OGDEN, Utah (October 1, 2015) – Thursday night’s Big Sky Conference Volleyball action saw Eastern Washington and Idaho State improve to 3-0 in league play while four other teams picked up key wins.
North Dakota 3, Montana 0 – Faith Dooley tallied 10 kills, Chelsea Moser and Courtney Place each added nine apiece and North Dakota moved to 2-1 in conference play with a 3-0 sweep of visiting Montana.
UND (13-6, 2-1 BSC) hit .230 for the match with just 12 attack errors while holding the Griz to .087. Dooley was extremely efficient, hitting .529 while her and Moser each assisted on five blocks.
North Dakota fought back from a sluggish start, using a late run in the first set for a 25-23 decision. It was more of the same in the second and deciding third set as UND continued to use a balanced attack and take advantage of Grizzly errors. It was UND’s 10th-straight win at home.
Hannah Sackett led Montana (4-11, 0-3) with 13 kills and 10 digs and Sadie Ahearn had a match-high 19 digs. UM couldn’t overcome its 26 attack errors and is 0-8 against UND since they joined the conference.
Northern Colorado 3, Montana State 0 – Timarie Nymeyer had 10 kills, Emily O’Neil added eight with five blocks and Northern Colorado picked up its first Big Sky win, sweeping Montana State 3-0 in Greeley.
O’Neil hit .538 and Nymeyer had a .389 percentage, helping the Bears (5-11, 1-2) hit .250 for the match. Alex Kloehn and Katie Champion each contributed four total blocks as UNC held a 9-1 advantage in that category.
Kendra Cunningham had all seven of her kills in the opening two sets as UNC maintained control in both with strong hitting for 25-19 and 25-16 decisions. The two teams battled in the third before UNC scored the last three points of the match on kills from O’Neill and Kloehn.
Loni Kreun led the Bobcats (3-8, 1-2) with nine kills Natalie Passeck had seven with 10 digs. Kiana Black hit over .600 for MSU with eight kills, but was the only MSU player to hit over .170 as the Bobcats hit .115 with 25 attack errors.
Idaho State 3, Sacramento State 1 – Tressa Lyman finished with 17 kills and 12 digs to lead Idaho State to a key 3-1 win over visiting Sacramento State, improving to 3-0 in conference play.
Makenzie Filer hit 529 for the match with 11 kills and five blocks. Hayley Farrer led a strong passing effort for ISU (11-6, 3-0) with 44 assists and 10 digs as the Bengals hit .256 for the match.
ISU came out of the gate strong hitting .333 and pulling away for a 25-15 first-set win. Sac State (15-3, 2-1) responded closing the second set on an 10-3 run to tie the match. ISU answered back with vengeance, hitting .364 to take the third set and scoring the final four points to take the fourth and the match.
Lauren Kissell had a match-high 19 kills and Sloan Lovett chipped in 13, but the two combined for 19 of the Hornets’ 29 attack errors. Sac State, who leads the league in kills per set, was held to .147 hitting as a team in just their third loss of the season.
Eastern Washington 3, Southern Utah 1 – Ana Jakovljevic had 17 kills, Allie Schumacher chipped in 13 with 13 digs and Eastern Washington earned a 3-1 road victory over Southern Utah to move to 3-0 in Big Sky play.
Alexis Wesley also put together double-digit kills for the Eagles (8-6, 3-0) with 12, while Jessica Gilbert had seven to go with 10 block assists. Ryann Ensrud had a career-high 28 digs and Nicole Rigoni tallied 10 with 40 assists as EWU hit .257 as a team and had 13.5 blocks.
Both teams battled through tight first and second sets, splitting them each 25-22. EWU surged in the middle of both the third and fourth sets, building a solid cushion for a pair of 25-19 wins to take the match.
Madi Forsythe had a match-high 21 kills for the Thunderbirds (10-6, 1-2) while Faith Maa’afala finished with 45 assists and 16 digs. SUU hit .167 for the match with 29 attack errors.
Portland State 3, Weber State 2 – Jenna Mullen tied for a match-high 16 kills and Portland State rallied to defeat host Weber State 3-2 for its first conference win of the season.
The Vikings (5-10, 1-2) battled through an error-riddled night, hitting over .300 to grab an early lead in the first and staying alive for a fourth-set win. Eva Linden had 10 kills for PSU and Pati Anae contributed nine.
In the deciding fifth set, PSU pulled away with an 11-2 run while holding the Wildcats to negative hitting. Anae had three of her kills during the fifth.
Amanda Varley led WSU (5-9, 1-2) with 16 kills and Siera Borho had 12. WSU hit .500 during the second set, but was held to .129 or worse the next three and .188 for the match.
Northern Arizona 3, Idaho 1 – Janae Vander Ploeg totaled 23 kills with 17 digs, Jensen Barton tallied 44 assists and 18 digs and Northern Arizona earned a 3-1 home victory over Idaho.
Vander Ploeg and Barton were two of five Lumberjacks with double-digit digs. Payton Bock finished with 11 kills and a .304 hitting percentage while Dorsey had nine blocks. Barton was four kills from a triple-double and NAU hit .201 as a team.
The Lumberjacks (12-4, 2-1) used a late surge in both the first and second sets to take 25-17 and 25-22 decisions. The third set was competitive as well, with Idaho fighting off a match point and taking the next two points to stay alive with a 26-24 win. NAU pulled away with an 11-3 run midway through the fourth and ultimately won 25-19.
Tineke Bierma led the Vandals (4-11, 1-2) with 15 kills and Laine Waters had nine blocks. Idaho hit .161 as a team and was held to .048 in the fourth set.
After Thursday night’s action, 11 teams have at least one win in conference play and five have two or more. EWU sits atop the North division and ISU controls the South.