Bobcats Upset Defending Big Sky Champs

Saturday, October 28

Grand Forks, ND

6 p.m.

Montana State University

8-13, 4-8Big Sky

North Dakota

24-5, 9-3Big Sky

Montana State

North Dakota

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

10/28/2017 10:31:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“We knew coming in that we matched-up well with them,” Jones said. “We game planned well and the players did an excellent job executing the plan. We played better as the match went on. It was nice that when we got pushed, we were able to push back.”

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State Head Coach Daniel Jones has talked all season about MSU playing its best in October and November. He got exactly what he was looking on Saturday night as the Bobcats upset defending Big Sky Conference champions North Dakota in the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center snapping the Fighting Hawks' 20-match home court win streak.

Montana State defeated UND 14-25, 25-23, 25-27, 28-26, 15-11.

"We knew coming in that we matched-up well with them," Jones said. "We game planned well and the players did an excellent job executing the plan. We played better as the match went on. It was nice that when we got pushed, we were able to push back."

North Dakota (24-5, 9-3) was in control after cruising to a first set win out-hitting Montana State (8-13, 4-8) .179 to .000.

In the second frame, the Bobcats built a 22-16 advantage following a Lexie Goroski service ace. A Natalie Passeck kill gave MSU a 24-21 lead, but the Fighting Hawks battled back to within 24-23. MSU freshman Kelsie White closed out the game stuffing North Dakota senior Faith Dooley to even the contest heading into intermission.

"We got a nice lift from Evi (White) in the second set and I thought (Katie) Rutecki did a nice job distributing the ball," Jones said. "Rutecki mixed it up well at critical moments."

MSU held a 24-22 lead in the third set following a Rutecki tip, but again, UND answered with a 5-1 run to close out the frame and take a 2-1 match advantage.

Trailing 15-11 in the fourth set, it was the Bobcats that used an 8-3 run to take a 19-18 lead on a Kiana Black block. MSU held the lead until the Fighting Hawks went up 25-24. Back-to-back kills by White and Black gave the Cats a 26-25 lead, but UND fought off set point to even the game at 26-all. MSU then received kills by Wilson and Black to win the set.

In the deciding set, Montana State got out to an early 5-2 margin on a Passeck winner. North Dakota countered with a 6-2 run to take its first lead at 8-7. The Fighting Hawks increased its advantage to 10-8 on a kill by Jordan Vail and a service ace.

Following a Montana State timeout, the Bobcats scored two straight points and evened the set at 10-all on a Black kill. UND earned the next point following a MSU hitting miscue. It would prove to be their last point of the match as the Bobcats closed out the upset on a 5-0 run capped by Passeck's 18^th kill of the night.

"It was a total team effort," Jones said. "Offensively and defensively we were hitting on all cylinders. I thought we were able to slow them down a bit. UND is a very good team with veteran talent. It's too early to say this is a signature win for our program. It was a great match. We're starting to get there and we're learning that when we are not battling our own demons, we are a very talented and capable team."

Black guided MSU with a career-matching 20 kills. Aside from Black and Passeck, freshman Hannah Scott also reach double-figures with 12 kills. Defensively, four Bobcats reach double-digit digs lead by Allyssa Rizzo 27, Goroski 17, Rutecki 12, and Scott 10. Rutecki finished with a career-high 60 assists, as well.

Montana State will play at Sacramento State on Thursday night.