University of Northern Colorado Athletics
University of Northern Colorado
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Montana
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Volleyball Sweeps Montana Road Trip
10/4/2014 2:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
UNC Volleyball defeated Montana Saturday Night to improve to .500 in conference play
MISSOULA, Mont. – Northern Colorado picked up its second conference victory in as many nights, defeating Montana 3-1 (27-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-19).
UNC (9-7, 2-2 Big Sky) continued to hit well during the road trip, finishing at .271 with 60 kills. Junior outside hitter Kendra Cunningham led the Bears with a season-high 21 kills to go with her 14 digs, giving her a team-leading ninth double-double of the year. Fellow junior outside hitter Katie Champion tied a career-high with 12 kills.
Junior defensive specialist Meagan Garcia recorded her fifth consecutive game with double-digit digs, leading the team with 17.
"It was a solid match for us. I thought we were effective from the service line tonight, setting up our defense," head coach Lyndsey Oates said.
The Bears and Griz had a tightly contested first set, with six ties and three lead changes. With the Bears trailing 17-11, setter Ashley Guthrie went to serve for the Bears, leading to a 9-0 run. UNC had four different players with four kills in the set.
Montana (2-15, 2-2 Big Sky) controlled the second set in its only win of the night before UNC controlled the majority of the third set.
Knowing they needed to win the fourth set to continue playing, the Grizzlies came out exchanging points with the Bears, splitting the first 12 points. Then a 4-1 by UNC helped the Bears take control of the set. Cunningham made sure the Bears wouldn't have to play a fifth set, putting down nine kills and hitting .438 in the set.
"We can continue to work on our defense and staying aggressive and our blocking to help set up our back row before next week's matches," Oates said.
The Bears will continue to their four-match conference road trip at 7 p.m. Oct. 10 against defending champions Idaho State.
