BOZEMAN, Mont. (Sept. 28, 2024) - The Northern Arizona women's volleyball team fell in three sets to Montana State tonight (22-25, 21-25, 20-25). This puts Northern Arizona at 7-6 and 0-2 in the Big Sky Conference for their 2024 season. The Montana State Bobcats move to 3-11, 1-1.
In the opening set, the Bobcats would take the early lead with a 3-0 run. It was answered by two kills from Hanah Stoddard. A 3-0 run by the 'Jacks including a kill from Kylie Moran gave them a one-point lead at 7-6. The set would go on to tie at 8-8 and 9-9. Later in the set, Northern Arizona would complete a 7-1 run to regain the lead at 18-16. Montana State would tie it up again at 18, 19, and 20 points a piece. A 5-2 run by the 'Cats would secure them the first set 25-22.
Set two started with a 3-1 run by the 'Jacks with a kill from Sophia Wadsworth. The 'Cats would catch up, matching the Lumberjacks at 6-6 and again at 9-9, 10-10 and 11-11. A 6-1 run would put Montana State ahead by five at 17-12. Down the road, Northern Arizona would go on a 6-1 run of their own, bringing the set to 21-22. This run saw kills by Wadsworth and Kendall Robertson, as well as a block assist by Stoddard and Robertson. Three points by Montana State was enough to give them the second set 25-21.
The final set began with a 4-2 lead for Montana State. From here, the Lumberjacks would carry out a 8-0 run which included two service aces by Melia Barlow, putting the score at 10-4 in NAU's favor. The Bobcats would continue to fire with a 6-0 run, taking the score to 15-14 before Northern Arizona equalized at 15-15. MSU made another run, this time 6-1 to go ahead 21-16. Savannah Bloom and Gottschalk both made kills (18-21) before the 'Cats garnered two points of their own at 23-18. Two points from each team would conclude the third set, 25-20, in favor of the Bobcats who won the match 3-0.
Overall, Barlow would complete a perfect hitting percentage of 1.000. Gottschalk followed her with a .429. Barlow would have two service aces along with 17 assists. Keira Hall aided with 14 assists. Stoddard would lead in attacks with 40 total and lead in kills alongside Bloom who both had eight each. Wadsworth trailed with six kills. Millie O'Ketter totaled 18 digs, followed by Hall and Moran with nine digs each. Bloom and Robertson completed four blocks each followed by Gottschalk with three.
The Lumberjacks will take on Northern Colorado next week on Oct. 4 at home in Flagstaff. The match will be played in Rolle Activity Center at 6:30 p.m. Mountain Standard time.
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