Cats Host Sac State, Travel to Montana

Thursday, November 3

BOZEMAN

7:30 p.m.

Montana State University

Sacramento State

Sophomore Natalie Passeck

Photo by: Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez

11/2/2016 10:01:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

BOBCAT VB NOTES

Montana State plays its final home match of the season when it hosts Sacramento State, Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Shroyer Gym.- (Senior Night).

By: Tom Schulz

HOME AND AWAY:
Montana State plays its final home match of the season when it hosts Sacramento State, Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Shroyer Gym.- (Senior Night). Please note time has been pushed back 1/2 due to doubleheader with MSU women's basketball. MSU concludes its week with the Brawl of the Wild at Montana on Friday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. in Missoula. Match will be played in Dahlberg Arena.

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

    Opponent:          Sacramento State
    Nickname:          Hornets
    Record: 15-11, 9-3 Big Sky
    Head Coach:      Ruben Volta (134-146, 80-74)
    Notable Win: 3-0 over Northern Arizona, Oct. 27

The Skinny: Sacramento State won a pair of home matches last weekend running its consecutive win streak to four matches. The Hornets swept both Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. Sacramento State sits a game behind NAU in second in the Big Sky South Division and have clinched a postseason tournament berth. On the year, the Hornets have been led by Shannon Boyle, who averages a team-best 3.60 kills per set, while adding 2.90 digs per game.

    Opponent:          University of Montana
    Nickname:          Grizzlies
    Record: 4-18, 1-11 Big Sky
    Head Coach:      Brian Doyon (12-38, 5-23)
    Notable Win: 3-2 win over Idaho, Sept. 24

The Skinny: The University of Montana has dropped ten straight matches. UM's last victory came over a month ago against Idaho in Missoula. Last weekend, the Griz dropped a 3-1 decision to North Dakota, before suffering a 3-0 setback to Northern Colorado. On the season, Montana has been led by Alexis Urbach and Missy Huddleston, who average 2.45 and 2.31 kills per set, respectively. Defensively, Sadie Ahearn is averaging a team-best 4.00 digs per set.

ON POINT WITH THE CATS:
* The Bobcats are 6-40 all-time against Sacramento State dating back to 1991
*   The Bobcats are 55-54 all-time against Montana going back to the early '70s
*   MSU and SAC are meeting for the first time this season
*   MSU and UM played Oct. 1 with MSU winning 22-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-22
*   The last time MSU defeated SAC was Oct. 15, 2010 (3-0) in Bozeman
* The last time MSU defeated UM in Missoula was Nov. 15, 2014 (3-0)
*   MSU has won two more overall and Big Sky matches than all of last year
* MSU snapped a 19-match road losing streak defeating So. Utah on Oct. 22

THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS:
League-leading North Dakota held off a late Montana State rally in the opening set and kept its momentum en route to a 25-22, 25-18, 25-17 win over the Bobcats, Saturday night in Shroyer Gym. Kiana Black led the Bobcats with a team-high ten kills, while hitting .625 from the floor. In addition, the junior from Wenatchee, Washington posted a match-best seven blocks. Sophomore Chase Doughty came off the bench for the Bocbats and added seven kills, a .250 attack mark, three digs and two blocks. Freshman libero Allyssa Rizzo posted a team-high 12 digs. On Friday night, Montana State's energy stayed with them for three games before Northern Colorado flexed its muscle out-hitting Montana State .478 to .080, while serving five aces in the fourth set to capture a 25-21, 25-22, 18-25, 25-12 decision over the Bobcats. Sophomore Natalie Passeck led MSU with a team-high 12 kills, while Bozeman product Caitlin Lonergan added 11 kills, seven digs and four service aces. Eli Svisco and Evi Wilson added eight and seven kills, respectively. MSU setters Katie Rutecki and Sydney Mathison dished out 21 and 18 assists, respectively. Rutecki also added nine digs. Defensively, MSU was paced by Rizzo who registered a match-high 20 digs. Black guided the Bobcats at the net with three blocks.

SEEING BLACK:
Junior Kiana Black averaged 2.14 kills and 1.43 blocks per set last weekend, while hitting an impressive .556 from the floor.

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET:
This season 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 received votes in the top 25 and Gonzaga. 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)

800/500 CLUB:
Senior Eli Svisco is a member of Montana State's 800 kills - 500 digs club. The fifth-year player has recorded 810 career kills and 562 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 last weekend as a common site had five freshmen and a sophomore on the court at one time against Northern Colorado and North Dakota (Caitlin Lonergan, Sydney Mathison, Allyssa Rizzo, Savannah Laws and Evi Wilson). The lone sophomore was Natalie Passeck.

SKY HIGH - BIG SKY CONFERENCE NOTES:
A week has changed a lot of things in Big Sky volleyball, as four more league tournament spots were clinched last weekend. With four matches left, the race for hosting rights and the remaining three bids is on. Idaho State, North Dakota, Northern Colorado and Sacramento State each clinched spots in the tournament, with three of those teams putting together 2-0 weeks along with Idaho. Sac State made a big statement handing Northern Arizona its first three-set loss this season, and also swept Southern Utah to move to 9-3. UND and UNC each went 2-0 in a trip to Montana, while the Fighting Hawks also picked up a sweep of rival North Dakota State in non-league action. NAU bounced back with a five-set victory at Portland State, who had previously swept SUU. Idaho made a big push towards the tournament picture, snapping ISU's seven-game winning streak and earning a road win at Eastern Washington. The Bengals bounced back with a 3-0 victory at Weber State to seal a tourney bid. EWU topped the Wildcats in five sets. The second to last week of conference play is up next, as league leaders continue to jock for the regular season title and other teams fight for bids. Both at 6-6 in the league, Eastern Washington and Portland State each hit the road in hopes of zeroing in on a spot in the tournament. EWU and Idaho each face fellow north division competition, taking on division leaders UND and UNC. PSU visits Montana, then takes on travel partner Sac State. WSU and Idaho are both 4-8 and tied for the final tourney spot. WSU and ISU will each host NAU and SUU. NAU is tied atop the overall standings with UND at 10-2, and both are looking to go 2-0 before the Lumberjacks and Fighting Hawks meet in Flagstaff in the final week of league play. UNC and Sac State are also trying to push for a regular season title. Sac State has its final road match at Montana State before hosting PSU. Round two of the Brawl of the Wild between Montana and MSU will be in Missoula Friday.

DIGGING IT:
Freshman libero Allyssa Rizzo has recorded 308 digs on the season, averaging 4.11 digs per set. The mark ranks her ninth in the Big Sky Conference. The Crestwood, Illinois product is averaging 3.86 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 (.39), while Allyssa Rizzo is eighth in digs (4.11 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 Oct. 1 a season-high 1,409 spectators jammed Shroyer Gym as the Bobcats handed rival Montana a 3-1 setback. MSU's 1,037 fans per game ranks 46th in the nation at the NCAA Division I level. The mark ranks higher than programs such as Notre Dame, Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, USC, Wyoming and Gonzaga. Only North Dakota (1,155) has a higher average attendance than Montana State in Big Sky Conference play.