MISSOULA — When you have a perfect weekend at home, the awards are likely to follow. The Montana volleyball team went 3-0 at the Ellesyn Invitational and won nine out of 10 possible sets over the weekend. The performance earned senior libero Alexis Batezel the Big Sky Conference's co-defensive player of the week honor, the league announced on Monday.
Batezel was the key cog in a Grizzly defense that held its opponents to just .178 hitting over the three matches. The senior recorded 56 digs across Montana's 10 sets of action. Her average of 5.60 digs per set ranked ninth in the NCAA in matches played over the week.
"A lot of pressure was put on her to dig with a lot of range and I think she did that really well," head coach Allison Lawrence said. "We block in ways that funnel balls to her and we're doing that because we want her touching as many first balls as we can. I think with our offensive numbers you can see why we would want that."
Montana hit .306 as a team in the three wins with several spectacular performances attacking. The offensive numbers were eye-popping, but that all starts with a good first contact. More often than not, it's Batezel making that first touch.
"I think reflecting on the weekend it was the offensive numbers that jumped out, but I think inherent in that kind of offensive performance is the first contact and the quality of that first contact," Lawrence said. "That was led by Lexi. I think as a senior libero she is just so solid."
Her biggest performance of the weekend came in Montana's Saturday win over Oakland. Batezel had 31 digs in the four-set win. Even more impressively, it was the second match for Montana back-to-back as it played a compressed schedule.
Batezel had 19 digs in a three-set sweep over Oakland on Friday and then had six digs against North Dakota State.
"It's the best kind of performance because it's very noticeable in the stat sheet but she's just doing her job and it's very clean," Lawrence said. "There are no moments where she's dropping details but it's almost this unnoticeable structure being held and underpinning the rest of our game. I think that's really hard to do."
It's the first career player of the week honor for Batezel. She becomes the first Grizzly since Sarina Moreno in 2022 to earn the defensive honor. Earlier this year, Batezel was named to the all-tournament team at the Utah Valley Invitational.
Batezel is closing in on the program's all-time top 10 list for digs. She moved up three spots to 13th this weekend. The senior now has 1,098 career digs and needs just 55 more to enter the top 10.
She is a leader on the Montana team as one of two seniors that have spent their entire careers with the Griz. Batezel has found ways to improve on and off the court in her time in Missoula to help better the program.
"I think someone who has known her and seen all the behind-the-scenes Lexi moments of the way she has challenged herself to lead and to grow and evolve as an athlete mentally, it's incredible to see that show up for her and to know how much effort she has put into details that I think aren't as visible from the sidelines," Lawrence said. "I'm really proud of her."
Batezel shares the honor with Sacramento State's Reese Ampi. Ampi averaged 4.54 digs per set for the Hornets, who finished the weekend 2-1.
Montana will be back in action on Friday as it heads to Terre Haute, Indiana, to participate in the Indiana State Tournament. The Grizzlies will play the host Sycamores, Butler and Eastern Illinois.
