Service Success Propels Bobcats to Five-Set Victory - Montana State University Athletics

Thursday, October 22

Ogden, UT

6:00 pm MT

Montana State University

13-7,6-3Big Sky

Weber State

12-7,5-4Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Montana St.	23	25	24	25	15	3
Weber St.	25	23	26	20	9	2

Box Score (PDF)

10/22/2026 9:37:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Kate Cooney

OGDEN, Utah – The Montana State volleyball team earned its sixth win of the Big Sky slate over Weber State on Thursday night in another five-set fight. With the win, the Bobcats (13-7, 5-3) improve to 6-2 in five set matches, while Weber State (5-4, 12-7) fall in the conference standings.

"The middle of the Big Sky pack is tight right now," head coach Matt Houk said. "I think it is a big deal to go on the road and get a win against a team that's playing quite well and sitting at a similar spot in the standings as we are. I thought Weber State was coming off one of their better weekends, so it feels good to find a way to pull that win out."

Weber State jumped ahead to an early lead from the first serve forward, but Montana State caught up and flipped the score in their favor, holding a narrow margin to 22-19. The Wildcats made a late run, foreshadowing the third set, and closed set one on a Bobcat service error at 25-23. After another back-and-forth set, the Bobcats claimed a 25-23 win off a Wildcat service error, mirroring the result of the first.

MSU opened the third set leading from the opening point to 24-20. Despite the lead, Weber State strung together another six-point scoring run to come from behind and take the set at 26-24.

In the fourth set, Montana State held Weber State to its lowest hitting percentage of the night, 0.62, in set four and were able to put a stop to the late-set scoring runs, closing out at 25-20.

Momentum rolled over to the deciding set for MSU, who only trailed for the first point before sealing the win by the largest margin of the night at 15-9. MSU hit .471 in the final set, with an 88% sideout efficiency.

While service errors plagued the Bobcats early in the match, success at the service line ended up giving the visitors an edge as they finished with 12 aces to Weber State's one. A quarter of those aces came in the fifth set, with Nicolette Noble recording two of her four total to propel MSU to a win.

"We were creating all kinds of points from the service line, and the fact that we only got aced once was a huge factor," Houk said. "Those things add up, especially over the course of a five-set match. When the scores are that close and you're creating those kinds of points from the service line, it's great."

Alongside Noble, who also matched a career-high 28 digs, Karli Heidemann finished with three aces, while Lauren Greeny and Keely Culler proved their topspin talents with two, and Afton Thomsen added one. Thomsen and Heidemann added nine digs as well, and Joelie Spelts led blocking efforts with five.

As has become customary for the Bobcats, Teagan Jaynes finished with 52 assists, averaging over 10 per set. Adding five kills of her own, Jaynes distributed sets throughout the offense, finding five hitters for 71 total kills. Heidemann led the offense with 18 and Spelts and Elli Esko were just behind with 14 each. Greeny totaled 12, in addition to 15 digs, and Alice Steman rounded out MSU's scoring with eight kills on 20 swings.

"It was another night where we distributed really well," Houk said. "We had six people that took a ton of swings tonight, but the fact that we got four in double digits is big. Kills weren't necessarily coming easily for Joelie and Greeny tonight, so for them to both ride the wave and work through it helped us make big plays when we needed them to."

The Bobcats return to Bozeman to face the Idaho State Bengals on Saturday night, another team that sits atop the Big Sky standings with six wins and just two losses. First serve will be at 7 p.m. MT, with discounted tickets available for fans coming from MSU's football game.

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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.