Cats Drop Big Sky Opener

Thursday, September 21

Moscow, ID

8 p.m.

Montana State University

4-6, 0-1

Idaho

6-6, 1-0

Montana State

Idaho

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

9/21/2017 10:58:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“We showed our inexperience, but I think everyone came away from the match with a hunger to improve,” Jones stated. “We need to step-up and step-in. We’ll make some changes with our execution and work on getting better.”

By: Tom Schulz

Playing without its top offensive performer the Montana State volleyball team struggled to put points on the board as Idaho handed the Bobcats a 25-19, 25-14, 25-12 setback in the Big Sky opener for both squads, Thursday night in Memorial Gym.

Sophomore Savannah Laws picked up the offensive chores for Montana State (4-6, 0-1) with a team-best eight kills. Junior Natalie Passeck, who is averaging just under 3.00 kills per set, is sidelined with an injury. Laws also finished with a team-best .278 attack mark.

"Natalie is a steady influence for us on the court and without her we struggled a bit with our personality," said MSU head coach Daniel Jones. "We had a hard time establishing our block and we were a little timid on the offensive side of the net."

Defensively, the Bobcats were paced by libero Allyssa Rizzo with a team-high ten digs. Freshmen Libby Christensen and Lexie Goroski added seven and four saves, respectively.

"I thought those three did a nice job in the back row," Jones said. The Bobcats out-dug Idaho (6-6, 1-0) 37-36.

"We showed our inexperience, but I think everyone came away from the match with a hunger to improve," Jones stated. "We need to step-up and step-in. We'll make some changes with our execution and work on getting better."

MSU will play at Eastern Washington on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles defeated Montana 3-1 on Thursday night in Cheney.