(Bozeman, Mont. - Oct. 15, 2026) -Â The Trailblazers extended their winning streak to 11 and stayed perfect in Big Sky play on Thursday night with a five-set victory at Montana State in Shroyer Gym.
Utah Tech (14-3, 7-0 Big Sky) overcame a loss in set one, 24-26 to take set two & three, 25-22, 25-21 before Montana State (11-7, 4-3) evened the match in set four, 25-21.
Heading to a fifth set for the second straight match on the road, the Trailblazers again prevailed as they did at Northern Arizona on Sept. 26, downing the Bobcats, 15-11.
Making her season debut, fifth year outside hitter
Kennedi Knudsen led the team with 20 kills while hitting .320 and notched a double-double adding 10 digs.
Nana Asiata registered 15 kills while fifth year middle blocker
Casidy Fried, also making her season debut after earning First Team All-WAC honors last season, led the team with six blocks.
Senior setter
Marley Roe tallied a season-high 30 assists and recorded her third double-double of the season leading the charge defensively with 17 digs.
How It Happened
After the Bobcats won the opening set, 26-24 despite the Trailblazers leading 24-23 after a Bobcat service error, Montana State answered back with a pair of kills and solo block for the set win.
An even start to the second set saw a 14-14 tie after a kill by Knudsen, but three straight points gave the home team a 17-14 lead.
The Trailblazers responded with four straight points, using two Knudsen kills around a pair of Montana State attack errors, to take an 18-17 lead.
After the teams traded sideouts to tie the contest at 22, a kill by Knudsen put the Trailblazers back in front and a MSU attack error and blocks by
Sydney Reese & Fried gave UT a 25-22 set win.
Jumping out to a 7-2 lead in the third set, the Trailblazers stretched their lead to 10-4 after a service ace by
Tehanie Waters, but a 7-4 run for the Bobcats made it 14-11 midway through the set.
Montana State closed the Blazers lead to 17-16 before the Trailblazers answered with four straight points, including kills by Asiata, Knudsen and
Shaylee Dahle, and Treanor capped off the set with a kill to win, 25-21 and take a two sets to one lead.
The Bobcats answered back with a 25-21 win in the fourth set jumping out to a 15-10 lead and despite the Trailblazers getting within a pair, the match went to a deciding fifth set.
Racing out to a 7-4 lead after a service ace by Waters, the Bobcats rallied back to knot the set at nine.
Back-to-back kills by Waters and Treanor pushed UT in front, 11-9 and the Trailblazers scored four of the final six points from there, with a kill by Asiata, two Bobcat attack errors and one final kill from Knudsen closed out the match.
Numbers to Know
- The Trailblazers improve to 2-0 all-time against Montana State joining a victory over the Bobcats in 2021.
- The 11-match winning streak is Utah Tech's longest winning streak in the NCAA era surpassing a pair of 10-match winning streaks in 2014 & 2016.
- The Trailblazers led the Bobcats in hitting percentage (.283-.267), service aces (6-2), blocks (10-6) & digs (73-70) while Montana State led in kills (77-65).
- The 65 kills are a season high for the Trailblazers.
- The Trailblazers continue to stay undefeated in Big Sky play with a 7-0 mark in conference.
- Knudsen, the program's all-time career kill leader, surpassed the 1,000 career kill mark on Thursday night.
Up Next
The Trailblazers close out their road trip to Montana on Saturday night making the way to Missoula to take on the Grizzlies (6-12, 2-5) at 7 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena.
