Thursday, August 31
St. Paul, MN
6 p.m. (MT)
Montana State University
at
St. Thomas
Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services
Cats Travel to Land of 10,000 Lakes
8/30/2023 3:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
The Montana State volleyball team will take to the road for the first time this season when it competes in the Tommie Invitational hosted by St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. Aug. 31 - Sept. 2 at Schoenecker Arena.
TOMMIE INVITATIONAL:
The Montana State volleyball team will take to the road for the first time this season when it competes in the Tommie Invitational hosted by St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. Aug. 31 - Sept. 2 at Schoenecker Arena. The Bobcats face St. Thomas on Thursday at 6 p.m. (MT); Milwaukee on Friday at 3 p.m. (MT); and Cal Baptist on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. (MT).
MATT HOUK ERA:
The Matt Houk era at Montana State started with a bang as the first-year head coach went 3-0 on the weekend. Montana State's 3-1 win over Kennesaw State and Saturday night gave Houk his 100th career victory. Houk was named the 12th head coach in Bobcat history on Jan. 13, 2023. He previously served nine seasons at the University of Minnesota, including the last four years as associate head coach for the Golden Gophers. Houk joined Minnesota after a successful six-year stint at the University of South Dakota. At USD, he saw the Coyotes transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. In his tenure in Vermillion, Houk posted a 97-85 record and accumulated a .533 winning percentage, which was the best in school history. He has also served as an assistant at Green Bay and Milwaukee.
BIG SKY OFFENSIVE POW:
Senior outside Kira Thomsen was named Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Thomsen helped MSU to a 3-0 mark, including a 3-2 win over Power 5 foe Oregon State. Thomsen was in double-digit kills in all three matches, including a weekend-best 17 kills against Kennesaw State. She had her best match as the Bobcats defeated former Big Sky foe North Dakota. Against the Fighting Hawks she posted 14 kills, a .268 attack mark, and five service aces. Thomsen registered 14 kills, eight digs, one ace and a block against OSU. For the weekend, she totaled 45 kills, averaging 3.46 per set. She also recorded 55.5 points, averaging 4.27 per outing. In addition, Thomsen added seven aces, averaged 1.69 digs per set and notched seven blocks.
SEASON OPENERS:
Since the 1980 campaign the Bobcats are 25-19 in season openers, after dispatching Pac-12 foe Oregon State 3-2 on Friday afternoon in Shroyer Gym.
SCOUTING REPORT:
Montana State faces host St. Thomas in its first match on Thursday night in St. Paul, Minn. The Tommies opened their season going 0-3 at the University of Illinois Chicago Tournament last weekend in the Windy City. St. Thomas dropped a pair of matches on Friday, losing to UIC 3-2 and 3-1. Oakland handed the Tommies a 3-1 setback on Saturday afternoon. For the weekend, St. Thomas was led by Lauren Galvin, who averaged 2.83 kills and Ellie Gustafson, who chipped in 2.60 kills per set. Freshman setter Morgan Kealy made her collegiate debut racking up 114 assists, averaging 8.77 per contest.
BOBCATS VS. TOMMIES:
MSU and St. Thomas met for the first-time last season at the Bobcat Classic with the Tommies holding on for a 28-26, 22-25, 25-23, 19-25, 20-18 decision. Courtney Weatherby paced the Bobcats with 20 kills, while Emma Goerger had 18 for St. Thomas.
BOBCATS VS. PANTHERS:
Montana State and Milwaukee will meet for the first time on Friday at the Tommie Invitational. Montana State head coach Matt Houk got his collegiate coaching start at Milwaukee serving as an assistant coach in 2002 and 2003. The Panthers enter the week 0-3 after dropping three matches at the Western Michigan Tournament. Milwaukee dropped a 3-1 decision to WMU on Friday before suffering a pair of losses to Northern Iowa (3-0) and Villanova (3-2) on Saturday. Last weekend, the Panthers were led by Ari Miller, a 6-1 middle blocker, and Natalie Schmitz, a 6-1 sophomore outside hitter, as the duo averaged 3.08 and 2.92 kills per set, respectively. As a team, the Panthers hit .202 from the field. MKE head coach Susie Johnson is familiar with the Big Sky Conference and Montana State. As Susie Ketchum she was the Big Sky MVP in 1990 playing for Idaho State and led the Bengals to the NCAA Tournament.
