Bobcats Face NAU & Southern Utah

Thursday, October 20

Flagstaff, AZ

7 p.m.

Montana State University

Northern Arizona

Junior Audra Dugan

Photo by: Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez

10/19/2016 1:21:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

MSU VOLLEYBALL NOTES

The Montana State volleyball team will conclude its four-match road swing with two games in southwest Big Sky country this week.

By: Tom Schulz

TWO ON THE ROAD:
The Montana State volleyball team will conclude its four-match road swing with two games in southwest Big Sky country this week. The Cats play at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Thursday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. (MT). MSU will finish the weekend at Southern Utah in Cedar City, Saturday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. Please note match time was changed to accommodate SUU football game.

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS:
Here is a closer look at this week's opponents.

             Opponent:          Northern Arizona University
             Nickname:          Lumberjacks
             Record:                17-4, 7-1 Big Sky
             Head Coach:      Ken Murphy (167-163, 46-17)
             Notable Win:    3-1 win over Southern Illinois, Sept. 3

The Skinny: Northern Arizona currently sits atop the Big Sky Conference South Division, two games ahead of second place Sacramento State and Idaho State. The Lumberjacks are battling North Dakota for the best overall Big Sky ledger and hosting honors of the league's postseason tournament. NAU has been led this season by Lauren Jacobsen, who averages 4.22 kills and 3.39 digs per set. Abby Akin chips in a .365 attack mark and a team-best 1.20 blocks per set.

Opponent:          Southern Utah University
                             Nickname:          Thunderbirds
                             Record:                3-17, 1-7 Big Sky
                             Head Coach:      Craig Choate (354-290, 46-62)
                             Notable Win:    3-2 win over Sacramento State, Oct. 13

The Skinny: Last Thursday, the Thunderbirds snapped a 12-match losing streak upsetting Sacramento State 3-2 in Cedar City. SUU couldn't keep the momentum going on Saturday, dropping a 3-1 decision to Portland State. On the season, Southern Utah has been paced by Chennin Benson, who is averaging 3.11 kills and 1.59 digs per game. MaCail Evans adds a team-best 1.03 blocks per set, while Ann Clapier chips in 1.89 kills per set and a .292 attack mark.

CATCH THE CATS:
This weekend's matches can be viewed at:
www.watchbigsky.com - The Northern Arizona match on Thursday will air live on FOX Sports Arizona & FOX College Sports Pacific
Fans and media members can also follow the Bobcats on Live Stats at...
   www.nauathletics.com and www.suutbirds.com

THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS:
Northern Colorado out-hit Montana State .282 to .080 and held a 51-33 advantage in digs, en route to a 25-15, 25-15, 25-19 win over the Bobcats, Saturday night in Bank of Colorado Arena. Montana State was led by Natalie Passeck and Kiana Black with six and five kills, respectively. Freshman setter Sydney Mathison posted a double-double with ten assists and ten digs. Defensively, the Bobcats were paced by Mathison and Allyssa Rizzo who notched eight saves. At the net, Bozeman product Caitlin Lonergan guided MSU with three blocks. North Dakota committed just four hitting errors over three sets to post a .432 attack mark, en route to a 25-17, 25-11, 25-12 victory over Montana State, Thursday night in Big Sky Conference play. Montana State was paced by Bozeman freshman Caitlin Lonergan with a team-high 11 kills, while freshman Allyssa Rizzo chipped in a team-best 12 digs. As a team, MSU finished hitting .071 from the field. "Obviously, last weekend didn't go our way but we saw some growth and improvement in a couple athletes which is very exciting," said MSU head coach JJ Riley. "There is still a bunch of volleyball left to play and our focus will remain on making improvements each day no matter how small they are. We need to keep making improvements."

