Montana State Spikers Soar by Thunderbirds

Saturday, October 12

Bozeman, MT

7 p.m.

Montana State University

5-14, 3-5

Southern Utah

2-16, 1-7

Southern Utah

Montana State

Eli Svisco (l) and Natalee Godfrey combined for 13 blocks against Southern Utah on Saturday night.

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

10/12/2013 10:25:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

It took a little while for the Montana State hangover from Friday night’s win over Northern Arizona to clear itself, but eventually the Bobcats found enough gas in the tank to post a 21-25, 25-20, 30-28, 26-24 win over Southern Utah, Saturday evening in Shroyer Gym for its first Big Sky Conference weekend sweep this fall.

By: Tom Schulz

It took a little while for the Montana State hangover from Friday night's win over Northern Arizona to clear itself, but eventually the Bobcats found enough gas in the tank to post a 21-25, 25-20, 30-28, 26-24 win over Southern Utah, Saturday evening in Shroyer Gym for its first Big Sky Conference weekend sweep this fall.

"We started off slow and by the end of set two and into sets three and four we were clicking," said MSU head coach Kyle Weindel. "Our left-sides got it going and our four primary attackers were all in double-digit kills, and when we do that, we're hard to defend."

Montana State (5-14, 3-5) got out early holding a 14-11 advantage midway through the opening set. MSU never relinquished the lead until Southern Utah (2-16, 1-7) broke away at 20-all with a 5-1 run for the win.

The Bobcats fought back quickly in the second stanza building an 18-10 lead on a kill by sophomore middle blocker Natalee Godfrey. MSU won the set on an Eli Svisco winner.

The third set featured 20 ties and five lead changes. Southern Utah fended off three set points, before taking a 27-26 lead following a MSU hitting error. The Thunderbirds had two set points of their own, before the Bobcats got a kill from Kennadie Clute, an ace from libero Nicole Baker and a SUU hitting miscue to take a 2-1 cushion in the match.

In the final set, Montana State held a 19-14 lead on a Loni Kreun kill. Southern Utah responded with a 7-2 run to even the game at 21-all. The two squads traded sideouts, before the Bobcats scored two consecutive points for a 24-22 lead. Back-to-back kills by the Thunderbirds evened the set at 24-all, but MSU received a kill from Kreun to give the Bobcats a one-point advantage. Kreun then combined with Megan Spofford on the match-winning block.

"Our offense has done a nice job over the past few weeks," Weindel said. "We've exploded in terms of hitting percentage and kills, and most of that is due to the job (Nicole) Baker and Kasey Schlatter have done passing the ball and keeping us in system."

Clute and Kreun paced Montana State with 18 kills each, while Godfrey ended with 15 and Svisco 10. Godfrey, who was tough to contain all match, posted a team-high .500 attack mark, while adding a match-high eight blocks.

Defensively, Baker led MSU with 19 kills, while Kreun and Clute posted double-doubles with 12 and ten saves, respectively. Freshman setter Anna Sykora dished out a match-high 60 assists.

Southern Utah was led by Alissa Youart with 11 kills and nine digs.

MSU will travel to Sacramento State on Saturday night.