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The University of Montana volleyball team will be home for the second straight weekend when the Grizzlies host Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado this week. Montana (6-10, 2-3 BSC) will host the Lumberjacks (4-9, 1-3 BSC) Friday and the Bears (10-7, 4-0 BSC) Saturday. Both matches will start at 7 p.m. at the West Auxiliary Gym.
The matches fall on Montana’s Homecoming weekend.
“All our home matches are a lot of fun,” UM coach Jerry Wagner said. “Last weekend we were able to be the focal point of what was going on around here (with a bye weekend for the Griz football team). This weekend will be fun because it’s Homecoming.
“There are a lot of activities taking place on campus all week, so the kids are going to be very aware that it’s a big weekend for the University. With all the alumni here, it’s going to build up to a real special weekend.”
Northern Arizona’s starting setter, libero and top offensive threat are all true freshmen. The Lumberjacks have played their last three matches without last year’s Big Sky Outstanding Freshman, Lexi Sullivan, who was injured Sept. 17 against Idaho State. Sullivan was averaging a team-best 3.38 kills per set at the time of her injury.
“Northern Arizona is a little bit like us right now,” Wagner said, referring to the absence of outside hitter Amy Roberts, who was lost for the season on Sept. 12. “They’re trying to find their way without somebody they started the season with. We’re similar in that fashion.
“They are young and athletic, they have a dynamite defense and their coach is going to have them playing hard. They have a recent victory over a team (Weber State) that we saw this weekend that I really respect, so they’ve played well.”
Northern Colorado is one of two teams, along with Eastern Washington, that is still unbeaten in Big Sky Conference play. The Bears have been dominant in their Big Sky victories, winning 12 sets and dropping just two.
UNC, which was picked third in the preseason coaches’ poll, opened the season with a second-place showing at North Texas’s tournament and has non-conference wins against Colorado and Iowa. The Bears returned 12 of 13 letterwinners from last season.
“Northern Colorado has started the season off well and has some huge wins to show for it,” Wagner added. “They are as veteran a team as they come. They are explosive and really have things going.
“We only have a few common opponents thus far with them, so it’s tough to say how we’ll match up at this point. Certainly they are playing as well as advertised from their preseason expectations.”
Montana is coming off a home split with Idaho State and Weber State. After dropping Friday’s weekend opener against the Bengals in four sets, the Grizzlies rallied for an important win against the Wildcats. Weber took the opening set, 25-17, and had a 24-20 lead in the second set before Montana came back for a 28-26 win. The Grizzlies took the next two sets, 25-22, 25-11.
“Last weekend was just invaluable. I have a super feeling right now about what we were able to do in all facets of our preparation,” Wagner said. “It will be a weekend that we’ll remember for a long time and be able to draw from.”
Around the Big Sky Conference: Through three weekends of league play, Eastern Washington (10-5, 5-0 BSC), Northern Colorado and Portland State (9-6, 4-1 BSC), the top three teams in the preseason coaches’ poll, are showing those predictions to be accurate. The three teams have just one loss between them in league play, while every other Big Sky team already has at least three losses.
If that trend continues, the six teams currently making up the bottom two-thirds of the league standings will be in a fight for the fourth and final spot in the Big Sky Conference tournament, which will be held Thanksgiving weekend in Cheney, Wash.
This week’s Big Sky Conference matches:
Friday: Northern Arizona at Montana, Northern Colorado at Montana State, Sacramento State at Idaho State, Portland State at Eastern Washington
Saturday: Northern Colorado at Montana, Northern Arizona at Montana State, Sacramento State at Weber State
More on Northern Colorado: The Bears have opened their 2009 Big Sky schedule with four straight wins. Two have come at home, over Weber State in three sets and Idaho State in four, and the last two on the road, at Sacramento State in straight sets and at Northern Arizona last Saturday in four.
Leading the way are UNC’s 2008 standouts. Senior outside hitter Kenzie Shreeve, a first team All-Big Sky pick last fall, leads the team in kills (3.30/s), senior middle blocker Allison Raguse, a second team All-Big Sky selection in 2008, averages 2.52 kills per set on .285 hitting, and senior middle blocker Taylor Smith, who was honorable mention All-BSC last year, leads the team in blocks.
The experienced team is under the offensive direction of true freshman setter Marissa Hughes, whose 10.65 assists per set rank second in the Big Sky.
Northern Colorado is the most potent offensive team in the league, hitting .245. That leads the rest of the Big Sky Conference by a wide margin.
The Bears went 17-10 a year ago, tying for third in the Big Sky with Montana with a 10-6 league mark. The No. 3 seed at the Big Sky tournament, UNC topped No. 6 Sacramento State in four sets in the quarterfinals, then lost in straight sets to No. 2 Portland State in the semifinals.
Northern Colorado is coached by Lyndsey Benson, who is 64-69 in her fifth season.
History: The series history between Montana and Northern Colorado dates back only to 2004, with eight meetings to date. The teams have split their first eight matches, with Montana enjoying a 3-0 edge at home. Last season the Grizzlies posted a four-set win at home, while the Bears defended their home court in Greeley, also in four sets.
More on Northern Arizona: The Lumberjacks have opened 1-3 in Big Sky Conference play, with a home win over Weber State in four sets, home losses to Idaho State and Northern Colorado in four sets and a road loss at Sacramento State, also a four-setter.
NAU’s wins on the season have come against Boise State, Florida Gulf Coast, The Citadel and WSU.
In last Saturday’s loss to UNC, the Lumberjacks took set one, 25-22, but then allowed the Bears to hit .406 over the final three sets.
Northern Arizona is allowing its opponents to hit .247 for the season, the second-worst percentage in the league ahead of Weber State’s .257. The Lumberjacks are hitting .167, just three points out of last in the Big Sky. NAU is also getting out-blocked by more than one per set (2.96 to 1.71).
Individually, freshman Anna Gott ranks second in the Big Sky at 4.56 digs per set.
Northern Arizona went 15-10 in 2008, missing out on the Big Sky tournament by one win, going 7-9 in league. The Lumberjacks lost three starters from that team, plus the 2008 Big Sky Conference Libero of the Year and first team All-Big Sky pick Brittany Stowers.
NAU is coached by Craig Choate, who is 19-19 in his second season.
History: Montana leads the all-time series 27-22, with a 14-9 edge in home matches. Since losing 16 of 17 to the Lumberjacks between 1997 and 2004, the Grizzlies have won six of the last nine. Montana swept the series last year, winning 3-2 at home (after taking an early 2-0 lead) and taking a 3-0 sweep in Flagstaff.
Thibeault in rare company: Junior Jaimie Thibeault hit .461 over three matches last week, including a career-best .692 (18 kills, zero errors in 26 attempts) in Saturday’s win over Weber State, to raise her season hitting percentage to .401.
Like baseball, hitting .400 for the season would put Thibeault in select company. Only Eastern Washington’s Courtney Bush, who hit .401 in 2003, has hit .400 for a season in Big Sky Conference history. Bush had 201 kills and just 36 errors in 411 attempts in 2003.
Montana’s best single-season hitting percentage is .305, which Mary Klueber hit in 1981. Only six players have hit .300 or better in Griz volleyball history.
With her .615 (18/2/26) hitting percentage against UC Irvine and her performance from Saturday, Thibeault has two of the season’s top three hitting performances in the Big Sky Conference. Only Portland State’s Lane Zielke, who hit .750 with 12 kills and no errors in 16 attacks against Idaho State, has had a better match.