BOBCATS VS. LANCERS:
Montana State and Cal Baptist meet for the first time on Saturday morning. The Lancers opened their season going 1-2 at the Santa Clara/San Jose Invitational. CBU dropped two matches on Friday - Jacksonville University (3-2) and Santa Clara (3-1) - before responding with a 3-1 decision over Cal State Northridge. Michalina Rola, a 6-0 senior outside hitter from Jastkow, Poland, led the Lancers in its three matches averaging 3.31 kills and 3.23 digs per set with a .192 attack mark. She also recorded a team-high nine service aces and added two blocks.
WE GET THE POINT:
Montana State has two players ranked among the Big Sky's top 10 in points per set after the opening weekend of play. Senior Kira Thomsen is currently third in the league averaging 3.46 per contest, while junior Jourdain (Klein) Kamps averages 3.00 per contest.
PACKING THE PLACE:
Montana State finished 39th in the nation averaging 1,292 fans per game, last fall. On Sept. 30, 2022, Montana State set a Big Sky Conference and State of Montana record when 6,457 fans jammed Worthington Arena. MSU's average attendance was higher than notable programs such as Indiana, UCLA, LSU, and Notre Dame.
TOUTING THOMSEN:
Senior outside hitter Kira Thomsen was an All-Big Sky Conference First Team selection last fall after leading the Bobcats in kills per set (3.80), service aces (.34), and points per set (4.32). Thomsen, a native of Parker, Colo., missed the first 14 matches of the season, before returning to the starting rotation three matches into the Big Sky slate. For the season, Thomsen notched 15 double-doubles and had a career-high 32 kills in MSU's 3-2 win over Portland State. Her 1,183 career kills rank sixth on MSU's all-time kills chart and her 3,297 total career attacks ranks seventh all-time. On Nov. 18, 2022, Thomsen was named the GameChanger/AVCA Division National Player of the Week (the first in MSU history) after averaging 6.0 kills and 6.4 points per set as MSU knocked off Portland State and Sacramento State. Last weekend, she totaled 45 kills, seven aces, seven blocks and 22 digs. Thomsen had a weekend-best 17 kills against Kennesaw State. Here best outing came against North Dakota with 14 kills, a .268 attack mar, five aces, six digs and five blocks.
THE MENACE FROM ENNIS:
Jourdain (Klein) Kamps got her junior campaign off to a great start at the Bobcat/Blackridge Invite over the weekend. Kamps averaged 3.00 kills and 1.77 digs per set, while hitting .346 from the field. The native of Ennis, Mont., was solid in all three matches for the Bobcats posting a weekend-best 14 kills against Kennesaw State with a .379 attack mark. She also registered ten digs against the Owls for her first double-double of the season. Kamps is ranked ninth in the Big Sky with a .346 attack mark and her 3.00 kills per set is tenth best in the league. Kamps was a Second Team All-Big Sky pick in the spring of 2021 after averaging 1.49 kills and .97 blocks per set in the shortened 15-match season. Last year, she played in all 30 matches and 122 sets, totaling 242 kills (1.98 kps). She recorded a career-high 23 kills at Eastern Washington and had six matches hitting .300 or better. Kamps also posted 100 blocks, averaging .82 per contest.
GOTTA DIG IT:
After the opening weekend of play MSU liber Lauren Lindseth is tenth in the Big Sky averaging 3.23 saves per game. She was in double-digits digs in all three matches with a weekend-best 20 digs in the season-opener against Oregon State. Lindseth, a native of Great Falls, Mont., led the Bobcats with 475 digs last fall, averaging 3.89 per contest. She played in all 30 matches and 122 sets and was in double-digit digs in 22 matches, including a streak of 13 consecutive matches in double-figures. In addition, she went over the 20-dig plateau on nine occasions, including a career-best 32 saves in MSU's upset of Boise State. Her 475 digs last fall ranked fifth in a single season at MSU. Lindseth earned All-Big Sky Tournament honors after averaging 3.56 digs in two matches, which included 24 digs in MSU's quarterfinal upset over Weber State in Ogden, Utah. She also guided the Bobcats from the service line with a team-best 33 aces.
