Thomsen Sets MSU Career Kills Mark; Cats Fall to Bears in Four

Thursday, November 2

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

14-7,7-4Big Sky

Northern Colorado

12-10,7-4Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Montana St.

Kira Thomsen set the all-time MSU carteer kills record on Thursday night against Northern Colorado.

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

Thomsen Sets MSU Career Kills Mark; Cats Fall to Bears in Four

11/2/2023 10:01:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Thomsen’s first kill was a hard swing that deflected off the UNC block out-of-bounds. It gave the Parker, Colo., product 1,452 career kills, moving her ahead of Diane Terrall who held the record since 1981. Thomsen finished the match with 13 kills.

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State senior outside hitter Kira Thomsen set the all-time MSU career kills record with her first swing of the match but the rest of the contest belonged to Northern Colorado as the Bears posted a 22-25, 25-12, 25-17, 25-11 win over the Bobcats on Thursday night in Shroyer Gym.

Northern Colorado (12-10, 7-4) out hit Montana State (14-7, 7-4) .435 to .026 and held sizeable advantages in kills (59-29) and digs (55-30) over the four sets.

MSU used a late surge in the opening set with a 4-1 run to take a 1-0 advantage.

"I thought the first set was okay, but we were far from being really good," said MSU head coach Matt Houk. "We were fortunate they missed a lot of serves and we were able to produce six aces which covered a lot of areas we were struggling in, but by far, if you compare it to the rest of the match, that was the most in control of ourselves we were."

UNC outhit MSU .542 to .042 in the second set as all-Big Sky performer Makenzie Harris recorded five kills on five swings. The Bears held a one-point lead at the media timeout in set three and came out of the huddle on an 8-1 run to secure the win. Northern Colorado kept its momentum in the final frame, outhitting the Bobcats .292 to -.115.

"It was choppy," Houk said. "We didn't have a lot of rhythm start to finish."

Thomsen's first kill was a hard swing that deflected off the UNC block out-of-bounds. It gave the Parker, Colo., product 1,452 career kills, moving her ahead of Diane Terrall who held the record since 1981. Thomsen finished the match with 13 kills.

"It's kind of a bummer that Kira sets the record on a night where we don't perform well," Houk said. "I hope the fans and the community understand what a big accomplishment it is to go down in the record books, that you are the kill leader. It's a heavy load to carry, and she's carried it her whole career."

Thomsen also finished with two aces and a team-high nine digs.

Harris led UNC with a match-high 17 kills and 14 digs.

Montana State hosts Northern Arizona on Saturday night at 7 p.m., in Shroyer Gym.