Sept. 2, 2006

Box Score

Reno, Nev. - Behind a career-high 20 kills from junior Johanna Hilbers (Omaha, Neb.), the Pacific Tigers women's volleyball team defeated Montana 3-1 on Saturday, Sept. 2 in Pacific's opening round match at the Reno Invitational.

Game scores for the match were: 30-24, 31-29, 18-30, 30-22. With the win the Tigers moved to 1-3 on the season, while Montana dropped to 0-4.

The first game and the match seemed to turn on a crucial time out called by Pacific head coach Charlie Wade. Following three straight points by Montana, the Tigers trailed 17-11, prompting Wade's timeout. Pacific responded with four straight points, including three kills by sophomore Alexa Anderson (Los Gatos, Calif.) to pull within two points at 17-15. The Montana lead remained two points until 23-21, when the Tigers once again mounted a rally. Pacific tallied the next five points to take a 26-23 lead as the Tigers got two more kills from Anderson, one from Hilbers and forced the Grizzlies into two errors. Following a point by the Grizzlies, the Tigers closed out game one on three Montana errors and a kill from Anderson to claim game one, 30-24.

Game two was a seesaw battle between the two teams as the Tigers jumped out to an early 8-3 lead, behind two kills from Anderson. Montana, however, battled back to tie the score at 10-10. There were four more ties in the game, including at 29-29. With Montana serving to take the lead, Anderson and freshman Meagan MimMack (Upland, Calif.) slammed home back-to-back kills, giving Pacific a 31-29 victory and a two game lead heading into the break.

Out of the locker room, the Grizzlies mounted a fierce defensive effort in game three, holding Pacific to -.027 hitting percentage as the Tigers commiteed 10 errors and collected just nine kills. Montana, meanwhile, pounded down 15 kills, while committing only four errors for a match-high .355 hitting percentage in game three. The Grizzlies went on to take the third game, 30-18.

The Tigers rebounded in the fourth and decisive game, posting a match-high .341 hitting percentage. The Tigers hammered home 19 kills in game four, including a team-high six kills for Hilbers. Leading 17-15 in the fourth game, the Tigers took control with four straight points to build a 2`-15 lead. Once again it was Anderson and MimMack as the duo combined for three kills during the run to pace the Tigers.

While Hilbers' 20 kills led the Tigers, Anderson tied a career-high with 19 kills and junior Kara Uhl (Cypree, Calif.) finished with 10 kills and 21 digs for her third consecutive double-double. Montana's Claudia Houle led all attackers with 23 kills in the match.

Pacific returns to the court on Sunday, Sept. 3 as the Tigers face off with tournament host Nevada at 12 p.m.