Cats Win Fifth Straight Over Griz

Saturday, October 11

Missoula, Mont.

8:00 pm

Montana State University

9-7,4-1Big Sky

Montana

11-5,3-2Big Sky

Montana St.

Montana

Madilyn Siebler had a career-high 21 kills as the Bobcats dispatched Montana 3-2 on Saturday night in Dahlberg Arena.

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke

10/12/2025 12:11:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“Going into the match we knew it was going to come down to how we took care of business on our side of the net,” said MSU head coach Matt Houk. “They had a nice crowd, but I thought we handled the atmosphere from the service line, received production from a lot of positions and played consistent volleyball.”

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State senior outside hitter Madilyn Siebler recorded a career-high 21 kills as the Bobcats captured its fifth straight victory over rival Montana 25-19, 23-25, 25-17, 17-25, 15-10, Saturday night in front of a UM record crowd of 3,001 in Dahlberg Arena.

And for the fifth consecutive match against Montana the Main Line Trophy stays put in Bozeman.

"Going into the match we knew it was going to come down to how we took care of business on our side of the net," said MSU head coach Matt Houk. "They had a nice crowd, but I thought we handled the atmosphere from the service line, received production from a lot of positions and played consistent volleyball."

Montana State (9-7, 4-1) broke away from a 16-15 advantage in the opening set with four consecutive points, holding the margin for the remainder of the frame before Siebler's kill gave the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.

Montana (11-5, 3-2) jumped out 17-13 midway through the second stanza, before the Bobcats rattled off a 9-4 run to take a 22-21 lead. UM responded with three straight points and held off a late-charging MSU squad to even the match.

MSU owned the third set hitting .361, committing just one attack error on 36 swings. Siebler's 15^th kill gave the Bobcats a 2-1 advantage. The Grizzlies turned the table in set four outhitting the Bobcats .324 to .167 to force a fifth and deciding set.

"We had a little bit of a breakdown in set four," Houk said. "But I thought we started playing a lot better at the end of the set which provided some momentum going into the fifth."

MSU opened the final frame, scoring the first four points, en route to building a 9-3 lead following a UM hitting error. Montana closed the margin to two points on four occasions down the stretch before the Bobcats finished off the Grizzlies on a service ace from Joelie Spelts.

"I thought we were good with our attack and did a nice job from the service line," Houk said. "We've found a good combo that's working well for us."

Aside from Siebler's career-night, also in double digit kills were Karli Heidemann 14 and Elli Tufto 11. MSU's middle blocking tandem of Camryn Greenwald and Spelts combined for 16 kills and 11 blocks. Freshman setter Teagan Jaynes dished out 47 assists and added eight digs and three blocks.

Defensively, senior Lauren Lindseth notched 27 digs, while Siebler 15, Heidemann 13, and Nicolette Noble 10 also reached double-digits.

With the victory, MSU has won three consecutive matches and five of the last six outings. The Bobcats sit atop the Big Sky Conference standings at 4-1 along with Weber State.

MSU faces Portland State on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. (MT) in Viking Pavilion.