Friday, August 30
Fayetteville, AR
9 a.m.
Montana State University
3
vs
0
Arkansas Little Rock
The Bobcat volleyball team celebrates its victory over UA Little Rock on Friday morning.
Photo by: Jack Murrey
Serving Notice: Bobcats Open Season with Sweep of Little Rock
8/30/2019 1:24:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Montana State volleyball team opened its 2019 season sweeping Arkansas Little Rock 25-11, 25-11, 25-21 to open the University of Arkansas Classic, Friday morning in historic Barnhill Arena.
The Montana State volleyball team opened its 2019 season sweeping Arkansas Little Rock 25-11, 25-11, 25-21 to open the University of Arkansas Classic, Friday morning in historic Barnhill Arena.
Montana State (1-0) took control of the match early, establishing itself at the service line. The Bobcats posted five aces in the opening set, while out-hitting Little Rock (0-1) .281 to .000. Junior Kelsie White gave MSU a 1-0 advantage finding the open court on a tip shot.
"Serving is where it started for us," said third-year head coach Daniel Jones. "We were able to keep them under a lot of pressure. And, that's the cornerstone of our defense and our transition offense."
The Bobcats kept the momentum in the second set building a 21-7 advantage on another White kill. MSU closed out the set with on service ace via Libby Christensen.
"I think our preseason energy and focus is the highest I've experienced in my career at Montana State," Jones said. "And, that was expressed by the team in the first two sets."
The third set featured eight ties before the Bobcats broke away at 20-all following an Evi Wilson kill. White and Allie Lynch teamed for a block and Lynch added a kill to give MSU a three-point advantage. Two Trojan miscues gave MSU the match.
"We were very efficient today," Jones said. "I thought Allie did a nice job distributing the ball. Our hitters did a nice job swinging high, swinging with range and using their toolbox.
"We got the block established midway through the match," Jones continued. "We talked about tidying that up and working hard on pressing over low and taking away the cross court with our inside arm. I thought Kelsie and Emma (Pence) really did a nice job with that in the later part of the match."
Freshman Kira Thomsen paced MSU with a match-high ten kills. The product of Parker, Colo. hit an impressive .346 from the floor and added six digs. Wilson finished with nine kills, eight digs and four blocks, while White ended with six kills, a .308 attack mark and a match-best five blocks.
Lynch, a native of Bozeman, dished out 29 assists, while adding six digs and three aces. Defensively, the Bobcats were led by Allyssa Rizzo and Hannah Scott with 18 and ten digs, respectively.
Little Rock was paced by Janae Thurston with seven kills.
MSU will face Northwestern State at 4 p.m. (MT) on Friday.
Montana State (1-0) took control of the match early, establishing itself at the service line. The Bobcats posted five aces in the opening set, while out-hitting Little Rock (0-1) .281 to .000. Junior Kelsie White gave MSU a 1-0 advantage finding the open court on a tip shot.
"Serving is where it started for us," said third-year head coach Daniel Jones. "We were able to keep them under a lot of pressure. And, that's the cornerstone of our defense and our transition offense."
The Bobcats kept the momentum in the second set building a 21-7 advantage on another White kill. MSU closed out the set with on service ace via Libby Christensen.
"I think our preseason energy and focus is the highest I've experienced in my career at Montana State," Jones said. "And, that was expressed by the team in the first two sets."
The third set featured eight ties before the Bobcats broke away at 20-all following an Evi Wilson kill. White and Allie Lynch teamed for a block and Lynch added a kill to give MSU a three-point advantage. Two Trojan miscues gave MSU the match.
"We were very efficient today," Jones said. "I thought Allie did a nice job distributing the ball. Our hitters did a nice job swinging high, swinging with range and using their toolbox.
"We got the block established midway through the match," Jones continued. "We talked about tidying that up and working hard on pressing over low and taking away the cross court with our inside arm. I thought Kelsie and Emma (Pence) really did a nice job with that in the later part of the match."
Freshman Kira Thomsen paced MSU with a match-high ten kills. The product of Parker, Colo. hit an impressive .346 from the floor and added six digs. Wilson finished with nine kills, eight digs and four blocks, while White ended with six kills, a .308 attack mark and a match-best five blocks.
Lynch, a native of Bozeman, dished out 29 assists, while adding six digs and three aces. Defensively, the Bobcats were led by Allyssa Rizzo and Hannah Scott with 18 and ten digs, respectively.
Little Rock was paced by Janae Thurston with seven kills.
MSU will face Northwestern State at 4 p.m. (MT) on Friday.
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
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