Cats Open Big Sky Slate at Eastern Washington

Wednesday, September 24

Cheney, WA

7:00 pm MT

Montana State University

Eastern Washington

Teagan Jaynes dishes out an assist in MSU's 3-1 win over Santa Clara last Saturday night in Shroyer Gym.

Photo by: Jack Power Photography LLC

9/23/2025 1:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

VB NOTES

Montana State opens its 2025 Big Sky Conference schedule on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at Eastern Washington.

By: Tom Schulz

NEXT UP: Montana State opens its 2025 Big Sky Conference schedule on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at Eastern Washington. The match with the Eagles is slated for 7 p.m. (MT) on Reese Court. MSU will make the quick trek back to Bozeman for its league home opener against Portland State, Saturday, Sept. 27 in Shroyer Gym. The match with the Vikings starts at 7 p.m.

BIG SKY OPENERS: Since the inception of women's sports under the Big Sky Conference umbrella in the fall of 1988, Montana State is 16-21 in league openers, including a 3-1 loss at Sacramento State last September in The Nest. The setback snapped six consecutive Big Sky opening victories for the Bobcats.

TWTWTW: 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 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. "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. 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. Lauren 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.

WELCOME BACK: Matt Houk welcomes back twelve players that were in the practice gym during the spring semester. Included in the twelve are seven letterwinners, two returning starters (Camryn Greenwald, Madilyn Siebler) plus All-Big Sky Conference libero Lauren Lindseth. Freshmen Teagan Jaynes and Elli Tufto both have a spring season under their respective wings after graduating early and joining the Bobcats in January.

BOBCAT NOTEBOOK:

Senior libero Lauren Lindseth averaged 3.57 digs per set at EVEN Hotel Bobcat, last weekend. In MSU's 3-1 win over Santa Clara, Lindseth anchored the backrow scooping up 19 digs, for her eighth double digit dig match of the season. The CMR graduate also chipped in an ace and three assists. On the season, Lindseth is averaging 4.56 digs per set, which is tops in the Big Sky Conference and ranks 31st in the nation. Lindseth's current total of 187 digs ranks 61st in the country. Lindseth currently ranks third on MSU's all-time digs chart with 1,664 saves. The product of Great Falls trails Allyssa Rizzo (2,122) and Kandice Kelly (1,720) in Bobcat history.
Sophomore outside hitter Karli Heidemann averaged 2.71 kills per set during the EVEN Hotel Bobcat Classic, including 17 kills in MSU's win over Santa Clara. She is currently averaging 3.24 kps, which ranks fifth in the Big Sky Conference. In all, Heidemann totaled 19 kills over the weekend. The native of Diller, Neb., has 401 total attacks on the season, which ranks sixth in the league and 138th in the nation.
Senior middle blocker Camryn Greenwald is averaging 1.75 kills per set, while hitting a team-best .367 from the field. The Woodbury, Minn., product recorded a career-high 17 kills in MSU's win over Maryland Eastern Shore at the Gonzaga Invite, Sept. 4. Greenwald has had five matches this season hitting .400 or better.
Junior Joelie Spelts was MSU's top blocker at the EVEN Hotel Bobcat Classic. The Gillette, Wyo., product averaged a whopping 1.57 blocks per set, which included six blocks in MSU's four-set win over Santa Clara on Saturday. Her current 1.05 bps ranks eighth in the Big Sky.
Third-year head coach Matt Houk used 14 players at the EVEN Hotel Bobcat Classic Invitational, last weekend. Freshmen Teagan Jaynes and Elli Tufto returned to the Bobcat starting rotation after missing several matches due to injury. In MSU's win over Santa Clara, Jaynes, a 6-0 setter, dished out 41 assists, while adding eight kills, hitting .727 and chipping in three aces, seven digs and a block. Tufto, a 6-0 outside hitter, notched a season-best 16 kills, while hitting .209 and adding three blocks and two digs.