CEDAR CITY, Utah — In a battle of two teams looking to find consistency going into the second half of Big Sky play, Montana asserted control early and never let up in a three-set sweep over Southern Utah Thursday.
The Grizzlies have now won back-to-back matches and three of their past five, with two of the wins coming on the road. Since Oct. 7, Montana is 3-2, with all three wins coming in straight sets and both losses coming in five-set heartbreaks.
"How much we're growing is really impressive, and you saw that again tonight," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "The thing that stood out most was how well we managed our game. We're not only executing, but we're able to problem-solve at a very high level."
Playing without its top point-scorer in senior middle blocker Peyten Boutwell, sophomore middle blocker Ellie Scherffius stepped up in a big way early, recording five kills on six swings as Montana cruised to a 25-16 win.
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After that, it was junior Elise Jolly who put the team on her back. Listed as an outside hitter, Jolly shifted over to the vacant middle blocker position for the first time in her career.
She finished the night with eight kills on .500 hitting (8-2-12), in addition to a team-best three blocks.
Jolly had the night she did despite not playing at all over the past four matches and recording just seven kills in Big Sky play entering Thursday.
"She's a leader and someone who, no matter what role or position she's put in, wants the ball and wants to make the play," Lawrence said. "When you're put in a new position, especially in the middle, it's natural to be tentative or play small, but she ran at every detail and played confidently."
Montana was led offensively by freshman Paige Clark, who posted 12 kills on .421 hitting. She has led Montana for kills in four of the past five matches since she made a move to outside hitter.
She was far from alone offensively, however.
Junior Jackie Howell continued her stretch of strong play with a career-high-tying 11 kills on .292 hitting, while Scherffius (eight kills on .412 hitting) and Jolly (eight kills on .500 hitting) were both effective and efficient in the middle.
As a team, Montana hit .333 (45-15-90), its best team hitting percentage since October 2015.
To Lawrence, Montana's strong offensive play starts with its defense.
"The leadership of Sarina (Moreno) and how she's gone into matches the last couple of weeks, especially tonight, has been big," Lawrence said. "She and Elsa (Godwin) had some incredible reads and set the tone, making some plays when we really needed them to.
"The core of our ball control and first contact is what you're not seeing on the stats sheet, but what has elevated our play so much. That deserves a ton of credit because it's allowing us to offensively be where we're at."
Montana out-dug Southern Utah, 33 to 28, led by seven digs from Godwin, in addition to a pair of service aces for the senior.
Montana ran away with the opening set, 25-16, hitting .300 compared to .000 for the Thunderbirds. The two teams were tied at 7-7, before Montana scored 10 of the next 13 points to create comfortable separation.
Southern Utah settled in during the second set and held a 10-4 lead early before Montana mounted a comeback. Montana took its first lead at 14-13 after a block and kill from Jolly on consecutive points. The two teams were then tied at 21-21 before Clark took over, recording a block and two kills on three consecutive plays as Montana won the final four points of the set to go on top 2-0.
Montana never trailed in the third set, hitting an eye-popping .600 (16-1-25) and siding out at an 88-percent clip.
"We have some smart volleyball players who want to understand how to manage their individual games and, as a team, fight to hold organization as a group," Lawrence said. "It's been fun to see how we've grown in that area, week to week and set to set."
Montana will now look to carry its momentum over to Saturday afternoon when it faces preseason No. 2 Northern Arizona. The Grizzlies haven't won in Flagstaff since 2010, but took the Lumberjacks to five sets in each of the past two meetings.