MONTANA STATE PRESS RELEASE
MSU crashes waves in season opener
Eli Svisco, a senior who has been mentored by three different coaches during her tenure at Montana State, put the final exclamation point on MSU’s season-opening 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 26-24 win over Tulane, Friday morning at the Sam Houston State Bearkat Invitational.
The win was also MSU head coach JJ Riley’s first collegiate victory.
Svisco, an outside hitter from Castle Rock, Colorado, recorded the final kill of the match on the right side, as the Bobcats rallied from a 23-19 deficit in the fourth set to earn its first season-opening victory since 2012.
“We’re happy for the girls as they have been working hard in the preseason,” Riley said. “It’s always great to get a win for your efforts. We love the fight and focus the team showed coming from behind, especially coming from behind late in the fourth set to get the win.”
Junior Loni Kreun paced Montana State with a team-best 15 kills and 18 digs. In addition, the product of Davis, California added a match-high three aces. e Svisco and freshman Natalie Passeck notched nine kills apiece, while Kiana Black and Alex Rader added eight kills each.
Aside from Kreun’s double-double, Montana State also received the feat from freshman setter Katie Ireland, who dished out 14 assists, while recording ten digs. In a statistical first at MSU, libero Kasey Altman also posted a double-double with 15 digs and 11 assists. Senior setter Katie Harrington logged a team-high 21 assists to lead the Bobcat offense.
For the match, the Bobcats out-hit Tulane .261 to .198 and also held advantages in service aces and blocks. MSU recorded 10 team blocks and were paced at the net by Svisco and Black with six apiece. Last season, Montana State ranked at the bottom of the Big Sky Conference in both serving and blocking.
“Everyone contributed at some point and made plays for us which is key to having a good team,” Riley said. “We challenged them with making some adjustments and they did a great job.”
MSU falls to UTSA in straight sets
Montana State head coach JJ Riley will have to deal with some growing pains from his Bobcat volleyball team this season. That was evident Friday afternoon as Texas San Antonio posted a 25-17, 25-16, 25-23 straight-set victory over MSU in its second match at the Sam Houston State Bearkat Invitational.
The Roadrunners out-hit the Bobcats .263 to .058 and turned 21 MSU hitting miscues into points. UTSA led the match almost start to finish. The Roadrunners dominated the first two sets and held a 13-7 edge in the final stanza, before the Bobcats started to click on the offensive end.
Montana State (2-0) took its first lead of the match at 19-18 following a Natalee Godfrey kill and built the margin to 23-19 on a freshman Chase Doughty winner. However, the Roadrunners responded with a 6-0 run to win the set and match.
“We will have some moments where we will be challenged and we’ll need to figure out how to find the court and be aggressive with our attack when we’re out of system,” Riley said. “(This match) was a learning experience. We’re still working with our personnel and line-ups to see how they respond when things are going well and also when things are not going well. This weekend is more about us than anything else.”
Senior Eli Svisco paced MSU with seven kills and Kasey Altman with a match-high 19 digs.
Antonela Jularic with 11 kills and nine digs to lead UTSA, who won a share of Conference USA’s regular-season title last fall.
The Bobcats will play Prairie View A&M and Sam Houston
