Montana State Spikers Defeat Two-Time Defending WAC Champion at Utah Classic

Saturday, August 30

Salt Lake City, UT

12 p.m.

Montana State University

1-1

New Mexico State University

1-1

New Mexico State

Montana State

Loni Kreun was named to the all-tournament team at the Utah Classic.

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

Montana State Spikers Defeat Two-Time Defending WAC Champion at Utah Classic

8/30/2014 10:49:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

“It is a huge win for our program,” Weindel said. “We were getting points from all five attackers and were playing at such a high level that we were able to put pressure on them to have to play almost flawlessly.”

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State head coach Kyle Weindel has been waiting for three seasons for his program to have its break-out moment, and on Saturday afternoon at the Utah Classic, that day finally came.

The Bobcat volleyball team used an efficient offense, which included three players in double figure kills, to notch a convincing 25-19, 25-20, 18-25, 25-18 win over two-time defending WAC champion New Mexico State.

"It is a huge win for our program," Weindel said. "We were getting points from all five attackers and were playing at such a high level that we were able to put pressure on them to have to play almost flawlessly."

Loni Kreun and Zoe Gogan led MSU with 12 kills each, while Natalee Godfrey added ten winners, while recording a team-high four blocks. For the match, MSU out-hit the Aggies .241 to .140.

"I couldn't be happier with the play of the team," Weindel said. "It was an awesome effort and I don't have the words for how proud I am with the way this team has come together."

Montana State (1-2) lost its final match of the classic, dropping a 25-21, 25-21, 25-17 decision to Missouri State, as the Bears out-hit the Bobcats .359 to .202, while also holding advantages in kills, assists, aces, digs and blocks.

"Even though I thought we played well, we weren't as efficient," Weindel said. "I felt we got a little tired and made some mental errors that were uncharacteristic of our play over the weekend. Credit Missouri State as they kept the pressure on and we cracked a little – which is fine. We now have a barometer on what we need to work on and how high our ceiling can be."

Godfrey paced the Bobcats in the loss with a team-best 12 kills, while freshman Jolie Meade added nine kills and a team-high .667 attack mark. Setter Katie Harrington dished out 28 assists, while Kasey Schlatter led MSU defensively with 13 digs.

For her efforts over the weekend, Kreun was named to the all-tournament team.

MSU will play at the Gonzaga Invitational next weekend in Spokane, Washington.