@UNCBearsVB Wins Third Match in a Row With Sweep of Bobcats

Friday, September 28

Greeley, Colo.

6 pm

University of Northern Colorado

7-6, 3-1Big Sky

Montana State

6-9, 1-3Big Sky

Montana State

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

9/28/2018 9:34:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Northern Colorado finishes home stand with another sweep

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

Another night at Bank of Colorado Arena, another sweep for Northern Colorado volleyball, as they defeated Montana State [25-15, 25-22, 25-20]. UNC was able to again put together balanced offense and solid defense for the team's third win in a row.

"It was staying low error on our side is the key," head coach Lyndsey Oates said. "They made some errors at the end and we just needed to stay low error on our side and not go back in fourth with them on errors. We executed some kills at the end, but I thought the key was being consistent on our side. We have to get better in that area by limiting service errors and net errors, along with some mindless plays we have to sharpen up."

Against the Bobcats, three Bears double-digit kills with Taylor Muff leading the match with 12, followed by both Lauren Hinrichs and Jadyn McCartney who each scored 11 on the night.

Muff hit a strong .300 on the night with three errors and Hinrichs had another scorching night in the middle with a .526 percentage, committing only one error. McCartney recorded a .350 attack percentage with four errors

Daisy Schultz had another effective night passing the ball, finishing with 42 assists to help organize the offense. Taylor Els added two assists and dug 16 balls on the night.

"I think the offense is helped by Daisy being back at practice and healthy," Oates added. "We have worked, offensively, quite a bit on some different play calls and moving the ball around. She was very accurate tonight and made good decisions on who to set when. Any time we are that balanced, you have to credit the setting because all five of our hitters were effective tonight."

UNC set the tone of the match early as they raced out to a 5-0 lead in set one, highlighted by a block from McCartney and Hinrichs. The Bears extended the lead out to 18-9 with Brittany Lawrence and Hinrichs scoring from the middle. McCartney gave UNC the 1-0 lead in the match with a kill to win set one, 25-15.

Montana State looked to respond in the second set, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. UNC pulled the Bobcats back with kills from Hinrichs and Schultz. The Bears went back in front with kills from Kortney Lockey, Muff, and McCartney, holding a 13-8 advantage. Montana State was resilient, tying the set up at 15 and the match would remain close. After tying four more times, UNC built a small lead with a pair of kills from Muff and an ace from Lockey. The Bears won the set 25-22 on another kill from Muff and had a two set lead in the match.

Hinrichs continued to score in the third set and helped build UNC a 9-7 lead. The lead grew to 13-9, but Montana State again mounted a comeback against the Bears. They tied the score at 13 with kills from Natalie Passeck. Despite the Bobcats getting back in the game, UNC showed its own resilience, going on a 5-0 run after the score was tied at 14. With Laura Katarzynski serving, UNC had kills from Muff, Hinrichs, and Schultz to separate from the Montana state. Lockey would secure the win for the Bears with two kills for the 25-20 set-three win.

UNC swept Montana State with 50 kills and had a .327 attack percentage. The Bobcats were held to a .186 percentage for the match.

Game Notes

UNC improved its conference record to 3-1 with its third consecutive sweep. The Bears last recorded three straight sweeps in the 2014 Big Sky Tournament against Portland State, North Dakota, and Idaho State.
The Bears have now had three players in double-digit kills for the third consecutive match.
UNC has also been strong on defense, holding its opponents a hitting percentage under .200 in the last three matches.
Lauren Hinrichs' .526 attack percentage was a career-best mark and she improved her overall percentage from .366 to .378 the past two matches.
Taylor Els recorded her 37^th consecutive match with double-digit digs.
UNC out-blocked Montana State three to one, with Brittany Lawrence and Jadyn McCartney each recording two block assists.

Up Next
Northern Colorado will take its first conference road trip for a pair of matches, facing Idaho and Weber State next Friday and Saturday respectively.