Bobcats Capture Gonzaga Invite Title

Saturday, September 6

Spokane, WA

3:00 pm MT

Montana State University

4-2,0-0Big Sky

Gonzaga

4-2,0-0WCC

Montana St.

Gonzaga

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

9/6/2025 8:25:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

“It was kind of ironic that on our way to the match we talked about finding a way to out-team them. We said that it would take all 16 players owning their role, and that was the difference.”

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State had its most complete match of the early season sweeping Gonzaga 27-25, 25-23, 25-21 to capture the championship of the GU Invitational, Saturday afternoon at Martin Centre.

Montana State (4-2) hit a tournament best .260, while holding a 10-2 advantage in service aces and out-blocking Gonzaga (4-2) 11-5.

"That was our most compete match," said MSU head coach Matt Houk. "It was kind of ironic that on our way to the match we talked about finding a way to out-team them. We said that it would take all 16 players owning their role, and that was the difference."

Gonzaga opened strong, taking an 18-12 lead before the Bobcats responded with an 8-1 run to go ahead 20-19. The Zags reclaimed its lead at 24-22 but MSU fought off two set points, tying the frame at 24-all on a block by Joelie Spelts and Elli Tufto. GU held its third set point at 25-24 before a Tufto kill followed by two Gonzaga hitting errors completed the MSU comeback.

Tufto, a freshman from Prior Lake, Minn., gave the Bobcats a 16-12 lead midway through the second set, before freshman setter Teagan Jaynes went down with a leg injury on the next play. Freshman Maggie Rhew came off the bench to run the offense, guiding the Cats to a 4-2 run down the stretch. Rhew's kill on a second contact at set point gave Montana State a 2-0 lead.

"We were clicking pretty well when Teagan went down," Houk said. "And before Maggie went in, I reminded her why we recruited her. She's an excellent setter and we have complete trust in her ability to run the offense. Maggie came in and delivered, and her initiative to attack on set point showed how cerebral a setter she is."

MSU found itself down 10-6 early in the third stanza before Lauren Lindseth went to the service line and produced a 5-0 run highlighted by two aces. The score was tied three times in the middle of the set before MSU rattled off a 4-0 run behind a Tufto kill and block, taking a 21-17 advantage. The Zags closed to within 22-21 in the waning moments, before Karli Heidemann's two kills, sandwiched between a GU hitting miscue, completed the Bobcat sweep.

"From start to finish our point of contact- offensively and defensively- at the net was outstanding," Houk said. "I thought we were very assertive throughout."

Tufto paced MSU with 11 kills, while adding four digs and four blocks. Heidemann recorded nine kills on 25 swings without an error for a .360 attack mark. Middle blockers Camryn Greenwald and Spelts combined for 11 kills and eight blocks. Lindseth, a senior libero from Great Falls, finished with eight digs and career-matching four aces.

Montana State meets Oregon State, UNLV, and UC Irvine at the ASICS Invitational next weekend in Corvallis, Ore.