Bobcats Fall in Four

Saturday, March 20

Ogden, UT

2 p.m.

Montana State University

10-3,10-3Big Sky

Weber State

14-1,14-1Big Sky

Montana St.

Weber St.

Kira Thomsen

3/20/2021 7:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“Weber State is a good team worthy of being No. 1,” said MSU head coach Daniel Jones. “We had our opportunities but weren’t able to capitalize. We had patches where we played very well, but we didn’t sustain that over a long period of time."

By: Tom Schulz

OGDEN, Utah – In a match tailored for Big Sky Conference supremacy, Weber State maintained a higher level of consistency over a longer period of time, and cashed in on Montana State miscues in the opening and closing sets to post a 25-21, 29-27, 15-25, 25-18 victory over the Bobcats on Saturday afternoon in Swenson Gym.

Weber State (14-1, 14-1) clinched the league's regular season title, while Montana State (10-3, 10-3) remained in second place, two-matches behind the Wildcats.

"Weber State is a good team worthy of being No. 1," said MSU head coach Daniel Jones. "We had our opportunities but weren't able to capitalize. We had patches where we played very well, but we didn't sustain that over a long period of time.

"We outhit them, and had more blocks and digs, but we just didn't control the things on our side of the net when we needed, too." Jones added. "I'd go to war with our team any day of the week. We have all the pieces; we just need to string everything together for the course of an entire match."

The match featured 29 ties and 13 lead changes, with the opening frame seeing the score even on 16 occasions. Weber State broke away from 20-all with a kill via Rylin Adams and a Bobcat setting error. WSU's 5-1 late set run was capped by another Adams winner.

The Wildcats held an 18-11 advantage in the second set before the Bobcats grabbed momentum behind a 13-6 run to even the contest at 24-all on a Kira Thomsen kill. MSU fought off three set points before owning a set point at 27-26 following a Wildcat hitting error. WSU's Dani Nay closed out the set with three consecutive kills.

Montana State came out of intermission pulling away from a 10-9 advantage with a 10-3 run behind three kills from Hannah Scott and two by Thomsen. A WSU hitting error gave the Bobcats a 20-12 lead and MSU cruised down the stretch winning on a Thomsen kill.

Weber State held a 13-12 lead near the midway mark of the fourth set and used a 9-2 run to take control of the match. MSU mounted a late comeback behind the blocking of Avery Turnage and Jourdain Klein, but WSU finished out the match on a service ace.

Thomsen paced the Bobcats with a match-high 22 kills, while Scott added 12. Thomsen, a sophomore from Parker, Colo., also recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 12 digs. MSU's middle blocking tandem of Turnage and Emma Pence combined for ten kills and a .321 attack mark. As a team, MSU outhit Weber State .211 to .177.

"Kira put the team on her back for a large portion of the match," Jones said. "Hannah was efficient, and we received a good spark from Lexi Goroski in the back row."

Defensively, the Bobcats were led at the net by Klein and Pence with six and five blocks, respectively.

The Bobcat block held Weber State's top outside hitters- Adams and Nay- to a .121 attack mark.

"We did a great job holding their outside hitters in check," Jones said. "I thought we did a great job executing the game plan, we just let the controllables get away from us."

Nay led three Wildcats in double-figures with 16 kills.

Montana State and Weber State will close out the regular season on Sunday at 4 p.m.