2023 NIVC Tournament

[1972Shocker]

No pep band today. I guess because of the MBB game tonight. One of the best reasons for attending the matches live. Oh well.

And no cheerleaders as well.

[1972Shocker]

Brylee has not played so far in the 1st set Ba and Emerson on the left Ba has been pretty effective. Izzi has set Swift 10 times so far but has only set Frosty twice and basically missed her on one of those.

As with pretty much every team we have faced this year MSU is winning the serve and pass game.

Shocks rally late today the 1st set 25-21.

MSU 3 aces 1 service errors to 0 aces and 1 service error for the Shocks.

Shocks have 3 blocks to none for MSU.

Shocks have brought their B game so far.

[1972Shocker]

Cheerleaders have arrived.

23-all in set 2.

Montana very similar to Drake.

An Izzi ace gives the Shocks set point at 25-24 and a Sophia solo block gives the Shocks the win at 26-24.

[WuDrWu]

Hats off to Montana State and their fans.

They are well coached and play hard.


The aces/errors don’t begin to tell the story of serve receive. They’re keeping us out of system a lot with very tough aggressive serving.

That 3 point run to end set 2 was YUGE.

[1972Shocker]

Hats off to Montana State and their fans.

They are well coached and play hard.


The aces/errors don’t begin to tell the story of serve receive. They’re keeping us out of system a lot with very tough aggressive serving.

That 3 point run to end set 2 was YUGE.

A big reason why Natalie has been set only 6 times.

[1972Shocker]

A lot of errors by both teams in set 3.

Shocks lead 16-12.

Now 16-15.

Shocker matches point under review.

Call reversed. Shocks still lead 24-20.

A Frosty kills end is, 25-20.

[1972Shocker]

Lambo up in the MSU fan gathering in section 110 giving them kudos for their support of their team. Another team, like Drake that is easy to like.

[flyingMoose]

Montana [State is] very similar to Drake.

As in, we just have more horses than they do. But serve/receive was not good for a long while.

Hats off to Montana State and their fans.

They are well-coached and play hard.

Lambo up in the MSU fan gathering in section 110 giving them kudos for their support of their team. Another team, like Drake that is easy to like.

+1 to all of the above.

[WuDrWu]

The Bobcats don’t quite have Drake’s firepower but they definitely have their grit.

Izzy has obviously worked her tail off to get better all season. I really hope we get to stay home Tuesday and these ladies can lift a banner. I fear we’re going to go backwards next season losing so much difference making firepower.

[1972Shocker]

USF and UTEP square off in El Paso tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 pm.

UTEP is a solid favorite based on Pablo anaylsis.

[1972Shocker]

As in, we just have more horses than they do. But serve/receive was not good for a long while.

Yep. And as usual our advantage in fire power was in the middle.

On the outside Montana State had 4 players (6-1, 6-1, 5-10 and 5-8) who hit a combined 28-12-94 = .170. The Shocks had 3 players, Sophia (6-3). Emerson (6-2) and Ba (6-0) who combined to hit 20-8-60 = .200. So less kills but more efficient.

Montana States 2 middles were both 6-2, so decent enough size, and they combined to hit a solid 13-5-23 = .348, But Frosty (6-4) and Swifty (6-1) combined to hit 20-2-35 = .514. More active and more efficient. However, Montana State made it tough on the Shockers to get in system and to get Frosty and Swifty involved with their tough serving as has been pointed out. And, of course, that means many of the sets the Shocker OH's were getting were out of system as well.

As Doc points out the service aces and errors don't tell the whole story on the serve and passing game. Montana State making it difficult of the Shocks overall to get into system for a good portion of the match was the biggest impact.

So the Shocks battled through that for the most part and then in the 3rd set the Shocks got 3 of their 4 aces. Overall both teams ended up with 4 aces but MSU had 11 errors and the Shockers only had 4 errors which is what you want to see if you have a firepower advantage. The Shocks also outblocked MSU 7-4 Including a huge solo block by Sophia to end set 2 (although she only got credit for a block assist as one her teammates was in the vicinity).

[Critter's Pa]

The Swifty show was in 3D today. In the first set, she was 5 of 10 (.500), 1 assist, 1 dig and 1 block assist. Ba matched that output going 5 of 8 attempts (.625) and a solo block. Sophia was 4 of 10 (.400) with 1 assist, 1 dig, and 1 block assist. I thought Frosty might not get a kill this set, but she went 2 for 2 and had an assist from a one handed bump set at a ball going out of bounds. Emerson had 1 kill on 1 attempt. Izzi had 1 kill and 1 error on 3 attempts. Shocker hit .486 (18 1 35). Montana St hit .152 (14 7 46)

