Thursday, August 30
Portland, OR
8 p.m.
Montana State University
at
Portland
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Bobcats Travel to Rose City for North Portland Marriott Classic
8/29/2018 4:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
After playing in the Cleveland State Invitational last weekend, the Montana State volleyball team will make a 180 and head to the Rose City to take part in the University of Portland’s North Portland Marriott Invite.
MONTANA STATE VOLLEYBALL NOTES l PDF
BOBCATS ROSE CITY BOUND:
After playing in the Cleveland State Invitational last weekend, the Montana State volleyball team will make a 180 and head to the Rose City to take part in the University of Portland's North Portland Marriott Invite. The Bobcats will open play against the Pilots, Thursday, Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. (MT). MSU will also face LIU Brooklyn on Friday at 4 p.m., and Wyoming on Saturday at 11 a.m.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENTS:
Portland went 3-0 to win the San Diego State Invitational last weekend with victories over Bakersfield (3-0), Campbell (3-0) and SDSU (3-1). The Pilots were paced by Shayla Hoeft, who averaged 3.80 kills per set with a .457 attack mark. LIU Brooklyn went 1-2 at the UNLV Invitational last weekend. The Blackbirds defeated Southern Utah (3-0) before dropping matches to Indiana and UNLV. Wyoming also went 3-0 last weekend at the Rumble of the Rockies, defeating North Florida (3-0), Oral Roberts (3-0) and No. 15 Colorado (3-2).
Opponent: Portland (4,383)
Nickname: Pilots
Head Coach: Jeff Baxter
2018 Record: 3-0 overall; 0-0/West Coast
Opponent: LIU Brooklyn (8,623)
Nickname: Blackbirds
Head Coach: Ken Ko
2018 Record: 1-2 overall; 0-0/Northeast Conference
Opponent: Wyoming (12,600)
Nickname: Cowgirls
Head Coach: Chad Callihan
2018 Record: 3-0 overall; 0-0/Mountain West
SIDE OUTS:
* Montana State is now 22-17 all-time in season-openers with its 3-2 win over Canisius
* The Bobcats are 4-2 all-time against Portland dating back to Sept. 4, 1993
* Portland has won the last two matches vs. the Cats- the last being on Aug. 28, 2009
* Friday will be the first meeting between Montana State and LIU Brooklyn
* Wyoming holds an 11-6 lead in its all-time series with MSU dating back to 1980
* Wyoming won the last meeting with MSU 3-1 in Laramie on Aug. 31, 2013
* Thirteen of MSU's 17 rostered players have been in the program two years or less
*The last tournament title for MSU came last year at the Utah State Invitational
SUPER SAVER:
Junior libero Allyssa Rizzo had an outstanding weekend for the Bobcats anchoring the back row. The Crestwood, Ill., product play in all three matches and 11 sets and averaged 5.18 digs and .55 aces per contest. Rizzo notched 29 digs in MSU's opening win over Canisius and ended the Cleveland State Invitational with 19 saves against Binghamton. She also got the job done at the service line with six aces, three each coming against Canisius and Binghamton. For her efforts, Rizzo was named to the CSU All-Tournament team. In her third season as MSU's starting libero, Rizzo has notched 901 career digs, and is just 99 saves away from becoming the ninth member Montana State's 1,000-Dig Club.
