Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Montana
Weber State falls 3-1 to Montana
10/3/2010 4:58:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
OGDEN, Utah - Defense is the name of the game if you want to win.
It was the ultimate difference between the Wildcats and Montana Grizzlies on Saturday night.
Tangling in a Big Sky Conference women's volleyball match inside of Swenson Gym, Weber State struggled to convert against Montana's stingy defensive effort and fell 3-1 (12-25, 25-15, 25-11, 25-17).
Offensively there wasn't that much separation between the Wildcats and Grizzlies, but Montana had 12 team blocks to Weber State's six, and had 66 digs to the WSU's 44.
Sophomore left side hitter Bethany Wray led Weber State with 12 kills, eight digs and a trio of service aces.
Sophomore middle blocker Carissa Noble had 10 kills and hit .348 with three blocks, while junior libero Nina Blake had 12 digs.
Weber State captured the first set decisively, winning 25-12 - it's largest set victory of the season and biggest since a 25-11 win at Montana State on Oct. 17, 2008.
As good as things went for the Wildcats in the first set, they went equally bad in the second and third sets with Montana winning by 10 and 14, respectively.
Weber State started the fourth set on fire, jumping out to a 7-3 lead. The Wildcats led 10-9, and were still within 15-13 when the Grizzlies scored five straight points to go ahead 20-13 and then close the match out in four.
The Wildcats (0-6 Big Sky, 2-15 overall) don't have much recovery time, with Weber State set to travel to Orem on Tuesday to face in-state rival Utah Valley at 7 p.m.
