MISSOULA — Montana State outlasted Montana in a five-set marathon at Dahlberg Arena on Saturday, winning 25-19, 23-25, 25-17, 17-25, 15-10 to take the first Brawl of the Wild matchup between the teams this season and keep hold of the Main Line Trophy.
It was the Bobcats' fifth straight victory over Montana. MSU now leads the all-time series 67-61.
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The Cats also kept pace with Weber State atop the Big Sky Conference standings with the victory, moving to 4-1 in the league and 9-7 overall. The Grizzlies are now 3-2 in the Big Sky and 11-5 overall.
In the deciding fifth set, the Bobcats jumped out to a 9-3 advantage but were forced to hold on as Montana pulled within scores of 9-7, 10-8 and 12-10. MSU scored the final three points of the match, highlighted by a Karli Heidemann kill and a service ace by Joelie Spelts to end the match.
Madilyn Siebler had 21 kills to lead the Bobcats. Heidemann added 14 kills and Elli Tufto had 11 as Montana State outhit the Grizzlies .212 to .176.
Lauren Lindseth finished with 27 digs and Teagan Jaynes led MSU with 47 assists. As a team the Bobcats combined for 11 stuff blocks.
Delaney Russell's 21 kills led Montana and equaled MSU's Siebler for the match-high total. Sydney Pierce and Olivia LaBeau each finished with 10 kills.
Alexis Batezel, the Big Sky's reigning defensive player of the week, led all players with 35 digs while Gracie Cagle's 53 assists were a match high.
The Grizzlies had 12 blocks as a team and matched the Bobcats with 90 total digs.
Montana will next face Sacramento State on the road on Thursday while the Bobcats are on the road against Portland State that same night.