PINTEREST:
As a unit Montana State's outside hitters manned the pins pretty well last weekend, producing 103 kills, while hitting .217 from the floor. Natalie Passeck led the way, averaging 4.18 kills per set with a .331 attack mark. The Parker, Colo., native recorded 21 kills in MSU's win over Canisius, falling just one kill shy of matching her career-best. Passeck had an outstanding hitting line in MSU's sweep of Binghamton, notching a .377 hitting percentage on 18 kills with no errors on 33 attempts. Junior Evi Wilson was right behind Passeck, averaging 3.00 kills per set with a .239 attack mark. Sophomore Hannah Scott gave the Bobcats a nice spark off the bench in the fifth set against Canisius recording seven kills and hitting .636 from the floor.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:
As a team, the Bobcats rank in the top five in seven Big Sky Conference statistical categories. MSU is ranked fourth in aces per set (1.64), kills per set (12.45) and team service aces (18). The Cats are ranked fifth in the league in assists per set (11.45), digs per set (17.00) and hitting percentage (.190). Montana State is also ranked among the top 100 in NCAA Division I in digs per set (52nd), team digs (81st-187), team service aces (83rd), aces per set (84th) and team attacks (94th-36.27). Individually, Natalie Passeck ranks second in the Big Sky and 58th in the nation averaging 4.18 kills per set. Passeck's 4.36 points per set is third best in the Big Sky. Allyssa Rizzo ranks second in the league with .55 aces per set, which is 89th best in the country. Her 5.18 digs per set is sixth best in the Big Sky and 56th in the nation. Sophomore setter Carina Lehto's 10.36 assists per set are fourth best in the conference and 66th in the nation.
HARD BLOCK CAFE:
Last season in MSU's win over Pacific, freshman Kelsie White notched 15 blocks, including 14 block assists. The 14 blocks assist was a Bobcat school-record, breaking the mark of 13 held by Karen Weyler (1994) and Mindy Nowak (1998). The 15 blocks were the second highest total in the nation last fall, and White's 1.08 blocks per game were the 13th best average produced by a freshmen in the country.
THE RIGHT STUFF:
The Bobcats ended the 2017 season ranked No. 213, which was a 46 spot leap up the rankings for 259 at the end of the 2016 season. In, all the Bobcats defeated five teams ranked higher than them in the final RPI, including No. 71 North Dakota, No. 99 Pacific, No. 151 Gonzaga, No. 164 Utah State and No. 182 UC Santa Barbara.
IT'S ALL-ACADEMIC:
Six Bobcat players that received All-Big Sky Conference Academic accolades in 2017 return to the MSU rotation. They include Lexi Goroski, Libby Christensen, Sydney Mathison, Hannah Scott, Allyssa Rizzo and Kelsie White.
BOBCATS ROSE CITY BOUND:
After playing in the Cleveland State Invitational last weekend, the Montana State volleyball team will make a 180 and head to the Rose City to take part in the University of Portland's North Portland Marriott Invite. The Bobcats will open play against the Pilots, Thursday, Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. (MT). MSU will also face LIU Brooklyn on Friday at 4 p.m., and Wyoming on Saturday at 11 a.m.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENTS:
Portland went 3-0 to win the San Diego State Invitational last weekend with victories over Bakersfield (3-0), Campbell (3-0) and SDSU (3-1). The Pilots were paced by Shayla Hoeft, who averaged 3.80 kills per set with a .457 attack mark. LIU Brooklyn went 1-2 at the UNLV Invitational last weekend. The Blackbirds defeated Southern Utah (3-0) before dropping matches to Indiana and UNLV. Wyoming also went 3-0 last weekend at the Rumble of the Rockies, defeating North Florida (3-0), Oral Roberts (3-0) and No. 15 Colorado (3-2).
