Bobcats come-from-behind victory closes out regular season

Saturday, November 19

Pocatello, ID

7 p.m.

Montana State University

13-15,9-7Big Sky

Idaho State

13-16,5-11Big Sky

Montana St.

Idaho St.

Delaney Shearan

Photo by: Idaho Sports Information

Bobcats come-from-behind victory closes out regular season

11/19/2022 10:45:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Tom Schulz

The Montana State volleyball team closed out a magical weekend for Bobcat Athletics, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to post a 26-28, 22-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-7 victory over Idaho State on Saturday night in Reed Gym.

After starting the weekend with a 3-0 sweep of then league-leading Weber State, the Montana State (13=15, 9-7) volleyball squad sat back and watched two basketball victories, a NCAA Cross Country appearance for the MSU men and the 121^st Brawl of the Wild victory over its arch-rival, before taking the court on Saturday night against the Bengals.

Montana State held two set points in the opening frame, before Idaho State (13-16, 5-11) closed out the game with three consecutive points. MSU found itself down by seven early in the second set before rattling off a 12-4 run to take its first lead at 16-15. With the set tied at 20-all, the Bengals scored two consecutive points and held on for the win, taking a 2-0 advantage into intermission.

"Idaho State played aggressively and were fighting for seeding in the Big Sky tournament," said MSU acting head coach Cole Aiazzi. "We played well in the first two sets, but we lost some momentum. We were able to scrap our way through and find a way to win. I really liked our weekend. Any time you can get two Big Sky road wins, you are doing something right."

Montana State out-hit Idaho State .247 to .090 in the final three sets, including .375 to -.095 in the fifth. In the final frame, MSU pulled away at 2-all with a 5-1 run and never looked back. The Bobcats capped the weekend on a block by Kira Thomsen and Jordan Radick.

"Like Thursday night, we had a lot of people contributing," Aiazzi said. "Different kids are doing different things. We have a lot of options, and that's what you want heading into postseason."

Thomsen paced MSU with 21 kills, while Radick and Courtney Weatherby also hit double-digits with 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Thomsen also finished with 10 digs, a season-best four aces and two blocks. Radick hit .571 and added five blocks, while Weatherby chipped in 11 digs, two aces and two blocks.

Setters Nellie Reese and Delaney Shearan dished out 23 and 19 assists, respectively, and Shearan posted a double-double adding 12 digs.

Defensively, Lauren Lindseth paced MSU with 20 digs and a season-high four aces. At the net, MSU was led by Jourdain Klein and Emma Pence with seven and five blocks.

The Bobcats will be the No. 6 seed at next week's Big Sky Tournament and will face host and No. 3 seed Weber State on Wednesday in Ogden, Utah. Match times have not been set.