Bobcat Offense Unable to Top Utah Tech

Thursday, October 15

Bozeman, MT

7:00 pm MT

Montana State University

11-7,4-3Big Sky

Utah Tech

14-3,7-0Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Utah Tech	24	25	25	21	15	3
Montana St.	26	22	21	25	11	2

Box Score (PDF)

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

10/15/2026 11:39:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score GM18 - Utah Tech 3, Montana State 2

By: Kate Cooney

BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Montana State volleyball team took Utah Tech to five sets on Thursday night, but came up just short of a victory over the team that remains undefeated in conference play.

In front of another crowd of over 1,000 MSU faithful, the Bobcats (11-7, 4-3) became just the second Big Sky team to take the Trailblazers (14-3, 7-0) to a fifth set, but succumbed to untimely errors despite out-killing their opponents 77-65. Montana State's offense was led by a trio of double-figure killers in Karli Heidemann, Lauren Greeny and Joelie Spelts.

"I told the team that it was a really positive night, but it should hurt," head coach Matt Houk said. "We should feel disappointed because we played a really good match and it hurts when you come up short. I think our offense is in a really good spot. We're finding that the factor between us and the teams ahead of us in the league standings are that they make less errors than we make. We have to find ways to continue to produce offensively the way that we are, but not hit into the block or hit it in 10 more times. We have to produce a little bit more to give ourselves a chance in these rallies, so that's a growth opportunity for the team, but I'm really happy with the way they performed tonight."

MSU opened the match with a 26-24 win, dueling back and forth through 10 lead changes. The Bobcats had 21 kills to the Trailblazers' 10 in the first set, while hitting .333, the team's first of two sets over .300.

Utah Tech answered with 25-22 and 25-21 wins in both the second and third sets, despite the two teams having an even 30 kills apiece. By the end of the third set, Greeny, Spelts, and Heidemann were all well above the 10-kill mark.

"They are becoming this three headed monster offensively right now, and we can lean on them in a lot of situations," Houk said. "Our serve receive broke down for a while in the middle of set two and three, so we were relying really heavily on high balls to the outside, and Karli is taking big swings in those moments. Greeny had to deal with some tough out of system moments, but she produced well, and Joelie is just as steady as can be. We know we can set the slide back there, and she's going to kill it 50 percent of the time, if not more. I'm not sure there's any other middles in the league that are getting leaned on as much as she is."

After opening set four with a pair of points, Montana State strung together a 25-21 win, thanks to 17 kills and a match-high .351 hitting percentage. With just three tie scores, the Cats led for the majority of the set, leading the stat sheet in nearly every category. Despite the fourth falling in favor of MSU, the Trailblazers picked up steam as the fifth set continued, sealing the match with a four-point lead at 15-11. 26 hitting errors and 13 service errors proved to be the downfall of MSU, who fought to the final point against one of their most challenging opponents of the season.

At the end of the night, Greeny and Spelts reached career-high marks on the offensive side, with Greeny swinging .471 with 19 kills. Spelts was close behind, landing 17 of 32 attempts, and Heidemann was just one shy of her all-time best at a match-high 23 kills.

Defensively, Nicolette Noble led the match with 21 digs, keeping the Cats in rallies throughout the match. Greeny, Heidemann, and Teagan Jaynes all accounted for double digit digs as well, as Jaynes orchestrated the offense with 54 assists, her third match over 50 assists this season.

"Nicolette had another good night, and Afton [Thomsen] had a good night as well," Houk said. "She had eight digs even though she only played three rotations. They're relentless, and they were able to keep us in a couple rallies tonight. The great thing is that they're far from being the best versions of themselves. They have a ton of growth left in them and if they can just keep getting a little bit better every week, it's going to be a really formidable back court."

Montana State returns to its home court on Saturday night to host Southern Utah at 7:00 p.m. MT. The matchup mark the annual Pack the Place in Pink game. Match tickets are available now, or fans dressed in pink can purchase $5 tickets at the door. An online auction will run through 8 p.m. on Saturday, featuring limited edition game-worn Bobcat jerseys, with all proceeds supporting breast cancer awareness.

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For the latest news, updates, and behind-the-scenes coverage of the Montana State women's volleyball team, follow the Bobcats @MSUBobcatsVB on X, Instagram, and Facebook. Information on the Montana State athletic program can be found online at msubobcats.com or by following @MSUBobcats on X, @MontanaStateBobcats on Instagram, and @Montana State Bobcats on Facebook.