OGDEN, Utah (October 24, 2015) – While math has thus far prevented Big Sky Volleyball teams from clinching tournament spots, that didn’t stop some of them from taking the next step towards earning a bid Saturday. Northern Arizona and Idaho State each improved to 9-1 while Eastern Washington is now 8-2.
With just six games remaining in Big Sky Volleyball Conference play, there hasn’t yet been a team to clinch a league tournament spot nor been eliminated from contention. Next week those scenarios will begin to fall, and when that happens, they may come and go fast.
Sacramento State moved to 7-3 in Big Sky play, while North Dakota picked up a marathon win over Southern Utah to get back to a .500 conference record and resume the hunt for a stronger tournament seed.
Sacramento State 3, Montana 0 – Sloan Lovett had a match-high 14 kills, Morgan Stanley added 10 with seven digs, and Sacramento State earned a 3-0 home win over Montana for its fourth straight victory.
Lauren Kissell tallied 13 kills for the Hornets (20-5, 7-3 Big Sky), while Kennedy Kurtz dished 35 assists with eight digs. Stanley hit .556 for the match and Lovett had a percentage of .379, helping Sac State hit .361 as a team.
The Hornets came out strong, scoring the first seven points of the match and hitting .382 to take the opening set 25-14. They nearly matched that hitting effort in the second, using a 4-0 run and a 6-1 run to win 25-18. Two service aces from Lovett and a pair of Montana attack errors turned a 17-16 deficit into a 20-17 lead for Sac State, and they led the rest of the way.
Brianna Gardner led the Grizzlies (6-16, 2-8) with nine kills at a .538 hitting clip. Gardner was one of three Grizzlies to hit over .500, but Sac State held Hannah Sackett and Silerolia Gaogao to a combined 14 kills on 55 attacks with 11 errors.
Northern Arizona 3, Northern Colorado 2 – Janae Vander Ploeg (21 kills, 12 digs), Lauren Jacobsen (15 kills, 18 digs) and Jensen Barton (47 assists, 14 digs) each recorded double-doubles, helping Northern Arizona outlast Northern Colorado for a five-set home victory to improve to 9-1 in Big Sky play.
Payton Bock chipped in six kills with 11 blocks (three solo), Addy Lofstedt killed 12 balls and Stacia Williams had a match-high 27 digs for the Lumberjacks (19-4, 9-1). NAU hit .180 as a team, and Vander Ploeg led the way with a .239 percentage.
The teams battled back and forth, trading the first two sets before NAU moved out to a 10-point lead in the third on the way to a 25-19 win in the third. UNC rallied with a 7-0 run late in the fourth set, ultimately winning 25-23.
UNC (8-15, 4-6) led most of the fifth set before NAU put together a 3-1 run off of a Vander Ploeg kill and two UNC attack errors. The Bears fended off the first match point, but NAU answered with Vander Ploeg’s fifth kill of the set for a 15-13 win and the match.
Kortney Lockey led the Bears with 19 kills, Kendra Cunningham added 12 with 18 digs and Ashley Guthrie distributed 58 assists with 13 digs. UNC had a slight advantage in hit percentage at .211, but also had 28 attack errors and 11 service errors.
Eastern Washington 3, Weber State 0 – Allie Schumacher finished with 10 kills, Nicole Rigoni dished out 36 assists with seven digs and Eastern Washington snapped a two-game skid with a 3-0 road sweep over Weber State.
The Eagles (13-8, 8-2) hit .333 as a team, with Alexis Wesley and Jessica Gilbert each nabbing nine kills. Ryann Ensrud tallied a match-high nine digs for EWU while Gilbert totaled a match-high five blocks.
Eastern never hit below .300 in each set, distancing from a 9-all tie and closing the first set on a 16-4 run to win 25-13. WSU led late in the second, but EWU scored the last six points for a 25-20 decision. The Eagles hit .353 in the third frame to lead comfortably for the most part on the way to a 25-18 win.
Ciera Borho and Megan Thompson had five kills apiece for Weber State (5-15, 1-9) while Thamires Cavalcanti put together a match-high 11 digs. The Wildcats stayed competitive in each set as there were 23 ties and 11 lead changes, but hit just .099 for the match.
Idaho State 3, Idaho 0 – Makenzie Filer totaled 13 kills and seven blocks, Bailey Bars contributed 10 kills with nine digs and Idaho State defeated Idaho in straight sets.
The Bengals (17-7, 9-1) had a .321 hitting percentage, with Tressa Lyman adding 12 kills and Hayley Farrer nabbing five with 40 assists and nine digs. Filer hit .520 for the match while Bars toted a .412 percentage.
ISU had the hot hand to open the match in control, hitting .412 to take a 25-16 decision. Idaho earned a set point opportunity in the second, but ISU fended it off with a 3-0 run on the strength of kills from Lyman and Bars to win 26-24. The Bengals hit .345 and led by as much as eight, clinching the match with a 25-18 win.
Katelyn Peterson paced the Vandals (9-13, 6-4) with eight kills and 10 digs, but was the only Idaho player with more than five kills. Idaho hit .100 for the night and saw its five-match winning streak snapped.
North Dakota 3, Southern Utah 2 – Courtney Place accumulated 21 kills and 11 digs, McKenzie Hart produced a school-record 50 digs and North Dakota battled for a 3-2 victory over host Southern Utah.
Chelsea Moser (20 kills), Julia Kaczorowska (17 kills, nine digs), Faith Dooley (15 kills, 11 blocks) and Sydney Griffin (70 assists, 13 digs) all contributed big numbers for a UND team that hit .225 on the night. Hart’s 50 digs were the second-most ever in a Big Sky Volleyball match.
After trading the opening sets, SUU rallied from a 20-24 deficit in the third set, fending off four set points before taking a 2-1 lead with a 28-26 win. UND saw a nine-point lead in the fourth set evaporate before hanging on 25-23.
UND moved out to a 14-10 lead in the fifth, but SUU struck back again with five straight points. North Dakota fought off a match point of their own and grabbed the critical rally points on kills from Kristen Giesbrecht and Moser to win the marathon match with a 19-17 thriller.
Madi Forsythe (26 kills, 21 digs), Chennin Benson (20 kills) and Faith Ma’afala (65 assists, 15 digs) each had stellar nights in a heartbreaker for the Thunderbirds (14-9, 5-5). Sariah Pelaez and Remo Gaogao combined for 49 digs on the night.
Portland State 3, Montana State 1 - Pati Anae had 21 kills and 16 digs, Eva Linden added 21 and 10 and Portland State fought past Montana State for a 3-1 home win.
Jenna Mullen produced 16 kills with nine digs while Kylie Copple put together 56 assists with seven digs for the Vikings (7-15, 3-7). Tasha Bojanic tied for a match-high with 21 digs for a PSU team that had 72 total.
After dropping the first set 25-19, the Vikings prevailed late in the second after a kill from Linden and a MSU attack error. PSU fought off four-straight set points after trailing 24-20, then ultimately outlasted MSU in an elongated 34-32 third set. A 7-1 run helped the Vikings assume control and win the fourth set 25-19.
Natalie Passeck led the Bobcats (3-15, 1-9) with 21 kills and a .419 hitting percentage along with 11 digs. Natalee Godfrey finished with 10 kills and eight blocks and Katie Harrington distributed 46 assists.