Volleyball Holds Blue-Gold Scrimmage Saturday
4/12/2024 2:19:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
On Saturday, as the Bobcats hold its annual Blue-Gold spring scrimmage at 3 p.m. in Shroyer Gym, the second-year mentor is eager to show the local faithful the strides MSU has made since posting the best season in program history
A year ago Montana State head volleyball coach Matt Houk was excited to see his team play – for the first time – in front of the home crowd. On Saturday, as the Bobcats hold its annual Blue-Gold spring scrimmage at 3 p.m. in Shroyer Gym, the second-year mentor is eager to show the local faithful the strides MSU has made since posting the best season in program history.
Houk returns 12 players from last season's roster that recorded a 24-9 overall mark, a 12-4 Big Sky Conference ledger, and advanced to the Fab Four of the National Invitational Volleyball Championships- MSU's first ever national postseason appearance. In all, five starters return along with libero Laura Lindseth. Ten of the returning athletes saw court time as the Bobcats won more matches than any other team in the chronicles of the program.
Obviously, the big question heading into the 2024 campaign is replacing Kira Thomsen who graduated as the all-time leader in kills.
"You don't replace a kid like Kira," Houk said. "But I think our strength will be, and we're going to be much more deliberate with this, is spreading things out across multiple positions where teams can't key on just one person. And if someone is having an off night, we know we can pick it up in other areas."
Leading MSU's 2024 contingent is Ennis native Jourdain Kamps. Kamps garnered First Team All-Big Sky honors after averaging 2.57 kills, 1.90 digs and .91 blocks per set, while hitting .263 from the floor. She's joined in the starting rotation by Camryn Greenwald, Jordan Radick, Nellie Stevenson, and Courtney Weatherby.
"We expect Jourdain Kamps to carry an even bigger load, one similar to what she was carrying the last eight to ten matches last season," Houk stated. "We've seen some great growth out of Madilyn Siebler, Courtney Weatherby, and (redshirt) Karli Heidemann on the outside and we're really trying to establish who we are going to be in the middle."
With just a little over two weeks left in spring training, Houk is ecstatic with his team's progression.
"We're quite pleased with where we're at," Houk said. "We have taken some nice strides that we built off of from last fall. This team is different, and we are not the 2023 team anymore. But we are going to leverage what happened last fall as a starting point of who we want to become.
"Overall, it's been a real enjoyable offseason."
The Bobcats close out its spring season hosting Montana, April 27.
Houk returns 12 players from last season's roster that recorded a 24-9 overall mark, a 12-4 Big Sky Conference ledger, and advanced to the Fab Four of the National Invitational Volleyball Championships- MSU's first ever national postseason appearance. In all, five starters return along with libero Laura Lindseth. Ten of the returning athletes saw court time as the Bobcats won more matches than any other team in the chronicles of the program.
Obviously, the big question heading into the 2024 campaign is replacing Kira Thomsen who graduated as the all-time leader in kills.
"You don't replace a kid like Kira," Houk said. "But I think our strength will be, and we're going to be much more deliberate with this, is spreading things out across multiple positions where teams can't key on just one person. And if someone is having an off night, we know we can pick it up in other areas."
Leading MSU's 2024 contingent is Ennis native Jourdain Kamps. Kamps garnered First Team All-Big Sky honors after averaging 2.57 kills, 1.90 digs and .91 blocks per set, while hitting .263 from the floor. She's joined in the starting rotation by Camryn Greenwald, Jordan Radick, Nellie Stevenson, and Courtney Weatherby.
"We expect Jourdain Kamps to carry an even bigger load, one similar to what she was carrying the last eight to ten matches last season," Houk stated. "We've seen some great growth out of Madilyn Siebler, Courtney Weatherby, and (redshirt) Karli Heidemann on the outside and we're really trying to establish who we are going to be in the middle."
With just a little over two weeks left in spring training, Houk is ecstatic with his team's progression.
"We're quite pleased with where we're at," Houk said. "We have taken some nice strides that we built off of from last fall. This team is different, and we are not the 2023 team anymore. But we are going to leverage what happened last fall as a starting point of who we want to become.
"Overall, it's been a real enjoyable offseason."
The Bobcats close out its spring season hosting Montana, April 27.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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