The 2nd set had Swifty going 4 of 5 with another dig and block assist. Sophia matched with 4 kills on 7 attempts with one error and a block assist. Ba dropped off a bit getting 1 kill and 1 error on 3 attempts. Emerson had 4 kills and 2 errors on 8 attempts and a block assist. Frosty had 2 kills on 4 attempts with 2 block assists. Izzi had a kill on her only attempt of the set. The shockers hit .414 (16 4 19) Montana St hit .394 (17 4 33)

In the 3rd set, the only bright spot was Swifty. She got 5 kills, and her only attacking error of the match, on 8 attempts. Frosty had 2 kills and her only error on 6 attempts. She also got a huge solo block. Ba and Izzi both got a kill. Sophia added 2 errors. That might have been her worst set of the season. Six Shocker points came off of Montana St. service errors. WSU hit .057 (9 7 35). Montana St hit .103 (10 6 39)

Izzi finished with 33 assists and 8 digs. Gabi lead in digs with 13. Webby also had double digit digs with 12 and a block assist in the second set. Katie had 6 and Annalie had 5 digs.

For the match, Shockers hit .313 (43 12 99). Montana St. hit .203 (41 17 118). Montana St had 37 digs. Shockers had 53. Shocker had 4 service errors, Montana St. had 11. Both teams had 4 aces. Swifty, Izzi, Annalie and Gabi all got aces.

Hope we get to host on Tuesday.

[Kung Wu]

[1972Shocker]

Today's attendance was 1,028. So we broke a 1,000 thanks to the Montana State fans. I don't know for sure how most of them made the trip and from where but it is a 4-hour flight and that is only if it is non-stop which I doubt it was. Can't imagine they would have come by bus which would be about a 17 hour drive.

I am a bit concerned about what this says about the state of the Shocker's fan base at this point. Perhaps it's just a matter that hey it's women's sports and it's not the NCAA Tournament so what else would you expect.

[1972Shocker]

The Swifty show was in 3D today. In the first set, she was 5 of 10 (.500), 1 assist, 1 dig and 1 block assist. Ba matched that output going 5 of 8 attempts (.625) and a solo block. Sophia was 4 of 10 (.400) with 1 assist, 1 dig, and 1 block assist. I thought Frosty might not get a kill this set, but she went 2 for 2 and had an assist from a one handed bump set at a ball going out of bounds. Emerson had 1 kill on 1 attempt. Izzi had 1 kill and 1 error on 3 attempts. Shocker hit .486 (18 1 35). Montana St hit .152 (14 7 46)

That first set was interesting with the Shocks outhitting MSU .486 to .152. Despite that huge difference in kill % the Shocks led by only 1 late in the set at 21-20. Fortunately, they closed the set on a 4-1 run. Buy showed how tough it was to shake this Montana State team.

The 2nd set had Swifty going 4 of 5 with another dig and block assist. Sophia matched with 4 kills on 7 attempts with one error and a block assist. Ba dropped off a bit getting 1 kill and 1 error on 3 attempts. Emerson had 4 kills and 2 errors on 8 attempts and a block assist. Frosty had 2 kills on 4 attempts with 2 block assists. Izzi had a kill on her only attempt of the set. The shockers hit .414 (16 4 19) Montana St hit .394 (17 4 33)

Neither team led by more than 2 points in the second set that included 12 ties. Again showing the tenacity of this Montana State team. That set was quite a battle and ended somewhat interestingly with an Izzi ace and a Sophia block.

In the 3rd set, the only bright spot was Swifty. She got 5 kills, and her only attacking error of the match, on 8 attempts. Frosty had 2 kills and her only error on 6 attempts. She also got a huge solo block. Ba and Izzi both got a kill. Sophia added 2 errors. That might have been her worst set of the season. Six Shocker points came off of Montana St. service errors. WSU hit .057 (9 7 35). Montana St hit .103 (10 6 39)

The Shocks jumped out to a 5-1 lead in Set 3 but MSU pulled within 2 at 6-4, the Shocks pulled ahead by 4 gain at 11-7 the lead mostly fluctuating between 3 and 4 through 16-12. At that point a Gabi service error, and Emerson attack error and an MSU kill narrowed the lead to 1 at 16-15. A Swifty kill, a MSU attack error, and an Annalie service ace pushed the lead back to 4 at 19-15. But just like a bad penny MSU cut the lead in half at 20-18. But similar to set 1 the Shocks closed strong with a 5-2 run to closeout the match. Neither team played all that great overall in this set. The Shocks, for example, had 2 more attack errors than they did in Sets 1 and 2 combined. MSU also had their lowest hitting % of the match in Set 3 but they also had 6 service errors (vs 5 in sets 1 and 2 combined) and their only ball handling error on an assist. However, 4 of the Shockers final 5 points were earned. A Swifty service ace and kills by Swifty, Izzi and Frosty.