SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Montana State recorded a season-high 19 blocks and held the Big Sky Conference’s top squad to a .167 attack mark, including just .133 in the opening two sets, but it wasn’t enough as Northern Colorado rallied to reverse-sweep the Bobcats 21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-12 in the first round of the league tournament Wednesday.
Montana State (9-19) came up short in its bid to become the first eight seed to upset the top-seeded favorite at the Big Sky tourney.
The Cats had Northern Colorado (24-6) on the ropes early behind its play at the net. MSU produced six team blocks in the first set and four in the second.
The Bobcats trailed 19-15 in the opening set but closed out the frame on a 10-2 run as Camryn Greenwald and Joelie Spelts combined for the game winning block. UNC owned a late 22-21 advantage in the second set, before MSU answered with two kills via Spelts and a Madilyn Siebler service ace.
Northern Colorado pulled away at 13-13 in the third set with a 6-0 run and cruised to its first set victory outhitting the Bobcats .159 to .079. The Bears held the momentum using an 8-3 run at the midway mark of the fourth to force a fifth and deciding frame.
The two teams traded leads early in the final set with UNC holding an 8-5 lead at the crossover. The Bears kept a three-point cushion at 10-7 before the Bobcats gave it one last push with a 5-1 run to take a 12-11 lead on a Northern Colorado hitting error.
However, the Bears responded with four consecutive points winning the match on an ace by Sam Steele.
Siebler, a junior outside hitter from Omaha, Neb., paced Montana State with 10 kills, while Spelts and Jourdain Kamps added nine apiece. Defensively, four Bobcats reached double digit digs led by Lauren Lindseth 20, Courtney Weatherby 13, Audrey Hofer 12, and Siebler 11.
At the net, Kamps posted a career-high 11 blocks, while Greenwald recorded a career-best as well with ten blocks. Bozeman native Jordan Radick added nine blocks.
First-team All-Big Sky performer Gabi Placide paced UNC with 20 kills and ten digs.
