GRAND CANYON INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
Montana at Grand Canyon
Friday, Aug. 30 / 8:00 p.m. (MT) / Live Stats / Watch
Montana vs. Fresno State
Saturday, Aug. 31 / 5:30 p.m. (MT) / Live Stats / Watch
Montana vs. Oregon State
Sunday, Sep. 1 / 12:00 p.m. (MT) / Live Stats / Watch
PREVIEW
While few things can match the gauntlet that Montana went through to open the 2023 season, the first three matches will be anything but a walk in the park for the Grizzly volleyball team as they begin the 2024 year at the Grand Canyon Invitational .
Montana starts things off against the host Antelopes on Friday evening in their annual "Lope-A-Palooza" match, which is a students only event that featured over 7,200 fans last season.
They follow that up with matches against a Fresno State team that won 19 matches last season and an Oregon State squad navigating its first season playing a WCC schedule.
The Grizzlies will have a new look in 2024 as they lost two starting middle blockers and their setter from last year's squad, but there is plenty to be excited about as they reloaded with six freshmen and two transfers.
The past few weeks of fall camp have been all about learning how this year's group works best together.
"It's been a whirlwind, as fall camp always is, but it's been exciting," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "I think the challenge is always finding our strengths in a new group, finding unity, connection, chemistry, and all those good things you look for in fall camp. But also getting enough reps to where we feel really gelled, especially with all the lineup options we have."
There is a good mix of experience and youth on the squad with five seniors and six true freshmen. The fall has been all about getting the younger players all the experience that they can while still remaining fresh for the season opener.
It's also been about finding the formula that works. Paige Clark and Maddie Kremer return on the outsides and bring with them plenty of firepower. Alexis Batezel is back after serving as the starting libero in 2023. But outside of them, there are some question marks around the floor.
It's been a short time period for Lawrence and her staff to work with all the newcomers and returners and sort out what will work best moving into 2024.
"Volleyball is funny because we can't coach them in the summer, so you end up getting two weeks to find out everything you can and practice as much as you can," Lawrence said. "It's a different formula each year but I think this year it was about finding the right combination of rest and time together."
Montana is searching for their fourth straight 10-win season, which would be the longest streak since 2008-11. The Grizzlies finished 11-18 in 2023 following one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in program history. They opened last year up with a pair of ranked teams in Missoula.
There are no ranked teams on the schedule at this point, but it's another difficult preseason for the Grizzlies. It begins with perhaps the hardest test on the entire schedule, as Grand Canyon's 23 wins in 2023 are more than any other non-conference opponent.
Add onto that the fact that it will be in a hostile, season-opening environment, and Montana should be in for a test. But they wouldn't have it any other way. The long wait will finally be over.
"It's very exciting. You can't really put it into words because you're in it every day, but the gameday is looming. We're here, finally," Lawrence said. "Last week it felt a million miles away. I think there are nerves and there's a ton of anticipation, but I think most of us just want the first game to be happening so that we can be in it."
SCOUTING GRAND CANYON (23-8, 13-3 WAC in 2023)
- The Antelopes finished the 2023 season with 23 wins, advancing to the NCAA Tournament after defeating Stephen F. Austin in the WAC Championship match.
- Grand Canyon was picked first in the preseason WAC Coaches' Poll, receiving four of the nine first-place votes.
- Kendra Potts is in her first season as head coach at Grand Canyon. She spent the previous five seasons at West Texas A&M, going 124-24 and claiming the 2022 D-II National Championship.
- Outside hitter Tatum Parrott was chosen by the WAC coaches as the Preseason Player of the Year. Parrott led the WAC in attacking in 2023, recording 4.5 kills per set to rank 10th in the entire NCAA. She was an honorable mention All-American.
- Trista Strasser and Ashley Lifgren were also named to the Preseason All-WAC Team. Strasser is a senior middle blocker that recorded 135 kills and hit .358 in conference matches. She also had 69 total blocks in WAC play. Lifgren had 203 kills and 109 digs to go along with 42 blocks.
SCOUTING FRESNO STATE (19-14, 10-8 MWC in 2023)
- The Bulldogs finished 19-14 in 2023 but caught fire at the end of the year. They won the Mountain West Tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament, where they were defeated 3-0 by #1 Stanford in the First Round.
- Fresno State was tabbed fourth in the Mountain West in the Preseason Coaches Poll. The defending tournament champions received 71 points in the poll. Colorado State (8) led with 98, followed by Utah State (2) with 84, and Boise State with 77.
- Head coach Leisa Rosen is in her second season at Fresno State. In her first season, she led the Bulldogs to a MW title. She spent the last 24 seasons at Michigan with 22 of them as the associate head coach.
- Dionii Fraga, last season's Freshman of the Year in the Mountain West, was picked by the league's head coaches to the Preseason All-Mountain West team. The starting libero averaged 4.25 digs per set to lead the Mountain West.
- Addison Haluska was a First Team All-Mountain West selection in 2023 after leading the Bulldogs with 3.14 kills per set on a .233 hitting percentage.
