Montana State Spikers Crash Waves in Season-Opener

Friday, August 28

9 a.m.

Montana State University

1-0

Tulane

0-1

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Montana State	25	25	23	26	3
Tulane	18	23	25	24	1

Loni Kreun had 15 kills and 18 digs in MSU's season-opening 3-1 win over Tulane.

Photo by: Randy Sartin

8/28/2015 11:54:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“We’re happy for the girls as they have been working hard in the preseason,” Riley said. “It’s always great to get a win for your efforts. We love the fight and focus the team showed coming from behind, especially coming from behind late in the fourth set to get the win.”

By: Tom Schulz

Eli Svisco, a senior who has been mentored by three different coaches during her tenure at Montana State, put the final exclamation point on MSU's season-opening 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 26-24 win over Tulane, Friday morning at the Sam Houston State Bearkat Invitational.

The win was also MSU head coach JJ Riley's first collegiate victory.

Svisco, an outside hitter from Castle Rock, Colorado, recorded the final kill of the match on the right-side, as the Bobcats rallied from a 23-19 deficit in the fourth set to earn its first season-opening victory since 2012.

"We're happy for the girls as they have been working hard in the preseason," Riley said. "It's always great to get a win for your efforts. We love the fight and focus the team showed coming from behind, especially coming from behind late in the fourth set to get the win."

Junior Loni Kreun paced Montana State with a team-best 15 kills and 18 digs. In addition, the product of Davis, California, added a match-high three aces. Also contributing to the Bobcat attack were Svisco and freshman Natalie Passeck with nine kills apiece, while Kiana Black and Alexandra Rader added eight kills, each.

Aside from Kreun's double-double, Montana State also received the feat from freshman setter Katie Ireland, who dished out 14 assists, while recording ten digs. In a statistical first at MSU, libero Kasey Altman also posted a double-double with 15 digs and 11 assists. Senior setter Katie Harrington logged a team-high 21 assists to lead the Bobcat offense.

For the match, the Bobcats out-hit Tulane .261 to .198 and also held advantages in service aces and blocks. MSU recorded ten team blocks and were paced at the net by Svisco and Black with six apiece. Last season, Montana State ranked at the bottom of the Big Sky Conference in both serving and blocking.

"Everyone contributed at some point and made plays for us which is key to having a good team," Riley said. "We challenged them with making some adjustments and they did a great job."

In the opening set, MSU sophomore middle blocker Jolie Meade connected on a kill to give the Bobcats a 15-9 advantage as Montana State cruised to a 1-0 lead. MSU held a 20-17 margin in the second stanza, before the Green Wave rattled off a 6-1 run to take a 23-21 cushion. The Bobcats quickly answered with four straight points to earn the victory on a Rader kill.

The third set belonged to Tulane, who out-hit Montana State .311 to .244. MSU attempted to rally from a seven-point deficit late in the set and pulled to within 24-22 on a Black kill, but the Green Wave closed out the set on a Sarah Ray winner.

In the final set, the Green Wave broke away from 13-all with six consecutive points to claim a 19-13 advantage. The Bobcats fought back, and a Black kill cut the margin to 20-18. Tulane pushed its lead back to 23-19, before MSU's end-of-set heroics, which included kills and blocks from Svisco and Black, a Kreun service ace and three Green Wave hitting errors.

"Overall, we are happy with how they competed," Riley said. "Now, we need to get ready for another battle."

Montana State will face Texas San Antonio this afternoon at 1 p.m. (MST).