PEORIA, Ill. ? Senior Ashley Baker recorded a season-high 20 kills and added a .354 (20k-3e-48ta) hitting percentage for Western Illinois in its 3-1 (30-28, 27-30, 27-30, 23-30) loss to Montana at the Bradley Radisson Hotel Invitational.

“Tonight's story was about our lack of offense,” said head coach Kym McKay. “Ashley Baker had 20 kills, but no one else was in double-digits. Our players that performed well in our first four matches struggled tonight, but I expect that to happen. The difference was that we didn't have anyone else step up.”

Western hit .179 (52k-22e-168ta) to Montana's .190 (68k-33e-184ta). One difference was in the balance of offense for both teams, as the Westerwinds (1-4, 0-0 The Summit League) had only one member of the team in double-digits in the kills column, while the Grizzlies (2-2, 0-0 Big Sky) had five.

Both teams battled back and forth in the beginning of game one, with no team holding more than a three-point lead. The teams struggled to get their hitting under control in the first game, with both teams combining for 20 attack errors. The Westerwinds gained control first, recording just seven attack errors to the Grizzlies' 13.

Western was down 17-19 before starting a five-point run that put them ahead for good (22-19). The Grizzlies mounted a come back to close the gap to just one point (28-27), before the Westerwinds benefited from a foot-fault serve by Montana and senior Ashley Baker ended game one with a kill to the back-right corner of the court.

Game two started out slow for Western as the Grizzlies pulled out to a 10-4 early lead. Western started to slowly close the gap and eventually tied the game at 15.

Western and Montana battled for the rest of the game, trading points until Montana went up 25-24 to take the lead for good. Western was down 24-29 before going on a three-point run, but fell 27-30. The main difference in the second game was blocking, with the Westerwinds tallying only one and the Grizzlies netting five.

“Montana did a good job figuring out what they needed to do to win the match and they executed well,” said McKay. “Offensively we didn't do a good job on execution and hit the ball into the block way too many times.”

Montana started game three much of the same as the second game, opening up an 8-4 lead. Western tried to fight back and was able to get within two points, but it was not enough as the Grizzlies kept on the pressure and led by as many as eight points throughout the remainder of the game.

The Westerwinds mounted a come back late in the game, when down 21-27. Western started a 5-3 run that pulled it back within three points at the end of the game using key blocks. Western was able to lower the difference in the block column to just two during the third game, out-blocking the Grizzlies five-to-two.

Game four saw a return of tight play at the beginning, with several ties and one-point leads between the two teams until Montana took a 14-11 advantage. The Grizzlies pushed forward and did not allow Western to get back within four for the remainder of the match.

“Right now our middles need to step it up offensively and defensively.” McKay said. “They are not getting the block touches that they need to and offensively they are just non-existent. Yes, we are young in the middle, but the middles that we have are better than that.”

Senior Amy Sauerwein tallied nine kills and 23 digs for the Westerwinds, while sophomore Elise Crnjak led the team defensively with 26 digs.

“This is a huge learning experience and I am hoping that tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. when we play Bradley that our middles take this to heart and show up ready to produce,” McKay said. “Once you see our middles producing for us you will see a lot more success out of our team.”

Western will next face host Bradley at 10 a.m. Saturday, September 1 before finishing the day against Saint Louis at 5 p.m.