LINDSETH LEGACY:
Sophomore libero Lauren Lindseth is part of Bobcat history as one-half of the first mother/daughter duo to play volleyball at MSU. Lindseth's mother - Kelly Modrow - played for the Blue and Gold from 1992-1996. The native of Minnetonka, Minn., (Hopkins HS) played in 110 matches and 359 sets. In all, Modrow's career totals include: 889 kills, 733 digs, 128 blocks and 87 service aces wearing the No. 2 jersey, as well.
HARD BLOCK CAFE`:
Montana State finished the opening weekend averaging 2.23 blocks per set, which included a match-best 15 blocks (2 BS, 26 BA) against North Dakota. MSU's two middle blockers - Avery Turnage and Camryn Greenwald rank third and tenth in the Big Sky Conference averaging 1.36 and .85 blocks per set, respectively. Turnage, a senior from Idaho Falls, recorded a career-high 10 blocks in Montana State's 3-1 win over North Dakota on Friday night. Greenwald, a sophomore from Woodbury, Minn., opened the season with six blocks against Oregon State and backed up the performance with four against former Big Sky foe North Dakota.
LENDING A HAND:
Junior setters Audrey Hofer and Nellie Stevenson each saw action in the opening weekend. Hofer averaged 7.45 assists per set, which ranks fifth in the Big Sky. The Helena Capital product dished out a weekend-best 35 assists in MSU's 3-1 victory over Kennesaw State on Saturday night. Stevenson, a transfer from Feather River College, totaled 40 assists on the weekend, averaging 4.00 per contest. She posted a weekend-high 21 assists in MSU's win over Oregon State.
The Montana State volleyball team will take to the road for the first time this season when it competes in the Tommie Invitational hosted by St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. Aug. 31 - Sept. 2 at Schoenecker Arena. The Bobcats face St. Thomas on Thursday at 6 p.m. (MT); Milwaukee on Friday at 3 p.m. (MT); and Cal Baptist on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. (MT).
MATT HOUK ERA:
The Matt Houk era at Montana State started with a bang as the first-year head coach went 3-0 on the weekend. Montana State's 3-1 win over Kennesaw State and Saturday night gave Houk his 100th career victory. Houk was named the 12th head coach in Bobcat history on Jan. 13, 2023. He previously served nine seasons at the University of Minnesota, including the last four years as associate head coach for the Golden Gophers. Houk joined Minnesota after a successful six-year stint at the University of South Dakota. At USD, he saw the Coyotes transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. In his tenure in Vermillion, Houk posted a 97-85 record and accumulated a .533 winning percentage, which was the best in school history. He has also served as an assistant at Green Bay and Milwaukee.
BIG SKY OFFENSIVE POW:
Senior outside Kira Thomsen was named Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Thomsen helped MSU to a 3-0 mark, including a 3-2 win over Power 5 foe Oregon State. Thomsen was in double-digit kills in all three matches, including a weekend-best 17 kills against Kennesaw State. She had her best match as the Bobcats defeated former Big Sky foe North Dakota. Against the Fighting Hawks she posted 14 kills, a .268 attack mark, and five service aces. Thomsen registered 14 kills, eight digs, one ace and a block against OSU. For the weekend, she totaled 45 kills, averaging 3.46 per set. She also recorded 55.5 points, averaging 4.27 per outing. In addition, Thomsen added seven aces, averaged 1.69 digs per set and notched seven blocks.
SEASON OPENERS:
Since the 1980 campaign the Bobcats are 25-19 in season openers, after dispatching Pac-12 foe Oregon State 3-2 on Friday afternoon in Shroyer Gym.
