, November 15
Bobcat Classic: Arkansas vs. Portland
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Bobcat Classic: Arkansas vs. Utah State
Friday, September 03
