BOZEMAN — After losing four straight games, Montana State’s volleyball team beat North Texas and Jackson State last weekend to build some momentum heading to Seattle this Thursday to face the University of Washington, the seventh ranked team in the nation.
“To pick up a win over North Texas, who is a very good volleyball team and they’ll do very well in their conference was really satisfying and then to go win over Jackson State who is an NCAA tournament team, was good as well,” said head coach Daniel Jones. "(Washington is) going to be a challenge, but at the same time I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to kind of test ourselves against one the nations best teams which will be great.”
As the (4-5) Bobcats head into their conference schedule starting next week against the Griz, Jones is happy about how his team performed in the non conference part of their season.
“It’s been awesome," he said. "This nonconference, more than any nonconference that I’ve had in my career, has been so well put together and has been really good in terms of showing us where we need to grow and where we can get better. As a result, I’m going into the conference feeling really confident about where we’re at. It’s a pretty cool feeling.”
One thing about this Bobcats team is that they’re fearless.
“They’re the ones putting themselves out there," said Jones. "I’m not having to tease it out of them or will them along. They’re the ones putting themselves out their and being fearless. It’s awesome.”
Jones has been impressed with the homegrown talent on his team. Bozeman’s Jordan Radick, Helena Capital’s Audrey Hofer and the 'menace from Ennis' Jourdain Klein.
“The local kids, as a collective group, they’re just so passionate about making this program better and leaving it better than they found it, literally. It just helps so much that they’re off the charts talented." said the head coach. "It’s so fun to not only have Montana kids who are so passionate about the Bobcats but to have them be just as equally talented as they are passionate, you kind of can’t beat it.”