Opponent: Portland (4,383)
Nickname: Pilots
Head Coach: Jeff Baxter
2018 Record: 3-0 overall; 0-0/West Coast
Opponent: LIU Brooklyn (8,623)
Nickname: Blackbirds
Head Coach: Ken Ko
2018 Record: 1-2 overall; 0-0/Northeast Conference
Opponent: Wyoming (12,600)
Nickname: Cowgirls
Head Coach: Chad Callihan
2018 Record: 3-0 overall; 0-0/Mountain West
SIDE OUTS:
* Montana State is now 22-17 all-time in season-openers with its 3-2 win over Canisius
* The Bobcats are 4-2 all-time against Portland dating back to Sept. 4, 1993
* Portland has won the last two matches vs. the Cats- the last being on Aug. 28, 2009
* Friday will be the first meeting between Montana State and LIU Brooklyn
* Wyoming holds an 11-6 lead in its all-time series with MSU dating back to 1980
* Wyoming won the last meeting with MSU 3-1 in Laramie on Aug. 31, 2013
* Thirteen of MSU's 17 rostered players have been in the program two years or less
*The last tournament title for MSU came last year at the Utah State Invitational
SUPER SAVER:
Junior libero Allyssa Rizzo had an outstanding weekend for the Bobcats anchoring the back row. The Crestwood, Ill., product play in all three matches and 11 sets and averaged 5.18 digs and .55 aces per contest. Rizzo notched 29 digs in MSU's opening win over Canisius and ended the Cleveland State Invitational with 19 saves against Binghamton. She also got the job done at the service line with six aces, three each coming against Canisius and Binghamton. For her efforts, Rizzo was named to the CSU All-Tournament team. In her third season as MSU's starting libero, Rizzo has notched 901 career digs, and is just 99 saves away from becoming the ninth member Montana State's 1,000-Dig Club.
PINTEREST:
As a unit Montana State's outside hitters manned the pins pretty well last weekend, producing 103 kills, while hitting .217 from the floor. Natalie Passeck led the way, averaging 4.18 kills per set with a .331 attack mark. The Parker, Colo., native recorded 21 kills in MSU's win over Canisius, falling just one kill shy of matching her career-best. Passeck had an outstanding hitting line in MSU's sweep of Binghamton, notching a .377 hitting percentage on 18 kills with no errors on 33 attempts. Junior Evi Wilson was right behind Passeck, averaging 3.00 kills per set with a .239 attack mark. Sophomore Hannah Scott gave the Bobcats a nice spark off the bench in the fifth set against Canisius recording seven kills and hitting .636 from the floor.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:
As a team, the Bobcats rank in the top five in seven Big Sky Conference statistical categories. MSU is ranked fourth in aces per set (1.64), kills per set (12.45) and team service aces (18). The Cats are ranked fifth in the league in assists per set (11.45), digs per set (17.00) and hitting percentage (.190). Montana State is also ranked among the top 100 in NCAA Division I in digs per set (52nd), team digs (81st-187), team service aces (83rd), aces per set (84th) and team attacks (94th-36.27). Individually, Natalie Passeck ranks second in the Big Sky and 58th in the nation averaging 4.18 kills per set. Passeck's 4.36 points per set is third best in the Big Sky. Allyssa Rizzo ranks second in the league with .55 aces per set, which is 89th best in the country. Her 5.18 digs per set is sixth best in the Big Sky and 56th in the nation. Sophomore setter Carina Lehto's 10.36 assists per set are fourth best in the conference and 66th in the nation.
HARD BLOCK CAFE:
Last season in MSU's win over Pacific, freshman Kelsie White notched 15 blocks, including 14 block assists. The 14 blocks assist was a Bobcat school-record, breaking the mark of 13 held by Karen Weyler (1994) and Mindy Nowak (1998). The 15 blocks were the second highest total in the nation last fall, and White's 1.08 blocks per game were the 13th best average produced by a freshmen in the country.
THE RIGHT STUFF:
The Bobcats ended the 2017 season ranked No. 213, which was a 46 spot leap up the rankings for 259 at the end of the 2016 season. In, all the Bobcats defeated five teams ranked higher than them in the final RPI, including No. 71 North Dakota, No. 99 Pacific, No. 151 Gonzaga, No. 164 Utah State and No. 182 UC Santa Barbara.
IT'S ALL-ACADEMIC:
Six Bobcat players that received All-Big Sky Conference Academic accolades in 2017 return to the MSU rotation. They include Lexi Goroski, Libby Christensen, Sydney Mathison, Hannah Scott, Allyssa Rizzo and Kelsie White.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Volleyball
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