SCOUTING REPORT:
Montana State faces host St. Thomas in its first match on Thursday night in St. Paul, Minn. The Tommies opened their season going 0-3 at the University of Illinois Chicago Tournament last weekend in the Windy City. St. Thomas dropped a pair of matches on Friday, losing to UIC 3-2 and 3-1. Oakland handed the Tommies a 3-1 setback on Saturday afternoon. For the weekend, St. Thomas was led by Lauren Galvin, who averaged 2.83 kills and Ellie Gustafson, who chipped in 2.60 kills per set. Freshman setter Morgan Kealy made her collegiate debut racking up 114 assists, averaging 8.77 per contest.
BOBCATS VS. TOMMIES:
MSU and St. Thomas met for the first-time last season at the Bobcat Classic with the Tommies holding on for a 28-26, 22-25, 25-23, 19-25, 20-18 decision. Courtney Weatherby paced the Bobcats with 20 kills, while Emma Goerger had 18 for St. Thomas.
BOBCATS VS. PANTHERS:
Montana State and Milwaukee will meet for the first time on Friday at the Tommie Invitational. Montana State head coach Matt Houk got his collegiate coaching start at Milwaukee serving as an assistant coach in 2002 and 2003. The Panthers enter the week 0-3 after dropping three matches at the Western Michigan Tournament. Milwaukee dropped a 3-1 decision to WMU on Friday before suffering a pair of losses to Northern Iowa (3-0) and Villanova (3-2) on Saturday. Last weekend, the Panthers were led by Ari Miller, a 6-1 middle blocker, and Natalie Schmitz, a 6-1 sophomore outside hitter, as the duo averaged 3.08 and 2.92 kills per set, respectively. As a team, the Panthers hit .202 from the field. MKE head coach Susie Johnson is familiar with the Big Sky Conference and Montana State. As Susie Ketchum she was the Big Sky MVP in 1990 playing for Idaho State and led the Bengals to the NCAA Tournament.
BOBCATS VS. LANCERS:
Montana State and Cal Baptist meet for the first time on Saturday morning. The Lancers opened their season going 1-2 at the Santa Clara/San Jose Invitational. CBU dropped two matches on Friday - Jacksonville University (3-2) and Santa Clara (3-1) - before responding with a 3-1 decision over Cal State Northridge. Michalina Rola, a 6-0 senior outside hitter from Jastkow, Poland, led the Lancers in its three matches averaging 3.31 kills and 3.23 digs per set with a .192 attack mark. She also recorded a team-high nine service aces and added two blocks.
WE GET THE POINT:
Montana State has two players ranked among the Big Sky's top 10 in points per set after the opening weekend of play. Senior Kira Thomsen is currently third in the league averaging 3.46 per contest, while junior Jourdain (Klein) Kamps averages 3.00 per contest.
PACKING THE PLACE:
Montana State finished 39th in the nation averaging 1,292 fans per game, last fall. On Sept. 30, 2022, Montana State set a Big Sky Conference and State of Montana record when 6,457 fans jammed Worthington Arena. MSU's average attendance was higher than notable programs such as Indiana, UCLA, LSU, and Notre Dame.
TOUTING THOMSEN:
Senior outside hitter Kira Thomsen was an All-Big Sky Conference First Team selection last fall after leading the Bobcats in kills per set (3.80), service aces (.34), and points per set (4.32). Thomsen, a native of Parker, Colo., missed the first 14 matches of the season, before returning to the starting rotation three matches into the Big Sky slate. For the season, Thomsen notched 15 double-doubles and had a career-high 32 kills in MSU's 3-2 win over Portland State. Her 1,183 career kills rank sixth on MSU's all-time kills chart and her 3,297 total career attacks ranks seventh all-time. On Nov. 18, 2022, Thomsen was named the GameChanger/AVCA Division National Player of the Week (the first in MSU history) after averaging 6.0 kills and 6.4 points per set as MSU knocked off Portland State and Sacramento State. Last weekend, she totaled 45 kills, seven aces, seven blocks and 22 digs. Thomsen had a weekend-best 17 kills against Kennesaw State. Here best outing came against North Dakota with 14 kills, a .268 attack mar, five aces, six digs and five blocks.