SCOUTING OREGON STATE (11-19, 6-14 PAC-12 in 2023)
- The Beavers won 11 matches in 2023, going 6-14 in the final season of Pac-12 play. They will compete in the West Coast Conference this season.
- Oregon State was picked fourth in the WCC Preseason Poll, tied with Pacific with 70 points. Pepperdine were picked to win the league, followed by San Diego and LMU.
- Head coach Lindsey Behonick enters her second season in charge of Oregon State. She led the Beavers to two ranked wins in the same season for the first time since 2011. She spent the previous 10 seasons at Pitt, helping lead them to bacak-to-back Final Four appearances.
- Annika Hester, a senior opposite, was picked to the All-WCC Volleyball Preseason Team. Hester transferred from San Diego, where she averaged 1.14 kills per set.
- Lauren Rumel was also a preseason All-WCC selection after starting all 30 matches for the Beavers in 2023. She led the team with 23 aces and was fourth on the team with 182 kills.
COACH'S CONNECTION
When Montana plays against Oregon State on Sunday, it will be a reunion of sorts for head coach Allison Lawrence. Lawrence, originally from Alta Loma, Calif., played for the Beavers from 2001-04 and spent a season as a volunteer assistant coach.
Lawrence still ranks ninth in Oregon State history with 1,255 career kills and seventh with 3.39 kills per set. She also ranks 18th all-time in both service aces (89) and digs (965). She was named to the Pac 10 Freshman Team in 2001 and was a two-time honorable mention All-Pac 10 player in her time in Corvallis.
JACK IS BACK!
Jackie Howell was a key part of Montana's stellar season in 2022, recording 174 kills and 291 digs for a team that won 17 matches. Last year, Howell missed out on the entirety of the season with a knee injury.
She had a choice to make following the injury. She could stick it out with the hopes of using her extra year of COVID eligibility, or she could hang up the jersey and call it a career. The long days of recovery were difficult, as was watching her teammates compete from the sideline, but it will all be worth it when she takes the court again.
"I'm so excited to be back and on the court with the girls," Howell said. "I can't even put it into words what it is like being back out there and being able to work, not just in the gym but on the court, working with every girl new or returning."
She is one of five seniors on the team, and joined the Grizzlies in 2021 alongside Paige Clark and Maddie Kremer. Howell played her first two seasons at Tyler Junior College in Texas, but has been a part of the group that has changed Griz volleyball for the better.
It's led to a leadership role within the team, which has plenty of up-and-coming young talents.
"If you asked everyone on our team, 'Who do you love playing next to? Who teaches you the most during rallies? Who do you find comforting that builds your confidence?' They would all name Jackie," Lawrence said. "They would name her even when she was injured, so she has that presence whether she's on the court or just in the gym."
LOPE-A-PALOOZA
Montana can expect to find a raucous and unique environment waiting for it in Phoenix, as Grand Canyon will be hosting Lope-A-Palooza during the season opening match. It's a kickoff event for Welcome Week at GCU, featuring a students-only crowd.
Last year, over 7,000 students were in attendance as GCU defeated Long Island in straight sets in front of a highly energized crowd.
"We're going to play at GCU in front of 7,000 people on their opening match night. They have a new team, new staff, but they are coming off an incredible season and an incredible run of several seasons. I think we're going to be tested right away and exposed in ways we need to be."
GRIZ NOTES
- Montana has won 28 matches over the previous two seasons. It's tied for the most wins in a two-year stretch since 2008-09 (28 wins). The last time the Grizzlies won more matches in a two-year stretch was 1994-95 (38 wins).
- The Grizzlies have won 10-plus matches in three straight seasons. The last time they had at least three straight double-digit win seasons came from 2005-11, when they reached the 10-win mark seven straight times. From 2012-21, the Grizzlies won 10 matches in a single season just twice.
- The offense put together one of the best attacking years in program history in 2023. Montana hit .214 as a team, the 8th-best in program history but the top mark in the 25-point rally scoring era.
- Middle blocker Ellie Scherffius graduated from Montana in 2023 and left as the program's co-all-time leader in hitting percentage (.294). Montana will also have to replace Madi Chuhlantseff in the middle. Chuhlantseff hit .340 in 2023, the 2nd-best single season hitting percentage in program history.
- Grizzly setter Carly Anderson transferred to Wisconsin for the 2024 season. Anderson finished her four-year career at Montana with 3,671 assists, which ranked 6th in program history. Montana returns sophom*ore Gracie Cagle at the position, and also picked up a transfer from UC Davis in Casi Newman.
- In Big Sky play, Montana is 17-16 over the previous two seasons. It's the most league wins in a two-year stretch since winning 18 matches in 2013-14.
- The Grizzlies reached the postseason for the third consecutive year in 2023. It's the first time since 2008-10 that Montana has qualified for the Big Sky Tournament three straight years. If Montana qualifies again this season, it will be the most consecutive appearances at the conference tournament since 1994.
- The coaching staff will have a new addition this year as Olivia Nicholson joins longtime coaches Allison Lawrence and Dana Hallisey. Nicholson played collegiately at Colorado State, the same school as Hallisey, before playing professionally in Europe the last two years.
