Spelts Paces Bobcats to Four Set Win over Weber State

Thursday, October 23

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

10-9,5-3Big Sky

Weber State

12-7,4-3Big Sky

Weber St.

Montana St.

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

10/23/2025 10:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“That was one of Joelie’s best offensive performances to date,” said MSU head coach Matt Houk. “And that’s the Joelie we see in practice almost every day. And I think that’s where she has to evolve, in that her practice performances start to become her game performances.”

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State junior middle blocker Joelie Spelts posted her best hitting match of the season to spark the Bobcats to a 25-14, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23 win over Weber State, Thursday night in Shroyer Gym.

Spelts, a product of Gillette, Wyo., registered 12 kills, a career-best .440 attack mark, and chipped in a match-high six blocks as Montana State (10-9, 5-3) surpassed its win total from last season.

"That was one of Joelie's best offensive performances to date," said MSU head coach Matt Houk. "And that's the Joelie we see in practice almost every day. And I think that's where she has to evolve, in that her practice performances start to become her game performances."

MSU broke away early in the opening set with a 5-0 run and never looked back as a block by Camryn Greenwald and Elli Tufto ended the contest. The Bobcats outhit Weber State (12-7, 4-3) .306 to .024, behind four team blocks.

Weber State turned the table in set two outhitting MSU .400 to .024 as WSU's Rose Moore connected on six kills.

"Weber (State) is really good," Houk said. "They're a talented team with lot of good weapons, so it was no surprise that they had a good response in the second set.

"I'm proud of our kids for having a good response in set three after they pushed us," Houk added.

Tufto, a freshman outside hitter from Prior Lake, Minn., got on track in the third frame with five kills and an .883 attack mark. Trailing by one point at the media timeout, the Bobcats finished off the set on an 11-4 run. Tufto's four kills sparked the Bobcats.

"I thought Tuffy (Tufto) got into some really good spots at the end of the match, and that was important," Houk said.

Weber State looked in control of set four taking a 16-12 advantage at the midway mark. But once again, MSU responded with an 8-1 run, taking a 20-17 lead on a Tufto kill. The Wildcats closed to within 24-22 in the waning moments before Spelts put an exclamation point on her night with a match-ending kill.

"We talked going into the match that our good is good enough," Houk said. "I know that it sounds oversimplistic, but when you're a little bit of a roller coaster team you ride the waves of highs and lows, and you try to find a way to smooth out in the middle.

"I thought we had some lows tonight, but the lows didn't last real long, which was great," he added. "And we had some wonderful highs as well. I thought our service game was a nice piece, and I thought, obviously, Jolie gave us a wonderful offensive output and Lauren (Lindseth) made some digs that were amazing as well, but I think the overall theme was that the team was good tonight."

Karli Heidemann led MSU with a team-high 15 kills, while adding 17 digs. Also, in double figure kills for the Bobcats were Tufto 12, and Madilyn Siebler 11. Freshman setter Teagan Jaynes dished out 48 assists and added two service aces. Lindseth finished with a match-high 22 digs.

Montana State hosts Idaho State, Saturday at 1 p.m. in Shroyer Gym.