Balanced Attack Leads Cats to Sweep Over Bengals

Saturday, September 23

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

9-3,2-0Big Sky

Idaho State

2-11,0-2Big Sky

Idaho St.

Montana St.

Junior Nellie Stevenson

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

9/23/2023 9:52:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“I’m really, really proud of our group,” said MSU head coach Matt Houk. “Our performance was really close to looking much more like what we are capable of being consistently. We’ve had our ups and downs, but that was a really nice showing of what we could be eventually.”

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State had its best offensive night since early August hitting an impressive .320 from the floor to post a 25-18, 25-20, 25-15 victory over Idaho State on Saturday night in Shroyer Gym.

Montana State (9-3, 2-0) committed just eight errors on 97 attempts as four players reached double-digit attacks. The Bobcats had four players hit .275 or better over the course of three sets.

"I'm really, really proud of our group," said MSU head coach Matt Houk. "Our performance was really close to looking much more like what we are capable of being consistently. We've had our ups and downs, but that was a really nice showing of what we could be eventually."

Bobcat setter Nellie Stevenson dished out 32 assists to go along with four kills, two aces and two blocks in one of her best outings of the season.

"The distribution was really good," Houk said. "We had a bunch of hitters swinging for points, and I thought we were great from the service line. That might have been Nellie's best match of the season. She's settling in and starting to feel comfortable at a new school and all that goes along with that. That was the Nellie we recruited, and she was on it tonight."

Sophomore middle blocker Camryn Greenwald paced the Bobcats with nine kills, a .389 attack mark and five blocks, while opposite-side hitter Jourdain Kamps chipped in seven kills, a .286 attack mark and a match-high six blocks.

Sophomores Madilyn Siebler and Lauren Lindseth also contributed to the Bobcat effort. Siebler finished with eight kills, a .412 attack mark and a match-high 14 digs, while Lindseth also hit double-digit digs with 12 saves.

Senior Kira Thomsen set the tone from the service line with four aces, including three early in the opening set getting Idaho State (2-11, 0-2) off-balanced.

"A big piece to what worked was our effort from the service line," Houk said. "We were able to take two of their top hitters out of their routes and messed a little with their rhythm. We've been preaching about being a tough, good serving team since January. Our misses are coming down and our ace rate is climbing. I think we can be a team that controls the rhythm from the service line."

Montana State plays at Montana, Friday, Sept. 29 in Dahlberg Arena at 6 p.m.