@UNCBearsVB Starts Weekend with 3-1 Over Montana State

Friday, October 28

Bozeman, Mont.

7:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

14-9, 8-3

Montana State

5-15, 3-8

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Northern Colorado	25	25	18	25	3
Montana State	21	22	25	12	1

Photo by: Adrian Sanchez Gonzalez, Montana State University

10/28/2016 9:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

UNC volleyball took care of business Friday night with a 3-1 win over MSU

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

BOZEMAN, Mont.— Northern Colorado volleyball started its weekend off on the right foot with a four set victory at Montana State Friday night.

How it Happened
The Bears and Bobcats played a back and forth first set, until MSU went on a small run to go up 15-12. UNC answered in a big way with an 8-0 run of their own to take control of it. Kortney Lockey's tough serving was a big part of the run, including a pair of aces.

Northern Colorado worked its way out to an early four point lead in the second set, but MSU chipped away at it. A late 4-1 run by the Bobcats would get them within one at 20-19, but then Ashley Guthrie decided to take measures into her hands. She used a pair of setter dumps to swing the momentum back in the favor of the Bears as they ended up leading 2-0 at the break.

Coming out of the locker rooms from the intermission, MSU was determined to avoid being swept by the Bears twice this year. The Bobcats started the set strong going on a 13-3 early on to build a nine point lead.
Northern Colorado tried to battle back into the match, but was unable to as Montana State out-hit them .300 to .088 to force a fourth set.

After it was all MSU in the third set, it became all UNC in the fourth. The Bears used a 7-1 and 6-0 run to take over the set, and conclude the match. Tough serving and big blocks were a big part of the runs. The team had two blocks, but they both came at key moments, including one from Guthrie and Sarah Wyland to end the match. The team also had five aces in the set compared to the three they had in the rest of the match.

Game Changer
Timarie Nymeyer set the tone early on for the Northern Colorado attack Friday night. She opened the match with six kills in the first set on a .857 hitting percentage, and had nine kills with a .900 percentage at the break. She ended the match with 15 kills, tying teammate Kortney Lockey for the most, while pacing the team's attack with a .522 percentage. It is the second time this year she has hit .500 or better.

Notable
- Senior setter Ashley Guthrie had another solid game on Friday. She ended the match with 48 assists, eight digs and four digs. Guthrie's setter dumps came at key times in the match for the team.
- Kortney Lockey had a good all-around night for the Bears, tying for the team lead with 15 kills, eight digs and three service aces.
- Alex Kloehn set a new single season career-best in solo blocks, with her one tonight giving her 19 on the season. She is four shy of the program's DI record of 23 set by Bri Strong.
- With a win tomorrow, UNC will have clinched a spot in the Big Sky Tournament.

Quotable
Head coach Lyndsey Oates
"We struggled in the middle of the match, but I liked the way we responded in set four. We served much more aggressively and that was important in the match tonight with the way they run their fast offense. We just continue to make improvements each game and try new things to help us as we continue to push down this final stretch. Timarie was a key for us early to get the offense going. They had to keep an eye on her the rest of the match, which opened up other opportunities of us offensively."

What's Next?
The Bears will close out their four-game road trip tomorrow night when they head to Montana to take on the Griz. First serve is set for 7 pm. Montana is coming off a four set loss to North Dakota Friday night.