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The Montana volleyball team will open up the second half of its Big Sky Conference schedule Friday with a home match against Montana State. The Grizzlies (9-10, 5-3 BSC) and Bobcats (2-15, 0-8 BSC) will meet at 7:30 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena.

The match will feature two teams headed in opposite directions. Montana has won a season-high four straight matches and finds itself within a match of Eastern Washington, Portland State and Northern Colorado, which are all tied for the Big Sky lead at 6-2.

Montana State has dropped nine straight matches and has lost its last 44 Big Sky Conference matches dating back to the 2006 season.

Montana won the first meeting between the two teams on Friday, Sept. 25, in Bozeman, 25-20, 25-18, 25-23. The win was the seventh straight for the Grizzlies in the series.

Friday’s match was moved to Dahlberg Arena from the team’s normal home in the West Auxiliary Gym to accommodate what coach Jerry Wagner hopes is a turnout that exceeds the program’s single-match attendance record of 2,084. That record, which was set against Idaho, has stood since the 1991 season.

“Fans should want to come out Friday because we have an unbelievable volleyball team,” Wagner said. “It’s an environment that will put a smile on your face when you watch how hard these kids play for Montana. It’s a big rivalry game for us, so there will be a lot of excitement surrounding the match.

“In addition to that, our kids are going to supply the type of product on the court that you’ll want to embrace. People need to be here Friday night.”

The match will be the third of four one-match weeks for the Grizzlies during their Big Sky Conference schedule. Montana swept the first two single-match weeks, knocking off the Bobcats in three sets in September and defeating Sacramento State in straight sets in California Saturday night.

The victory over the Hornets was the program’s first victory at Sacramento State since the 1999 season.

“I don’t think our team has any problem playing just one match at a time, or preparing for two,” Wagner said. “They are just anxious to practice and to work on new things and excited about continuing to get better.

“I’m happy that we have the chore of motivating our team to keep playing well because that’s a pretty easy job right now. They are very self-motivated, and they want to keep getting better. They feel like they can play like this on a regular basis, and they are holding themselves to that high standard right now.”

The Bobcats lost their 44th straight Big Sky Conference match Friday night at Sacramento State in three sets.  Montana State lost its last four league matches in 2006, went 0-16 in 2007 and ’08 and is 0-8 this season.

“I think Montana State’s losing streak was a topic that was out there for our players going into the first match because we were struggling a little bit and it was their home opener,” Wagner said. “But right now we’re not thinking about that at all.

“We’re not concerned about the situation of any of the teams we’re playing. We’re only concerned about ourselves, how we can get better and what’s going to be ahead for us if we continue to apply ourselves each day in practice and continue in the great atmosphere this team has created for itself.”

Turnaround continues: Through the team’s first four Big Sky Conference matches, which were four of Montana’s first five matches without outside hitter Amy Roberts, who was lost for the season against Arizona State, the Grizzlies hit .165 in going 1-3.

During its current four-match winning streak, with victories over Weber State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado and Sacramento State, Montana is hitting .288 in addition to out-digging (14.29 to 12.71/s) and out-blocking (2.43 to 1.86/s) its opponents.

“We were expecting a team this season that knew how to compete well together, which is why we kept this group mostly intact (from last season) with only Mie (Lindgren) as an addition,” Wagner said.

“The fact that they’ve been able to rebound from not having one of those people we started the season with is a credit to everyone in the program and shows how much they believed we could pull this back together.

“Our ball-handling is back to where it needs to be for us to continue toward our goals, and now our left-side hitting is becoming a real bright spot for us. Those players now understand what they need to do for us to be successful, and they are getting a little bit of their own piece of the offensive and defensive structure of this team.

“Now that we’re back to playing at a high level, I think we’ve given those teams ahead of us in the standings a lot to think about.”

Around the Big Sky Conference: At the midway point of the Big Sky season, teams are bunched up at the top and just below the middle of the standings. Eastern Washington, Portland State and Northern Colorado, the top three teams in the preseason coaches’ poll, are atop the league with identical 6-2 marks. All have beaten each other, with Portland State holding a 3-1 win over Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado holding a 3-1 victory over Portland State and Eastern Washington holding a 3-1 win over Northern Colorado.

Montana, which was picked fourth in the preseason poll, trails by a game at 5-3. The Grizzlies are one game clear of Sacramento State, which hit the halfway point at 4-4.

Idaho State, Northern Arizona and Weber State are all tied at 3-5, with Montana State at the bottom.

Only the top four teams will make the Big Sky Conference tournament, which will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 27-28, in Cheney, Wash.

“The voting at the beginning of the season, that’s pretty much where we’re at right now,” Wagner said. “That tells me that the coaches are good at what they are doing and that every team has some strengths that they bring on a regular basis.

“Whether a team has experience or youthful exuberance, it means you’ve got your hands full every night. The teams that are able to compete within themselves, like we’re doing right now, have just had a little better of it through the first half.”

This week’s Big Sky Conference matches:
Thursday: Sacramento State at Northern Arizona
Friday: Montana State at Montana, Idaho State at Portland State, Weber State at Eastern Washington
Saturday: Sacramento State at Northern Colorado, Weber State at Portland State, Idaho State at Eastern Washington

Hoping for more home success: Currently on a three-match home winning streak, Montana will close out the month of October with Montana State Friday, then home matches against Portland State and Eastern Washington Friday and Saturday, Oct. 30-31.

Montana will have played seven of its eight matches in October at home.

The Grizzlies will be on the road for four of five matches in November to close out the regular season. A home match against Sacramento State is sandwiched between road trips to Northern Colorado/Northern Arizona and Weber State/Idaho State.

“We’ve had some players under the weather (this month), so it’s been a blessing to be at home as much as we have been,” Wagner said. “Hopefully we’re getting to the point where we should be healthy by the time we get back on the road (in November). Because we’ve had such limited travel this month, I think we’ll be in a good frame of mind because those trips late in the season won’t seem quite so long.”

Inside the numbers: Junior middle blocker Jaimie Thibeault ranks 11th nationally with a season hitting percentage of .410. She is one of 13 players in NCAA Division I hitting above .400. She also ranks 20th in the nation in blocking at 1.36 per set. ... Montana is leading the Big Sky in blocking during league play at 2.68 team blocks per set. ... The Grizzlies’ .228 hitting percentage in league play ranks behind only Portland State’s .245 and Northern Colorado’s .244. ... Montana has the leader in three of the six Big Sky individual statistical categories during league play: Thibeault ranks No. 1 in hitting percentage (.467) and blocks (1.71/s) and Wright ranks No. 1 in service aces (0.50/s). ... Junior Brittney Brown ranks No. 3 in digs (4.50/s), while Thibeault ranks fifth in kills (3.61/s) and Wright ranks fifth in assists (10.50/s).