OGDEN, Utah (October 22, 2015) – In a Big Sky Volleyball night that exclusively pitted North Division vs. South Division matchups, the South had the upper hand Thursday night with four wins out of the six matches. Idaho State and Northern Arizona each improved to 8-1 in conference play.
Sacramento State and Idaho continue to keep pace with other top teams in the conference, moving their records to 6-3. Southern Utah gained ground on some key competitors for conference tournament spots, while Montana earned its second win in a row.
Idaho State 3, Eastern Washington 0 – Tressa Lyman finished with 12 kills and eight digs, helping Idaho State move past Eastern Washington 3-0 in a key matchup between two of the three Big Sky division leaders.
The Bengals (16-7, 8-1 Big Sky) bounced back from its first conference loss, hitting .256 for the match and totaling 11 blocks. Lyman had a .357 hitting percentage while Kaitlyn Johnson added 10 digs. Bailey Bars and Hayley Farrer each nabbed eight digs and Farrer dished out 22 assists.
ISU turned a tight first set into a runaway, hitting .333 in the set and scoring the last five points to end on a 12-3 run. The Bengals used a key 7-1 run to build a cushion on the way to a 25-17 decision. ISU surged away in the third set, leading by as much as 11 to coast to a 25-16 victory and the match.
Ana Jakovljevic led the Eagles (12-8, 7-2) with seven kills and Allie Schumacher added six with nine digs. EWU hit .000 with 10 attack errors in the final frame, finishing with a .053 hitting percentage for the match and dropping their second straight loss.
Idaho 3, Weber State 1 – Becca Mau put together 19 kills with a .371 hitting percentage in helping Idaho to its fifth-straight win, a 3-1 decision over hosting Weber State.
DeVonne Ryter was perfect on the night for the Vandals (9-12, 6-3), killing 10 balls on each of her 10 attacks. Jenna Ellis produced a team-high 14 digs and Laine Waters had six blocks. Meredith Coba totaled 30 assists for Idaho, which hit .263 for the match.
UI used a 7-0 run to seize control of the first set, ultimately winning 25-21. WSU evened the match at 1-1, but Idaho responded scoring five of the last six points in the third to win 25-18. The Vandals came on strong hitting .517 with 18 kills to clinch the victory.
Megan Thompson and Andrea Hale combined for 26 kills and Thompson nabbed six blocks for Weber State (5-15, 1-8). Thamires Cavalcanti contributed a match-high 16 kills for the Wildcats, who hit .148 for the match.
Sacramento State 3, Montana State 0 – Sacramento State used a balanced attack and accumulated a school-record .467 hitting percentage en route to a quick 3-0 win over Montana State.
Five Hornets (19-5, 6-3) finished with eight or more kills and each hit .300 or better. Morgan Stanley led Sac State with 12 kills, Lauren Kissell added 11 and Sloan Lovett nine. Courtney Dietrich tallied a perfect hitting night with eight kills, while Madeline Cannon hit .750 on the way to 10 kills.
Sac State closed the first set on a 14-3 run, then hit .552 and .692 and rolled in a match that took just over an hour.
Montana State (3-14, 1-8) couldn’t get anything going offensively, finishing with a hit percentage of .038. Natalie Passeck and Natalee Godfrey each mustered four kills for the Bobcats.
Southern Utah 3, Northern Colorado 1 – Chennin Benson produced 13 kills, Madi Forsythe added 11 with 13 digs and Southern Utah fought past Northern Colorado for a 3-1 home victory.
Remo Gaogao (10 kills, 10 digs) and Faith Ma’afala (46 assists, 12 digs) also recorded double-doubles for the Thunderbirds (14-8, 5-4). Sariah Pelaez had a team-high 21 digs and Ann Clappier chipped in 10 kills and seven blocks.
Three late kills by Clappier gave SUU a 25-22 edge in the first set before UNC took advantage of two Thunderbird attack errors for their own 25-22 win in the second.
SUU fought back from an early deficit and pushed their lead to seven, holding on for another 25-22 decision. They prevailed again in another tight set, hitting their match best of .211 in the fourth for a 25-23 win and the match.
Alex Kloehn and Timarie Nymeyer each hit over .430 for the Bears (8-14, 4-5), with Kloehn recording 13 kills and five blocks and Nymeyer nabbing 12 kills. Ashley Guthrie dished 51 assists with 14 digs and Meagan Garcia added a match-high 23 digs.
Northern Arizona 3, North Dakota 0 – Janae Vander Ploeg finished with 18 kills and eight digs on a career-high .531 hitting percentage, helping Northern Arizona to a 3-0 sweep over visiting North Dakota.
The Lumberjacks (18-4, 8-1) hit a season-high .382 as a team en route to their seventh straight victory. Lauren Jacobsen tallied nine kills with 10 digs and was one of four NAU players with at least eight kills.
NAU trailed just once the entire match, erasing a slim early deficit and hitting .519 in the opening frame for a 25-13 win. The Lumberjacks led the rest of the way, cruising to 25-15 and 25-14 decisions.
Sydney Griffin notched a double-double in the loss for North Dakota (16-10, 4-5) with 22 assists and 10 digs. Big Sky dig leader McKenzie Hart grabbed a match-high 13 and Chelsea Moser led UND with eight kills. UND hit .144 with 14 attack errors.
Montana 3, Portland State 1 – Hannah Sackett put together 19 kills and 11 digs, Capri Richardson contributed 13 kills and Montana earned its second-straight victory, a 3-1 road win over Portland State.
The Grizzlies (6-15, 2-7) hit .338 for the match, with Brianna Gardner totaling 11 kills with five blocks on a .500 clip. Richardson hit .480 for the match with just one error and Sadie Ahearn grabbed a match-high 21 digs for UM.
Montana fended off two set points, then used kills from Richardson and Sackett to take the first set 28-26. PSU hit .444 in the second set to push towards a 25-22 victory. Montana assumed control from there, hitting .448 in the third set and holding PSU to negative hitting in the fourth.
Jenna Mullen and Eva Linden led the Vikings with 11 kills apiece and Tasha Bojanic added a team-high 15 digs. PSU kept pace hitting in the first two sets, but struggled from there on the way to a .176 percentage for the match.