Meghan Albiston #11

This past week marked the beginning of the second half of conference play. We worked hard all week in practice to prepare for our long anticipated match vs. the grizzlies on Friday night in Shroyer Gym. Our team was pumped for the game. This being Jo’s and my senior year, we were kindly reminded that it was our last cat/griz match ever. I’ve been emotional all season (an ongoing joke with the team every time I cry about the most random things ever…) so it was bitter/sweet running through the smoke before the match to see all 1,639 fans cheering for us. In all my five years playing the grizzlies at home, that’s the biggest turnout I’ve ever seen.

We fought hard, but I still don’t think we gave it our best showing. It was tough losing to Montana in three quick sets. The scores were close, but we just couldn’t pull off the win. Coach gave us the weekend off, and I headed for some solitude at my friend’s ranch. We went hunting, built a campfire, and just enjoyed the great outdoors. After the weekend getaway, I’m wound up and ready for another great week of practices leading up to a road trip to PSU and EWU.

I feel that our team is more motivated than ever to work hard and win. We’re putting our blood, sweat, and tears into every practice, every set, every match in order to come out on top. Right now we’re vying for that 4^th place spot in the conference to get us into the tournament. A few more wins and we’re there!! It’s so exciting to have that hope for a longer season and know we have the talent to conquer.

Thank you all so much for the great crowd and support this past Friday! You can watch online this weekend, but we’ll be back in Shroyer next Friday and Saturday to pound on NAU and UNC!! SEE YOU THERE!!

Jennifer Lundquist #10

It’s been another beautiful week in Bozeman. I’m amazed that it hasn’t snowed yet. I’m pretty sure this is some kind of record.

Last week, we worked really hard in practice to prepare for our home game against Sac State. I was feeling sick half the week, which was a huge bummer, but recovered just in time for the match. We played awesome against Sac State, we executed our game plan, adjusted to what they were doing, and played aggressive the whole game. It was a ton of fun to play up to our potential and stomp Sac State 3 straight.

Feeling pretty good after our conference win, we packed up and headed over to one of my favourite places and home to one of our players, Seattle. Arriving there on Saturday night we were hosted by Lauren Curtis’ family for dinner, which was amazing! Thank-you Curtis’! The next day, we were ready for our game against Seattle U but we couldn’t pull together, make the adjustments or find the energy so we fell 3 straight. Not in the best spirits, we headed over to Pike Place Market. Catching flying fish, having someone chase Mackenzi with a dead fish all around the market, and visiting the original Starbucks (established in 1971) managed to cheer us up a little bit.

So we headed home ready for a hard week of practice and ready to take on our rival team this Friday in Shake the Shroyer. That is all, be sure to come support us against the Griz this Friday!

Kellee Kackman #9

Well it's nice to see all the leaves changing this year considering last year at this time there was snow everywhere. Continuing to be amazed by how beautiful it is in Bozeman. This week has been pretty great. Monday we had a team day which consisted of our team blind folding ourselves and trying to stay on a small plywood board...over at the intramural fields! It was challenging but it was a chance for us to get out of the gym and focus on being a team. Afterwards, we had a "booster dinner" which was really a surprise dinner for Jen because it was Canada's Thanksgiving. Her face was priceless when she walked in the house to Canada's National Anthem blasting! Another great time together sharing a great thanksgiving dinner...in October:)

Practice yesterday was spent working on individual skills. That was so great to break down and focus on your specific skill so that we can bring it all together Wednesday. I'm really excited about the home game this Friday. Cats will finally be able to stay home and bring the heat in Shroyer! Classes have been a bit crazy with mid-terms already! But hanging in.

Well that's all for now!

Go Cats

Assistant Coach - Scott Keister

Hi everyone! Thanks for following our blog and supporting our Cats who are off to a great 9-8 start on the season! The girls tend to be a little shy when they write their blogs (I'll work with them on that), so I will fill in some blanks here and there to give you an up to date view of things.

Our trip to Weber State and Idaho State was a hard fought one. The team knew they were in for close calls on the bus ride down to Utah when the bus almost hit an antelope. Driver Bo was a pro and handled the big rig very nicely, keeping our Cats AND the antelope safe from harm.

Our match vs. Weber State was the most exciting match that we have played this year. Thanks to many members of my family and friends, Macy's family and friends and Taylar's family and friends, we had a fantastic Cat Crowd. They were not as numbered as the Weber fans, but were CERTAINLY LOUDER! We dropped a very close 1st set but played fairly well. We kept that good play going in the 2nd and won. The third set was tough fought the entire time, but we couldn't pull it out, losing 26-28. We won the fourth and went to the fifth. We jumped out to a 6-1 lead before allowing Weber to come back and tie it. Weber eventually would get to match point at 14-11 and then Cat Nation broke out and rattled off 5 straight points to win the match!!! What a great feeling to get a conference win on the road.

The next night we played just north on I-15 at Idaho State. Idaho State is playing well this year and we knew that we would be in for a tough match. We came out strong in the first set, following our game plan but made just a couple of mistakes losing 23-25. Usually when we switch sides between sets, the coaches have several tactical adjustments we need to make to do better. In this case though...no changes needed. We just needed to keep doing what we were doing, but make a few things more crisp....a cleaner dig...a better pass, etc. The Cats did just that, winning set 2 in control. More of the same in set 3 as we had a 24-21 lead but unfortunately could not hold on. The fourth set saw our Cats struggle and we lost the match. However, the first three sets of the match were probably one of the best matches we have played all year. A great sign that Bobcat Volleyball is making a comeback and is a force to be heard!

We had a good week of practice on Monday and Tuesday and that brings us to today. The girls all went to class and then we flew to Denver. Rachelle's family fed the team at their home (THANK YOU) and then we made the short drive to Greeley where we are now. We will practice at 1:00 tomorrow and then play a very good Northern Colorado team.

Please come to the match, but if you can't you can watch us LIVE on Big Sky TV. We will then fly on Friday to Flagstaff, AZ in preparation to play Northern Arizona on Saturday night. That match will be televised on tv...one of the fox sports stations I believe so check your local listings!

GO CATS!!!!

Taylar Barney #8

This past weekend we went to Utah and Idaho! Me, Macy and Scott are from Utah so we were really excited. It was really great to see my family. We played Weber on Friday and we beat them in five games. It was another victory in a five set match. Then we played Idaho State and it was a great game and we are looking forward to playing them again at home. On the bus we busted out the old school backstreet boys and 98 degree’s trying to make up for the tv not working. Back in Bozeman is great the weather has been amazing. It has been really warm and the leaves are changing it is beautiful. We are all really excited for this next weekend playing Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona. GO CATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!