Bobcats Bounce Back, Cats Tame Broncos

Saturday, September 20

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

5-6,0-0Big Sky

Santa Clara

5-6,0-0WCC

Santa Clara

Montana St.

Teagan Jaynes dumps a ball for a kill. The Bobcats defeated Santa Clara 3-1 on Saturday night in Shroyer Gym.

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

9/20/2025 10:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“I have a high amount of optimism that were a good volleyball team, but when you lose a few in a row, it's human nature to be like, what's going on? And are we okay? “I think we needed a good moment,” Houk added. “Regardless of win or lose, we needed a moment where we played good volleyball.”

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State volleyball ended a four-match losing streak with a gritty, resilient effort bouncing back from a 3-0 loss to Nevada on Thursday night with a 25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24 win over Santa Clara in the final match of the EVEN Hotel Bobcat Classic, Saturday night in Shroyer Gym.

"What a difference 48-hours makes," said MSU head coach Matt Houk. "We're a different volleyball team when we have our quarterback (setter Teagan Jaynes) running the show, and you got another arm out there like Tuffy's (Elli Tufto) - it just balances things out a ton."

Jaynes missed most of MSU's last five matches with a leg injury, while Tufto also returned to the rotation after being sidelined.

"Our hope is that we learned the things we needed to learn through the rough stretch," Houk said. "We're going to have injuries this season, so hopefully we learned how to better deal with that.

"But it was really nice to play some good volleyball for a long period of time against a strong opponent like Santa Clara."

Sophomore Karli Heidemann and Tufto paced Montana State (5-6) with 17 and 16 kills, respectively, while Jaynes added eight kills, 41 assists, three aces and seven digs.

"I feel it's been a while since we had two outsides in double digits, and that's a good thing," Houk said. "Most of the good teams around the country have pins that can handle the load.

"Teagan is a special setter," Houk added. "Even though she wasn't 100% she plays a nice game of volleyball."

Montana State and Santa Clara (5-6) battled over the course of two hours, 12-minutes with neither team gaining a significant advantage. All four sets were decided at the 20-point mark. The contest featured 31 ties and 17 lead changes.

"Santa Clara has some really good arms, and they bring it at you and put some heat on it from a variety of areas," Houk said. "Their middles hit a good slide, but I thought Lauren (Lindseth) handled the load in the back row very well. I'm sure she's looking at a few she'd like to have back, but overall, she really dug a ton of balls. As a team we had 57 digs, and we'll take that any night in four sets."

Lindseth finished with a team-high 19 digs, while Afton Thomsen and Heidemann added nine and eight, apiece. Freshman Lauren Schloe and junior Joelie Spelts each had six blocks, while Camryn Greenwald added five. The Bobcats outblocked the Broncos 11 to 6.

"We keep feeling like we're a good blocking team and yet we haven't really shown it," Houk said. "We have some talent at that skill. And it was nice to see that thing come to fruition a little bit more tonight."

Montana State's last win came in a sweep of Gonzaga on Sept. 6 in Spokane.

"I have a high amount of optimism that were a good volleyball team, but when you lose a few in a row, it's human nature to be like, what's going on? And are we okay?

"I think we needed a good moment," Houk added. "Regardless of win or lose, we needed a moment where we played good volleyball."

Montana State opens Big Sky Conference play at Eastern Washington on Wednesday night, before returning to Shroyer Gym on Saturday against Portland State at 7 p.m.

"This win comes at a good time," Houk said. "The first third of the season is over, and we can check in with where we are at, what things we did well and what things do we need to improve upon."