Bobcat Block Stymies Blue Raiders

Sunday, September 1

BOZEMAN

3 p.m.

Montana State University

1-1,0-0Big Sky

Middle Tennessee State

0-2,0-0CUSA

Middle Tenn.

Montana St.

Junior Camryn Greenwald

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

9/1/2024 6:43:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“The non-conference is about learning during the times that are going well, and the times where things get uncomfortable,” Houk said.

By: Tom Schulz

It was only fitting Montana State's match against Middle Tennessee State ended with a resounding block. MSU's fourteenth team block of the contest lifted the Bobcats to a 25-16, 25-19, 24-26, 25-23 win over the Blue Raiders on Sunday afternoon in Shroyer Gym. The victory was MSU's first of the season.

"Blocking is a skill that potentially will be a very strong skill for us," said MSU head coach Matt Houk, "What's crazy is I thought we could've had more blocks in the match. We missed a few, lined up inappropriately or our timing was a little off, so it'll be good when we can clean up some stuff and be a little more in tune, but the effort at net was tremendous."

Montana State (1-1) opened the match outhitting Middle Tennessee (0-2) .259 to .127 over the first two frames. The Bobcat block established itself early as Camryn Greenwald and Jourdain Kamps combined to stuff the Blue Raiders on nine occasions.Offensively, freshman Karli Heidemann and Greenwald paced MSU with seven and five kills, respectively.

"The non-conference is about learning during the times that are going well, and the times where things get uncomfortable," Houk said. "Those times are really good, and formative in terms of who the team is going to be. While it would've been nice to dispense with it quickly, there's probably a lot of good by playing a fourth set.

"It was nice to see the response from losing set three," he added. "And it was a little slow, and we'll address that, but overall, this is a good win over a good team. It was a hefty weekend one."

Middle Tennessee owned a 15-11 advantage in set three before the Bobcats answered with five consecutive points. MSU held a 24-22 lead in the waning moments, but the Blue Raiders fought off two set points and won the game behind a 4-0 run.

MTSU held the momentum in set four staking a 14-8 lead at the midway mark, but again MSU answered with a 9-2 run highlighted by a Kamps and Jourdain Radick block to give the Bobcats its first lead.

The two teams traded leads twice down the stretch with the set tied at 22 and 23, before the Bobcats received a kill by Madilyn Siebler, followed the final block of the match by Kamps and Radick.

"Middle Tennessee is a program that was in the postseason and, I believe, second in their conference, last year," Houk said. "They have some really nice pieces and they're a handful from the service line. We really had to battle."

Greenwald sparked MSU with a team-high 11 kills, while hitting .500 from the field and adding a match-best nine blocks. Kamps ended with 11 kills, while chipping in eight blocks. Siebler notched 11 kills and 11 digs.

Defensively, Lauren Lindseth and Courtney Weatherby reached double-digit digs with 13 and 11, respectively. Senior setter Nellie Stevenson dished out 38 assists.

Montana State plays at the Nebraska invitational in Lincoln beginning on Sept. 5 against Denver. MSU's also faces The Citadel along with the No. 2 Cornhuskers.