THE MENACE FROM ENNIS:
Jourdain (Klein) Kamps got her junior campaign off to a great start at the Bobcat/Blackridge Invite over the weekend. Kamps averaged 3.00 kills and 1.77 digs per set, while hitting .346 from the field. The native of Ennis, Mont., was solid in all three matches for the Bobcats posting a weekend-best 14 kills against Kennesaw State with a .379 attack mark. She also registered ten digs against the Owls for her first double-double of the season. Kamps is ranked ninth in the Big Sky with a .346 attack mark and her 3.00 kills per set is tenth best in the league. Kamps was a Second Team All-Big Sky pick in the spring of 2021 after averaging 1.49 kills and .97 blocks per set in the shortened 15-match season. Last year, she played in all 30 matches and 122 sets, totaling 242 kills (1.98 kps). She recorded a career-high 23 kills at Eastern Washington and had six matches hitting .300 or better. Kamps also posted 100 blocks, averaging .82 per contest.
GOTTA DIG IT:
After the opening weekend of play MSU liber Lauren Lindseth is tenth in the Big Sky averaging 3.23 saves per game. She was in double-digits digs in all three matches with a weekend-best 20 digs in the season-opener against Oregon State. Lindseth, a native of Great Falls, Mont., led the Bobcats with 475 digs last fall, averaging 3.89 per contest. She played in all 30 matches and 122 sets and was in double-digit digs in 22 matches, including a streak of 13 consecutive matches in double-figures. In addition, she went over the 20-dig plateau on nine occasions, including a career-best 32 saves in MSU's upset of Boise State. Her 475 digs last fall ranked fifth in a single season at MSU. Lindseth earned All-Big Sky Tournament honors after averaging 3.56 digs in two matches, which included 24 digs in MSU's quarterfinal upset over Weber State in Ogden, Utah. She also guided the Bobcats from the service line with a team-best 33 aces.
LINDSETH LEGACY:
Sophomore libero Lauren Lindseth is part of Bobcat history as one-half of the first mother/daughter duo to play volleyball at MSU. Lindseth's mother - Kelly Modrow - played for the Blue and Gold from 1992-1996. The native of Minnetonka, Minn., (Hopkins HS) played in 110 matches and 359 sets. In all, Modrow's career totals include: 889 kills, 733 digs, 128 blocks and 87 service aces wearing the No. 2 jersey, as well.
HARD BLOCK CAFE`:
Montana State finished the opening weekend averaging 2.23 blocks per set, which included a match-best 15 blocks (2 BS, 26 BA) against North Dakota. MSU's two middle blockers - Avery Turnage and Camryn Greenwald rank third and tenth in the Big Sky Conference averaging 1.36 and .85 blocks per set, respectively. Turnage, a senior from Idaho Falls, recorded a career-high 10 blocks in Montana State's 3-1 win over North Dakota on Friday night. Greenwald, a sophomore from Woodbury, Minn., opened the season with six blocks against Oregon State and backed up the performance with four against former Big Sky foe North Dakota.
LENDING A HAND:
Junior setters Audrey Hofer and Nellie Stevenson each saw action in the opening weekend. Hofer averaged 7.45 assists per set, which ranks fifth in the Big Sky. The Helena Capital product dished out a weekend-best 35 assists in MSU's 3-1 victory over Kennesaw State on Saturday night. Stevenson, a transfer from Feather River College, totaled 40 assists on the weekend, averaging 4.00 per contest. She posted a weekend-high 21 assists in MSU's win over Oregon State.
Players Mentioned
MB/OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's VolleyballMatt Houk Introductory Press Conference
Wednesday, January 18
Daniel Jones Weekly Press Conference
Monday, November 15
Bobcat Classic: Arkansas vs. Portland
Saturday, September 04
Bobcat Classic: Arkansas vs. Utah State
Friday, September 03
