OGDEN, Utah (October 10, 2015) – With the race for the Big Sky Conference Volleyball tournament slowly taking shape, many teams are showing early promise in chasing after one of the eight bids. Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Northern Arizona and Southern Utah each went 2-0 over the past week with wins in Saturday night’s action.
Both Eastern Washington and Idaho State remain unbeaten, both now at 6-0 and atop the Big Sky standings. The Eagles have won seven straight to lead the North Division, while the Bengals have ridden an eight-game streak to control the South Division.
Idaho State 3, North Dakota 0 – Chloe Hirst finished with 10 kills and 10 digs, Hayley Farrer dished 35 assists with 10 digs and Idaho State moved past North Dakota for a 3-0 sweep, improving the Bengals to 6-0 in conference play and snapping UND’s 12-match home winning streak.
Tressa Lyman chipped in a match-high 13 kills along with eight digs for Idaho State (14-6, 6-0 Big Sky), which hit .282 as a team. Hirst, Lyman, Bailey Bars and Makenzie Filer each had a hitting percentage of .290 or better as ISU won its eight-straight match.
ISU jumped to a 6-1 lead and pushed it to 20-10 in the opening set, ultimately winning 25-17. UND (15-7, 4-2) opened the second on a 5-0 run before the Bengals fought back to tie it at 15 and later used a 5-1 surge to take control for a 25-21 decision. In a third set that included six ties and four lead changes, ISU hit .400 with 18 kills to prevail 25-22.
Chelsea Moser (.409) and Julia Kaczorowska (.360) each paced North Dakota with 10 kills, while McKenzie Hart had a match-high 17 digs.
Northern Arizona 3, Montana State 0 – Payton Bock tallied a career-high tying 10 blocks to help Northern Arizona to a road sweep over Montana State.
Janae Vander Ploeg finished with 13 kills and eight digs while Lauren Jacobsen killed nine balls. Jensen Barton totaled 29 assists, eight digs and six blocks for an NAU team that hit .261 with 16 total blocks.
The Lumberjacks (15-4, 5-1) used a 12-2 surge to assume the lead in the opening set and hit .440 on the way to a 25-20 decision. The second set was back and forth with 11 ties and six lead changes, as Vander Ploeg finished with two kills and a solo block to respond from a 23-22 deficit and win 25-23. NAU scored the last four points of the third to win 25-21.
Loni Kreun and Natalee Godfrey each tallied eight kills for the Bobcats (3-11, 1-5), who struggled against NAU’s blocking hitting .051 for the match.
Northern Colorado 3, Weber State 0 – Alex Kloehn totaled 13 kills and Kortney Lockey had eight with a .500 hitting percentage as Northern Colorado defeated visiting Weber State 3-0.
Kendra Cunningham had nine kills for the Bears (7-12, 3-3), who hit .218 for the match. Ashley Guthrie finished with 32 assists and Meagan Garcia had 13 digs, both team-highs.
UNC broke away from a 16-all tie in the first set, taking advantage of some key WSU errors to close on a 7-3 run and win 25-20. The Bears built cushions in the both the second and third sets before holding off late WSU runs for a pair of 25-23 wins to take the match.
Amanda Varley had a match-high 14 kills for the Wildcats (5-12, 1-5), who hit .176 as a team. Taylor Christensen (33 assists) and Thamires Cavalcanti (15 digs) also contributed match-highs.
Southern Utah 3, Montana 0 – Chennin Benson finished with 15 kills, Ann Clappier chipped in 10 with eight blocks and Southern Utah capped a 2-0 week with a sweep over host Montana.
Madi Forsythe had nine kills for the Thunderbirds (12-7, 3-3), who hit .292 as a team with 12 total blocks. Faith Ma’afala produced 33 assists and seven digs while Sariah Pelaez added a match-high 18 digs.
SUU used a 5-0 run to assume the lead in the first set and pushed that lead to five before holding on for a 25-22 victory. The T-birds fought back from 14-19 and 19-23 deficits in the second, closing on an 8-2 run for a 27-25 decision. SUU ran away with the third set, hitting .370 in the deciding 25-10 win.
Hannah Sackett led the Grizzlies (4-14, 0-6) with 12 kills, but was held to .095 hitting. Capri Richardson totaled 10 kills on a .467 clip, but Montana hit just .116 as a team with 27 attack errors.
Eastern Washington 3, Portland State 1 – Allie Schumacher had 17 kills with eight digs, Ana Jakovljevic added 12 with nine and Eastern Washington pushed past visiting Portland State 3-1 to remain undefeated in conference play.
Jessica Gilbert also contributed 12 kills for the Eagles (11-6, 6-0), while Nicole Rigoni (18) and Ryann Ensrud (20) combined for 38 digs to go along with Rigoni’s 29 assists. Alexis Wesley totaled eight blocks (three solo) for EWU, which hit .179 with 13 blocks combined.
EWU gained a late edge in the first set, using a PSU attack error and a service ace by Jakovljevic to win 25-21. They moved ahead 19-10 in the second on the way to a 25-18 decision. PSU (5-13, 1-5) answered back to take the third set, but the Eagles hit .265 and raced out to a 14-3 lead to open the fourth on the way to their seventh-straight win.
Pati Anae led the Vikings with 11 kills and nine digs while Tasha Bojanic had a team-high 17 digs. PSU had 29 attack errors and was held to a .072 hitting percentage.
Idaho 3, Sacramento State 2 – Katelyn Peterson put together 18 kills, Tineke Bierma provided 15 with eight blocks and Idaho outlasted visiting Sacramento State for a 3-2 victory.
Sarah Sharp (15) and Kaela Straw (11) also finished with double-digit kills for Idaho, which hit .317 as a team. Meredith Coba recorded a double-double with 29 assists and 10 digs.
Sac State stormed out of the gates, hitting .500 in the opening set to win 25-14. Idaho trailed 24-16 in the second, but fended off eight straight set points on the strength of five blocks from Bierma and Laine Waters, winning the set 26-24.
With the third set close at 21-20, the Vandals closed the set on a 4-0 run to win 25-20. Sac State fought off two match points before a service error and kill from Sloan Lovett gave the Hornets the 29-27 decision. Idaho surged out to a 7-1 lead in the fifth and didn’t look back as the Hornets couldn’t pull closer than four the rest of the way.
Lauren Kissell led the Hornets with 23 kills on a .447 hitting percentage, while Lovett totaled 15 kills. Sacramento State hit .267 as a team, but couldn’t contain Idaho’s attack in addition to having 24 attack errors.