Oct. 13, 2008

Complete Match Notes: Utah Valley, Montana and Montana State

Quickly
The Bengals head into a busy three-match week starting at home against Utah Valley then traveling to take on Montana and Montana State. Idaho State posts a five game losing streak as they last captured a victory over Eastern Washington who is tied for fourth in conference play. The Bengals are holding the eighth position in conference with a 1-5 record and has a chance to improve and set its standing with victories over Montana who is tied for sixth with a 3-3 record and Montana State who holds ninth with an 0-6 record.

About Idaho State
Idaho State posts a 3-14 overall record, but are 1-3 in Big Sky play. Idaho State hopes to extend its home record currently at 1-3 with a win over Utah Valley while looking for their first road victory on an opponents home field as the Bengals are 0-6 on the road. Idaho State looks to take an early lead as they post a 2-1 record when they have lead after the first game. The best month has been September for the Bengals where they captured all three of its victories. The Bengals are now tied at 0-3 for its record in September and October thus far.

The Bengals post a Big Sky Conference .154 attack percentage with senior Brenda Cooper, junior Emily Waldron and sophomore Britta Bartschi leading the attacks. Hot on the trail is freshman Jaclyn Hone who had a standout performance over the weekend with her first start for the Bengals against Northern Arizona. The outside hitter recorded led the team in digs with 17 digs and posted 26 over both matches. Hone recorded 11 kills with only four errors from 29 attempts to post a .241 percentage against UNC. Hone earned 12.5 points for the Bengals against the Bears, the first time a player other than Waldron had led the team in points. Sophomore Ashlyn McDowell also made her starter appearance against NAU and UNC. She posted five kills with only one error from 10 attacks for a team match-high .400 attack percentage against the Lumberjacks.

About Utah Valley
Utah Valley comes to Reed Gym posting a three game winning streak against Cal State Bakersfield, Chicago State and Texas-Pan American, its first road victory. The Wolverines will be a focused group as their only match this week is against the Bengals and will have nine days following to prepare for their rematch against Texas-Pan American.

The Wolverines post a 6-8 overall record and are still a member of the Independent Conference. UVU has been out hit by their opponents as it posts a .187 percentage to the .198 of its opponents. However, the Wolverines have out blocked their opponents as they have paired up to success with 212 block assists for a total of 122 blocks keeping their opponents to 16.5 total blocks. Utah Valley performs the best in the second set as they have won seven on its second sets and kept its opponents to seven wins.

Against Utah Valley, senior Brenda Cooper led the team in block assists with five.

Wolverines Series
Utah Valley leads the series 4-2 as it improved its record over the Bengals in the previous matchup this season at the Utah Valley Invitational. The Wolverines defeated Idaho State in straight sets, 22-25, 17-25, 24-26 at the Shurian Family Activity Center in Orem, Utah on Saturday, September 13.

The Bengals recorded 13 tied scores and eight lead changes in the first set alone against UVU, but fell behind in the second set and posted only one lead change. ISU fought back to record seven lead changes and 11 tied scores to force the Wolverines into a 26 point game.

Idaho State was out hit by the Wolverines as they posted 50 kills to ISU's 27 for the match. Junior Emily Waldron led the Bengals with 12 kills and also posted five digs. Britta Bartschi posted five kills with only one error to post a .364 attack percentage, a match high. Blakely Peppinger led the assists with 21 and posted four digs.

The Bengals set up their defense through blocks as they posted six team blocks while Utah Valley recorded seven. Brenda Cooper, a senior, led the Bengals with five block assists, followed by sophomore Sarah Carson with four.

About Montana
Montana is tied for sixth in the conference with Weber State both posting 3-3 records in the Big Sky. In it's most recent match, the Grizzly's posted a five set loss as they went neck-and-neck with number three in the conference Sacramento State. Montana captured the second and fourth games against the Hornets with the final score being (25-21, 24-26, 25-19, 22-25, 15-13). Both teams had a superb night with Montana leading blocks and Sacramento State leading kills. UM posted 10 team blocks to SAC's seven. The Hornets however, posted 71 kills with 22 errors from 169 attempts for a .290 percentage while the Grizzlies had a .213 attack percentage with 60 kills, 23 errors and 174 attempts.

The Griz post a 7-9 overall record and have recorded all but one of their victories at home for a 6-1 record. Their longest winning streak began with the start of the season against UC Riverside for a three-match streak. The longest losing streak was posted at the end of the Southern Methodist Tournament in Dallas, Texas throughout the Arizona State Tournament in Tempe, AZ for a streak of four.

Montana has three players posting kills in the triple digits even though the team has played the fewest total matches of Big Sky members this season, shared with Eastern Washington at 16. Sacramento State posts the most overall matches this season in the Big Sky with 21. Montana is lead by Amy Roberts in the attack with 185 total kills averaging 3.14 per set while Jaimie Thibeault posts 135 kills with 2.29 percent for an attack percentage of .252 for the season.

Defensively Brittney Brown leads the back row with 263 total digs, averaging 4.38 per set. In the front line sophomore Thilbeault is a force at 6' 2" recording 18 solo blocks and 57 blocks assist to lead the team in both. Montana relies on its one setter Taryn Wright as she has recorded 567 assists, nearly ten every set.

Montana has been hitting a .198 percentage while allowing its opponents to .229 over six games. The griz have also had a difficult time with service return as they have allowed their opponents 67 aces and only posted 58 of their own. Montana does set up a strong defense in the front line as they have out-blocked their opponents 56 to 44 team blocks.

Grizzly Series
Montana leads the series 35-26 with the last four contests going to the Griz. The last meeting ended in a 3-0 (26-30), 21-30, 26-30) loss at Montana in the last match of the regular season on Saturday, November 17. Keeping up in attacks ISU was out hit .171 to .103 but found their demise when the Griz posted ten team blocks and 12 service aces.

About Montana State
Montana State will match up against Weber State who is tied with Montana at sixth in the conference before taking on Idaho State. The Bengals and Bobcats post similar overall records as MSU is 3-13 overall while Idaho State is currently 3-14. However, the Bengals have performed better in conference as they are 1-5 holding eighth place while Montana State is 0-6 and has secured the last place in conference.

The Bobcats currently have a nine game losing streak as they host Weber State. Montana State has maintained a .082 attack percentage while allowing its opponents a .215 percentage. MSU has also been out blocked consistently though conference as they have recorded 38 team blocks to its opponents 44.

However, the Bobcats display three players in triple digits for kills during the season. Sophomore Jodeen Rademacher leads the team with 138 kills and a posts a .130 percentage while Nicole Grypiuk has recorded 130 kills with a .143 percentage. The highest hitting percentage on the team comes from Chelsea Oemcke who has made 13 kills this season with only four efforts from 32 attempts for a .281 percentage.

Bobcats Series
Montana State leads the series 30-26 but have fallen to the Bengals in their last four match ups. In the last meeting Idaho State defeated the Bobcats in a four set series 30-26, 27-30, 30-24, 31-29 at Montana State. Idaho State recorded an attack percentage of .194 while MSU was .139 at the front and were edged out in blocks as they posted 13 and MSU recorded 13.5 from a three man block assisted effort.

This Week's Schedule
10/13-Practice 6-8:30 p.m. 10/14-vs. Utah Valley 7 p.m. 10/15-Practice 6-8:30 p.m. 10/16-Travel Day 10/17-at Montana 7 p.m. 10/18-at Montana State 7 p.m. 10/19-Travel Day