Bobcat Rally Douses Hornets

Saturday, October 26

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

Sacramento State

Freshman Kira Thomsen

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

10/26/2019 11:05:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Tom Schulz

Behind a career-high 22 kills from freshman Kira Thomsen and a career-high 20 kills by Hannah Scott, the Montana State volleyball team rallied for a 21-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-16, 19-17 victory over Sacramento State on Saturday night in Shroyer Gym.

The victory snapped a 13-match losing streak to the Hornets dating back to Oct. 15, 2010.

Montana State (10-9, 6-4) played without two of its starters as Evi Wilson and Kelsie White were sidelined with injury and illness. Sophomore Hailey Merkes and freshman Kaycee O'Dell stepped into the starting rotation and helped lift MSU to its sixth Big Sky Conference win, matching last season's total.

"I'm super proud of the whole team," said MSU head coach Daniel Jones. "I've said all along that the strength of the team is the team. To have Hailey and Kaycee come in and execute their roles is awesome."

Sacramento State (11-12, 6-4) pulled away at the midway mark of the opening set with a 6-1 run and held the margin for the remainder of the frame as MSU looked to find its rhythm in its serve-receive game.
"We had the passing yips early on and they weren't passing well either," Jones commented. "It was a tough passing night for both teams early, but each found its rhythm later. Statistically, you couldn't find a closer match."

The second set featured ten ties and six lead changes before the Bobcats pulled away at 22-all on a Thomsen kill and a Hornet hitting error. MSU captured the set on a kill be Emma Pence.
Sacramento State took control of the match coming out of intermission jumping to a 17-10 lead, before the Bobcats closed to within 18-15 on a Merkes kill. The Hornets closed out the set on a 7-2 run to take a 2-1 advantage.

MSU flipped the table in the fourth stanza owning a 17-9 lead following a Sacramento State hitting miscue. The Bobcats received a kill via Scott on set point to force a fifth and deciding game.

"The fun thing was to see the passion we have to do things that we haven't done," Jones said. "What you witnessed tonight was grit born out of that desire to leave it better than they found it. There were moments where it wasn't the cleanest, but the found a way to do it and that's what good teams do."

In the final set, Montana State got out to an early 7-4 lead following a Sac State hitting error. At 14-12, the Bobcats held two match points that the Hornets rejected. The Cats kept the pressure on Sacramento State with three more set points before winning the match on a Hornet hitting error coupled with a Scott kill.

"In sets four and five I thought Hannah Scott was just enormous," Jones said. "And Kira turned the after-burners on. I'm really proud of the team for how they remained calm in those multiple set points. We play the game to feel that type of pressure and relish it and it was great to see them go out and do something special together. That was a neat experience for them to have."

Also recording double-figure kills was Pence with ten. The product of Carson City, Nev., also paced the Bobcats with a match-high seven blocks. Defensively, four Cats posted double-digit digs led by Allyssa Rizzo 26, Thomsen 18, Allie Lynch 16 and Scott 11.

Sarah Davis paced Sacramento State with 26 kills and 21 digs.

Montana State will host Montana in the Brawl of the Wild match on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. in Shroyer Gym. The Bobcats defeated the Grizzlies in the first matchup, 3-0, in Missoula on Sept. 24.