Bobcats Battle but Fall to Utah in Season Opener

Friday, August 29

Salt Lake City, UT

7 p.m.

Montana State University

0-1

University of Utah

1-0

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Montana State	21	21	16	0
Utah	25	25	25	3

Eli Svisco posted a team-high nine kills against Utah on Friday night.

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

8/29/2014 10:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“I think it was as good as we’ve played as a group since my time at Montana State,” Weindel said. “I saw some things that we haven’t done in the past. We had high energy, were efficient on offense and with low errors. I couldn’t be happier with the effort.”

By: Tom Schulz

The Montana State volleyball team opened its season against Pac-12 foe Utah, and despite what head coach Kyle Weindel said was his team's best effort since he's been at MSU, the Bobcats fell 25-21, 25-21, 25-16 to the Utes in the opener of the Utah Classic, Friday night.

"I think it was as good as we've played as a group since my time at Montana State," Weindel said. "I saw some things that we haven't done in the past. We had high energy, were efficient on offense and with low errors. I couldn't be happier with the effort."

Montana State (0-1) jumped out to a 15-12 advantage at the midway mark of the opening set following a Utah (1-0) service error, before the Utes went on a 7-1 run to win the set. In the second stanza, Utah cruised to a 20-11 margin, but the Bobcats fought back with a 10-4 run capped by a Dana Vestman ace. The Utes won the set on an Adora Anae kill. The final game belonged to Utah as the Utes out-hit MSU .317 to .154.

"Utah came in with an RPI of 28 from last season," Weindel said. "They made the NCAA Tournament and returned almost their entire team. Despite the loss, this was a great start and a complete team effort."

Junior Eli Svisco paced the Bobcats with a team-high nine kills and .316 attack mark, while senior Zoe Gogan also kicked in nine kills. Sophomore Loni Kreun also contributed to the Bobcat attack with seven kills, no errors, and ten digs. Junior libero Kasey Schlatter matched Kreun with a team-best ten digs. Sophomore Katie Harrington finished with 30 digs.

MSU played the match without the services of its leading offensive threat from last season as sophomore Kennadie Clute was sideline with an ankle injury.

Montana State will play New Mexico State and Missouri State on Saturday afternoon.