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET:
This season's edition of Bobcat volleyball has faced a hellacious schedule. And, in particular, a span of four matches from Sept. 3-17 that featured No. 1 Nebraska, No. 20 Loyola Marymount, Creighton, who has received votes in the top 25 poll and Gonzaga, who is currently 7-3 overall. In fact, MSU's schedule is ranked the toughest in the Big Sky Conference (.600) followed by Portland State (.567), Idaho (.556), North Dakota (.535) and Northern Colorado (.529). The three weakest schedules in the Big Sky belong to Northern Arizona (.366), Weber State (.442) and Montana (.442)

700/500 CLUB:
Senior Eli Svisco is a member of Montana State's 700 kills - 500 digs club. The fifth-year player has recorded 788 career kills and 558 career digs. The product of Castle Rock had her best season in the kill category during her freshman campaign when she racked-up 265 kills. Her freshman season also saw her post a career best 312 saves on the year.

HELLO, MY NAME IS ____________:
Second-year head coach JJ Riley has had a total of 13 new players dot the Bobcat roster in his tenure in the Blue and Gold. This season, Riley welcomed eight newcomers to Shroyer Gym, including six freshmen and two junior college transfers. MSU's youth movement was evident in its first match of the season against Grand Canyon as five freshmen took to the court (Caitlin Lonergan, Sydney Mathison, Allyssa Rizzo, Savannah Laws and Evi Wilson) helping the Bobcats to a 3-2 decision over the Lopes.

SKY HIGH - BIG SKY CONFERENCE NOTES:
The 2016 Big Sky Conference volleyball season hits the home stretch as teams make a late-season push to solidify a place in the 2016 conference championship. The conference divisional leaders stayed the same this week with Northern Arizona and North Dakota picking up two home wins each. UND picked up straight-set wins over Montana and Montana State while Northern Arizona topped Portland State 3-1 on Thursday and blanked the second-place team in the Big Sky south division, Sacramento State, 3-0. ISU (10-11, 5-3 BSC) moved into second place in the Big Sky south division with a straight-set win over rival Weber State Saturday night in Pocatello, Idaho. Hayley Farrer posted another double-double with a match-high 40 assists to go along with 12 digs. Chloe Hirst set the pace for ISU with 12 kills on the day. Farrer is second in the Big Sky standings with 13 double-doubles on the season. NAU's Lauren Jacobsen sits atop the Big Sky double-doubles list with 15 on the year. Also earning a double-double milestone was Portland State's Caitlin Bettenay who picked up back-to-back double-doubles for the first time in her career. Bettenay posted 10 kills and 12 digs against the T-birds on Saturday and earned 13 kills and 10 digs at NAU on Thursday.

DIGGING IT:
Freshman libero Allyssa Rizzo has recorded 243 digs on the season, averaging 3.92 digs per set. The mark ranks her ninth in the Big Sky Conference. The Crestwood, Illinois product is averaging 3.37 digs per game in league action.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:
Montana State has two individuals ranked in this week's Big Sky stats - both are freshman. Bozeman product Caitlin Lonergan is second in aces (.34), while Allyssa Rizzo is tenth in digs (3.92 dps).

GOOD PEDIGREE:
Freshman Sydney Mathison's dad Bruce played QB at Nebraska from 1980-82. Bruce went on to play with San Diego, Buffalo and Seattle in the NFL. Sophomore defensive specialist Libby Fellows is the daughter of MSU Hall of Famer Mark Fellows. Fellows played for the Bobcats and was a member of the 1984 National Championship team. He was a first-team All-American in 1984. Fellows had a promising pro career ahead of him with the San Diego Chargers, before suffering a career-ending knee injury.

PACKING THEM IN:
The Bobcats have averaged 1,137 fans in its five matches in Shroyer Gym this fall. On October 1st a season-high 1,409 spectators jammed Shroyer Gym as the Bobcats handed rival Montana a 3-1 setback. MSU's 1,137 fans per game ranks 44th in the nation at the NCAA Division I level. The mark ranks higher than programs such as Tennessee, Florida State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oregon State. Only North Dakota (1,155) has a higher average attendance than Montana State in Big Sky Conference play.