OGDEN, Utah (October 3, 2015) – Eastern Washington and Idaho State remain undefeated after two weeks of Big Sky Conference Volleyball, while North Dakota, Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado also completed a 2-0 week in Saturday’s action.
North Dakota 3, Montana State 1 – Faith Dooley and Courtney Place each finished with 14 kills, Place recorded a double-double with 15 digs and North Dakota defeated Montana State 3-1 for its 11th-straight win at home and third-consecutive victory in conference play.
UND (14-6, 3-1 BSC) hit .274 as a team and had four players in double-digit kills, with Julia Kaczorowska nabbing 12 and Chelsea Moser adding 10 with five blocks and five digs. Sydney Griffin tallied 49 assists and nine digs for UND while Dooley and Place each hit over .400.
North Dakota fought back from a tough first-set loss, hitting over .300 in the next two sets. They built a solid cushion in the second before holding off MSU, then pulled away in a tightly-contested third. The Bobcats (3-9, 1-3) took a lead late in the fourth set before UND scored the final seven points to take the match.
Loni Kreun paced Montana State with 16 kills and 16 digs, Natalie Passeck added a double-double and Kasey Altman had a match-high 28 digs. MSU hit .220 for the match.
Northern Colorado 3, Montana 1 – Kendra Cunningham had 16 kills and Katie Champion chipped in 10 to lead a balanced Northern Colorado attack in a 3-1 home win over Montana.
UNC (6-11, 2-2) hit .338 for the match and had seven players with six or more kills. Kortney Lockey finished with 10 kills, Emily O’Neill had seven with five blocks and Meagan Garcia had a match-high 28 digs.
UNC controlled the first two sets, hitting over .300 in both as Cunningham had seven kills in the opening set. Montana (4-12, 0-4) stormed back hitting .531 in the third set to UNC’s .444. The Bears battled through for the win in a tight match that had 37 ties and 13 lead changes.
Hannah Sackett led Montana with 24 kills and 10 digs, while Capri Richardson killed 12 balls at a .417 hitting percentage. Montana hit .259 as a team.
Sacramento State 3, Weber State 0 – Sacramento State hit a season-high .402 with Sloan Lovett and Lauren Kissell combining for 29 kills in a 3-0 sweep over hosting Weber State.
Kissell had 14 kills with a .650 hit percentage, while Lovett had a match-high 15 kills with a .345 clip. Kennedy Kurtz headed a strong passing game with 47 assists.
Sacramento State trailed briefly to open the match, but rolled from there as they hit .375 or better in each of the three sets. The Hornets moved to 16-3 on the season and 3-1 in Big Sky play, already doubling last season’s win total and matching last season’s conference wins.
Megan Thompson paced the Wildcats (5-10, 1-3) with eight kills on 13 attacks. WSU hit .185 as a team.
Eastern Washington 3, Idaho 0 – Ana Jakovljevic finished with 11 kills and Nicole Rigoni had 35 assists, leading Eastern Washington to a sweep over visiting Idaho to remain perfect in Big Sky play.
Jessica Gilbert had nine kills, while Alexis Wesley and Allie Schumacher added eight for the Eagles (9-6, 4-0). Ryann Ensrud led the team in digs and Schumacher chipped in 12 while EWU hit .314 as a team.
Eastern rolled to wins in the first two sets, hitting .369 during 25-21 and 25-19 wins. EWU looked well on their way to a sweep before Idaho (4-12, 1-3) made it interesting, reeling off a 9-3 run in the third before the Eagles held on.
Katelyn Peterson led the Vandals with 11 kills and Tineke Bierma had seven. Idaho hit .135 as a team and had 20 attack errors.
Northern Arizona 3, Southern Utah 0 – Janae Vander Ploeg tallied another double-double with 14 kills and 19 digs, leading Northern Arizona to a sweep over host Southern Utah.
The Lumberjacks moved to 13-4 on the season and 3-1 in Big Sky play, hitting .305 as a team with Jensen Barton dishing out 37 assists. Lauren Jacobsen tallied 10 kills with eight digs and five blocks, while Payton Bock had nine kills with six blocks.
Vander Ploeg picked up her 10th double-double of the season, leading a balanced attack with five kills in the opening set. NAU broke away from a tight middle set for a 25-20 victory, then sealed the deal hitting .366 in the deciding third set.
Madi Forsythe led the Thunderbirds (10-7, 1-3) with 10 kills, while McKenzie Nicol and Sariah Pelaez each had a team-high 10 digs. SUU hit .105 as a team and had 22 attack errors.
Idaho State 3, Portland State 2 – Tressa Lyman, Chloe Hirst and Bailey Bars each registered double-doubles, helping Idaho State fend off visiting Portland State for a 3-2 victory to move to 4-0 in conference play.
Lyman and Hirst each totaled 15 kills, while Bars had a team-high 19 digs for the Bengals (12-6, 4-0). Lyman, Hirst, Bars and Makenzie Filer combined for 52 of ISU’s 63 kills on the night while hitting .208 as a team.
The Bengals and Vikings each used late runs in the opening sets, with ISU winning 25-18 in the first and PSU prevailing 26-24 in the second. ISU controlled the third set, but PSU bounced back to force a fifth.
The Vikings (5-11, 1-3) jumped out to a 7-3 lead, but Idaho State answered back strongly to take a 10-9 lead, then closed on a 5-1 run to remain unbeaten in the Big Sky.
Pati Anae (14 kills, 18 digs) and Eva Linden (14 kills, 11 digs) each turned in double-doubles for the Vikings while Jenna Mullen had a match-high 16 kills.