Bobcats Host Weber State and Idaho State

Thursday, October 6

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

Weber State

10/5/2016 11:19:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

MSU VOLLEYBALL NOTES

The Montana State volleyball team will play a pair of matches this weekend in Shroyer Gym. The Bobcats will open the week hosting Weber State on Thursday at 7 p.m. MSU will conclude play against Idaho State, Saturday at 12 p.m.

By: Tom Schulz

HOME SWEET HOME
The Montana State volleyball team will play a pair of matches this weekend in Shroyer Gym. The Bobcats will open the week hosting Weber State on Thursday at 7 p.m. MSU will conclude play against Idaho State, Saturday at 12 p.m. Please note the starting time for Saturday's match. The time was changed to accommodate the MSU-Northern Arizona football game at 5 p.m.

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

             Opponent:          Weber State University
             Nickname:          Wildcats
             Record: 11-2, 2-2 Big Sky
             Head Coach: Jeremiah Larsen (17-24, 4-16)
             Notable Win: 3-1 win over Portland State, Sept. 24

The Skinny: The Wildcats are off to one of its best starts in recent history. Weber State opened with nine consecutive victories in non-conference action. In its first Big Sky match, the Wildcats dropped a 3-1 decision to Sacramento State. Last weekend, WSU split a pair of road matches, winning at Southern Utah (3-2), before losing in straight sets to Northern Arizona. The Wildcats have been paced by Megan Thompson, who averages 2.29 kills and 1.84 blocks per game.

             Opponent:          Idaho State University
             Nickname:          Bengals
             Record: 6-11, 1-3 Big Sky
             Head Coach:      Rick Reynolds (29-22, 14-6)
             Notable Win: 3-1 win over Houston, Sept. 2

The Skinny: The Bengals have experienced a roller-coaster ride early in the season, dropping their first three outings, before rattling off four straight victories. ISU then went on a four match losing streak. Last weekend, the Bengals snapped another four match losing skid with a 3-1 win over Southern Utah in Cedar City. Idaho State has been led this season by Chloe Hirst, who is averaging 3.79 kills and 2.73 digs per set.

THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS:
Montana State freshman and Bozeman product Caitlin Lonergan couldn't have scripted a better Cat-Griz match for her first taste of the rivalry as she had a match-high 17 kills to lift the Bobcats to a 22-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-22 win over Montana, Saturday night. With MSU trailing 18-13 in the fourth set, Lonergan recorded four kills and a service ace to give the Bobcats a 22-21 advantage. UM tied the set at 22-all, but consecutive attack errors by the Grizzlies gave MSU a 24-22 lead. Allyssa Rizzo finished off the match for MSU with a service ace. Aside from her 17 kills, Lonergan added four blocks, five digs and two aces. Also contributing to the Bobcat attack were Natalie Passeck and Kiana Black with 10 kills each. MSU's setting duo of Katie Rutecki and Sydney Mathison dished out 26 and 16 assists, respectively. Rizzo guided the Cats with a match-high 19 digs, while Passeck added nine saves. Audra Dugan led all players with seven blocks. Portland State's Pati Anae recorded a match-high 12 kills, including the winning shot in set three as the Vikings swept Montana State 25-15, 25-15, 25-20, Thursday night. Passeck and Eli Svisco led MSU with seven kills, apiece. Passeck also guided MSU from the service line with four aces. Defensively, the Bobcats were paced by Rizzo with six digs.

RUNNING THE GAUNLET:
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 766 career kills and 552 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.

DIGGING IT:
Freshman libero Allyssa Rizzo has recorded 186 digs on the season, averaging 3.96 digs per set. The mark ranks her tenth in the Big Sky Conference. The Crestwood, Illinois product is averaging 2.93 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 (.38), while Allyssa Rizzo is tenth in digs (3.96 dps).

PACKING THEM IN:
The Bobcats have averaged 1,236 fans in its three matches in Shroyer Gym this fall. On Saturday night, a season-high 1,409 spectators jammed Shroyer Gym as the Bobcats handed rival Montana a 3-1 setback. MSU's 1,236 fans per game ranks 38th in the nation at the NCAA Division I level. The mark ranks higher than programs such as Tennessee, Florida State, Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Only North Dakota (1,314) has a higher average attendance than Montana State in Big Sky Conference play.

STAT OF THE WEEK:
In its victory over Montana last Saturday night, the Bobcats won every statistical category against the Grizzlies, including kills, hitting percentage, assists, digs, aces and blocks.