Bears Storm Back to Beat Bobcats

Thursday, October 31

Bozeman, Mont.

7 PM

University of Northern Colorado

16-7,10-1Big Sky

Montana State

10-11,6-6Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Montana State

Photo by: Woody Myers

10/31/2019 10:50:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Northern Colorado used a strong defensive effort to come back after trailing 2-1

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

BOZEMAN, Mont.- Northern Colorado volleyball rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat Montana State in five sets [22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-19, 15-13]. UNC (16-7, 10-1) fought for every ball on Thursday night to defend the top spot in the Big Sky Conference.

"It was a good, gut match for us that we were able to win," head coach Lyndsey Oates said. "Montana State played very well and attacked some of our weaknesses. It was kind of a trap game for us, with them coming off a tough loss to a their rival. They played great volleyball early on and we had to weather the storm and see if we could get something going. It wasn't our best volleyball and we were not in rhythm. But we found a way defensively when we needed it."

The Bears had a strong team defensive effort, controlling the Bobcats' attack with five players recording double-digit digs and allowing a .195 attack percentage. Taylor Els recorded 25 digs to lead the UNC defense.

Daisy Schultz blazed past her previous career-high of 17 digs with 24 on Thursday. Schultz added 59 assists in the game.

"I thought Daisy had a really good match defensively with 24 digs, right behind Taylor Els," Oates said of Schultz. "She came up with some big digs in set five that we really needed."

Four Bears finished with double-digit kills led by Taylor Muff's game-high 21 kills, while hitting .269. Muff's game was also a career-high, topping her previous best by one kill.

Kailey Jo Ince came to play with 19 kills and a .279 attack percentage. Jadyn McCartney provided an offensive spark in the later sets, finishing with 11 kills and a .320 hitting percentage. Lauren Hinrichs added 10 kills on a .233 average.

"All three pin hitters, Jadyn, Taylor Muff and KJ all hit a high percentage for us. They stayed efficient without making too many errors," Oates added.

Montana St. got off to a quick start in the first set, hitting .361 with 16 kills to beat the Bears 25-22.

UNC tightened up its defense in the second set, holding the Bobcats to a .119 attack percentage. The Bears had 15 kills and a .136 hitting percentage that was enough to earn a 25-21 win to even the game at one.

The offense reemerged for Montana St. in the third set, hitting .306 with 14 kills to retake the lead in the game, 2-1. UNC hit better with a .278 percentage but could not keep up with the Bobcats.

Down 4-1 early in the fourth set, UNC went on a 5-0 run to jump ahead in the set. The run was powered by three kills from McCartney. The lead stretched out to 11-6 with kills from Ince and Muff. Ince kept swinging in the set and scored six kills. UNC would even the match at 2-2 with clutch kills from their hitters.

Now in the fifth set, UNC was up 8-6 on the Bobcats, looking to complete the comeback. Montana St. fought back and took a 9-8 lead over the Bears. Muff and Ince would come up with clutch kills again to push UNC back in front. Muff had four kills in the final set to give UNC the 15-13 set win and the 3-2 game win.

Game Notes

Taylor Els recorded her 1600 career dig and her total now sits at 1616 after tallying 25 against Montana St. Els is now sixth on UNC's all-time dig list.
Daisy Schultz now has 2865 career assists after recording 59 on Thursday. She also recorded her sixth double-double of the season.
Jadyn McCartney recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 12 digs.
Freshman Cece Huhn set a new career-high with seven kills, while hitting a strong .357 from the middle.
Lauren Hinrichs recorded two solo blocks for the second time this season. She has six total in 2019.