Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Big Sky Tourney Bound
11/21/2012 4:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
For the first time since 2005 the Montana State volleyball team will play in the Big Sky Conference tournament, Nov. 23-24 in Greeley, Colorado. The Bobcats, who are seeded No. 6, will face No. 3 Northern Arizona, Friday, Nov. 23 at 9 a.m., in Butler-Hancock Pavilion on the campus of Northern Colorado.
CLICK HERE FOR MSU'S TOURNAMENT NOTES (pdf)
PLAYOFFS? YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT PLAYOFFS?
For the first time since 2005 the Montana State volleyball team will play in the Big Sky Conference tournament, Nov. 23-24 in Greeley, Colorado. The Bobcats, who are seeded No. 6, will face No. 3 Northern Arizona, Friday, Nov. 23 at 9 a.m., in Butler-Hancock Pavilion on the campus of Northern Colorado. The other first-round match-up is No. 4 Northern Colorado vs. No. 5 North Dakota at 11 a.m. Should the Bobcats defeat NAU; they would face No. 1 Portland State at 7 p.m., on Friday in semifinal action. The Big Sky Conference championship match is slated for Saturday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m.
CATCH THE 'CATS:
at the Big Sky Conference Tournament webpage hosted by No. Colorado.
QUICK RECAP:
Fighting for their postseason tournament life, the Bobcats played two matches on the road last weekend to conclude its regular-season slate. On Thursday, Montana State dropped a hard-fought 32-30, 25-23, 23-25, 18-25, 15-5 decision at Sacramento State. MSU was paced by Sarah Horton with 22 kills, followed by Eli Svisco with a career-best 17 kills and Macy Page 14. In a do-or-die match at rival Montana on Monday night the Bobcats proved their moxie downing the Grizzlies 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 28-26. Horton had 21 kills.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
* Taylar Barney, 6-1, Senior, Middle Blocker, St. George, Utah
In two matches last week, Barney averaged 1.89 kills and a whopping 1.56 blocks per game, while hitting .361 from the floor and adding eight digs and two aces. Against Sacramento State, the St. George native had nine kills, hit .571 and recorded a team-best nine blocks. In MSU's win over Montana, she posted eight kills, a .227 attack mark, five digs and five blocks. On the year, Barney leads the Bobcats averaging 1.08 bps.
* Jennifer Lundquist, 5-10, Senior, Setter, Surrey, BC, Canada
Lundquist had a strong weekend guiding the Bobcats into the Big Sky Conference Tournament averaging 12.67 assists and 2.89 digs per set. In addition, she chipped in six blocks, four kills and two aces. Lundquist had her best match of the weekend when needed most as she dished out 55 assists (13.75 aps) in MSU's 3-1 victory over Montana. She also logged a career-high 19 digs, along with two aces, one block and a kill.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES:
Only one 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 130 spots. MSU finished last season ranked 304th in the RPI. In this week's listing, Montana State is ranked 174. The biggest jump is 142 spots by Southern Illinois.
IT'S NICE TO BE BACK:
The Montana State volleyball team will be making its first Big Sky Conference tournament appearance since 2005 when it meets Northern Arizona on Friday morning. MSU's playoff drought had been the longest in the Big Sky. In 2005, the Bobcats advanced to the semifinals after defeating Idaho State 3-2 in the opening round. Sacramento State handed MSU a 3-0 setback in the round of four. Montana State made ten straight Big Sky Conference tournament appearances from 1996-2005 and registered an 8-10 record in those matches. The Bobcats have never played in a Big Sky Conference tournament championship match.
THE SCOUTING REPORT:
Northern Arizona (23-6, 15-5) is making its first Big Sky Conference appearance since 2007. The Lumberjacks swept the Bobcats this season defeating MSU in Flagstaff 3-0, before escaping with a hard-fought 25-23, 25-15, 13-25, 19-25, 19-17 win in Bozeman just two weeks ago. In its two matches with Northern Arizona this fall, the Bobcats have been paced by Sarah Horton, who averaged 4.28 kills and 2.88 digs per set. Freshman Natalee Godfrey logged 13 kills against the Lumberjacks, while hitting a team-best .500 from the field and adding a team-high nine blocks. Setter Jennifer Lundquist is averaging 11.62 assists versus NAU, while Nicole Baker has posted a team-high 3.62 digs per set. Northern Arizona has been led by Janae Vander Ploeg, who averages 3.00 kills and 2.12 digs per set against the Bobcats. Also helping the Lumberjack effort is Payton Bock, who is averaging 2.50 kills, hitting .381 from the field, and 1.25 blocks per contest. Should the Bobcats defeat Northern Arizona, their next opponent would Portland State (21-10, 17-3), as the Viks captured the top seed by virtue of winning the regular-season Big Sky title. PSU swept Montana State- winning both matches by 3-1 margins. The Vikings are making their 11th consecutive appearance at the Big Sky Tournament. Portland State is an even 8-8 in Big Sky Tournament matches and has won the tournament twice.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES:
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. MSU is currently 49th in the nation averaging 977 fans per match.
HORTON HEARS A WHOOT:
Sarah Horton's 38-kill output against Montana on Oct. 15, is the highest single-match total at the NCAA Division I level and across 32 conferences this season. She currently leads the Big Sky in kills and points in both overall and league matches. Horton is currently averaging 4.28 kills and 4.77 points in Big Sky contests. Those numbers also rank 41st and 53rd in the nation, respectively. In addition, she ranks sixth in the league in aces at .28 per outing. Horton's current season total of 484 kills is the third highest kill total in MSU history. Horton's 1,371 swings this fall is the most at MSU in a single-season. She has been in double-figure kills in 26 matches this season, including 11 matches over 20 kills.
TURNING THE PAGE:
Prior to this season, senior Macy Page had totaled 113 career kills, including a career-best 17 kills against Loyola. She had also played in 170 sets and averaged .66 kills per outing. Now, in just her senior season alone, the Orem, Utah, native has recorded 365 kills and is averaging 3.17 kills per set. Page set a new career-high of 27 kills in MSU's win over Eastern Washington on Oct. 27.
A LENDING HAND:
Jennifer Lundquist has seen her assists per set average rise along with MSU's season successes. Last fall, the Surrey, British Columbia native averaged 9.11 assists per game. This season, Lundquist is currently fourth in the Big Sky Conference averaging 10.87 assists per contest. Against Montana on Oct. 15, she dished out a career-high 64 assists. She has posted nine double-doubles this fall and is averaging 2.36 digs. Her career total of 2,471 assists is third all-time at MSU.
I LOVE YOU, YOU LOVE ME:
Middle blocker Taylar Barney is a few blocks shy of moving into MSU's records in regards to blocks. The St. George, Utah native has notched 124 total blocks, including 115 block assists. Her 1.08 bps is 9th in the Big Sky. Last Thursday, Barney recorded a career-best nine blocks at Sacramento State. Offensively, she is 10th in the conference with a .262 attack mark and is averaging 1.75 kills/set.
ISN'T SHE GRAND?
Montana State libero Nicole Baker went over the 1,000 dig plateau three weeks ago, becoming just the seventh player in Bobcat history to accomplish the milestone. Baker established herself as one of the top defensive players in the Big Sky last season recording 514 digs to set a new Montana State mark for digs in a single-season. She notched a career-best 30 digs against Northern Arizona, last year. Currently, she is averaging a team-best 3.90 digs per set, which ranks fifth among the Big Sky leaders. She has registered 24 matches in double-digits saves, including a season-best 29 digs in MSU's win over rival Montana on Monday night.
Wednesday, January 18
Monday, November 15
Saturday, September 04
Friday, September 03
