BOZEMAN -- On Thursday night, Montana State libero Allyssa Rizzo made history as she broke Kandice Kelly’s all-time digs record against Idaho. Rizzo now has 1,749 digs, the most in Bobcat volleyball history. But it wasn’t on her mind much.
“I’m going to go out there, no strings attached, I’m just going to play. And that’s kind of what I did and it turned out best for the team and we ended up with a win against Idaho and that was almost more meaningful to my career in a weird way,” said Rizzo.
It was MSU’s first win over Idaho since 1990. What’s more impressive about the record, Rizzo is a nursing major and was working at the hospital an hour before the first serve.
“She was at the hospital until 6 p.m. and wasn’t there for pregame activities and wasn’t there with the team," said Montana State head volleyball coach Daniel Jones. "She literally ran straight out of her scrubs, into the gym, onto the court."
And once the record was broken, the senior got a standing ovation from the crowd, but then it was back to business.
“Immediately, (assistant coach) Cole (Aiazzi) got into the hurdle and he was like, ‘Alright, back to the game! Let’s go, this is our plan,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, true, I’m in a game right now. Like, I have to focus up,’” Rizzo laughed.
Now that the record is behind her, it’s time to keep pushing this season and make it back to the Big Sky Conference playoffs.
“I think we are onto something great right now and the vibe is incredible so we are going to run with it," she smiled. "I think this is going to be a great season so stick around.”
The Bobcats (7-6 overall, 3-1 conference) are on the road this week, traveling to Northern Arizona on Thursday and Southern Utah on Saturday.
