OGDEN, Utah (October 8, 2015) - While it's still plenty early in Big Sky Conference Volleyball's league schedule, multiple teams are making early suggestions on who will be fighting for the right to host the 2015 conference tournament. Both Eastern Washingtona and Idaho State remain undefeated and atop the Big Sky standings after Thursday night's slate of games.
North Dakota 3, Weber State 0 – Julie Kaczorowska finished with nine kills and a .412 hitting percentage, helping North Dakota to its 12th-straight home win, a 3-0 sweep over Weber State.
Kaczorowska led a balanced UND attack, as Courtney Place, Faith Dooley and Chelsea Moser each chipped in eight kills apiece. Sydney Griffin dished 33 assists to go with eight digs and McKenzie Hart had a match-high 18 digs for a UND team that hit .264 for the match.
UND (15-6, 4-1 Big Sky) held off a late surge from WSU to pull out a 25-23 win in the first set. Both the second and deciding third sets were narrow until UND reeled off runs in both to take 25-19 and 25-20 decisions.
Ciera Borho and Amanda Varley each killed 10 balls for the Wildcats (5-11, 1-4), who hit .168 for the match. Megan Thompson had six blocks and Thamires Cavalcanti contributed 15 digs for WSU.
Southern Utah 3, Montana State 0 – Madi Forsythe had 12 kills, Ann Clappier added seven with eight blocks and Southern Utah picked up a 3-0 conference road victory over Montana State.
The Thunderbirds (11-7, 2-3) were stellar on the attack with a .394 team hitting percentage to go with 12 blocks. Taylor Heine totaled 11 kills on a .786 clip, Faith Maa’afala had 43 assists and Remo Gaogao chipped in 14 digs.
SUU was errorless in the opening set, hitting .552 in a back-and-forth 25-21 decision. They went .273 while holding MSU to .094., building a cushion en route to a 25-19 second set. There were 10 ties and a pair of lead changes in the third set before SUU ended on a 10-4 run to seal the 3-0 win.
Loni Kreun and Natalee Godfrey led the Bobcats (3-10, 1-4) with 12 kills apiece while Natalie Passeck had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. MSU hit .248 as a team, but couldn’t contain the T-Birds, forcing just six attack errors.
Northern Arizona 3, Montana 0 – Janae Vander Ploeg totaled 15 kills, Payton Bock had seven with 10 blocks and Northern Arizona earned a 3-0 road win over Montana.
The Lumberjacks (14-4, 4-1) hit .280 as a team, with Lauren Jacobsen chipping in eight kills with 12 digs. Stacia Williams had a team-high 19 digs and Jensen Barton finished with 35 assists and six blocks.
NAU used a combination of strong hitting and blocking to move out to a 2-0 lead in the match. They hit .300 in the opening set while holding Montana to below .100 in both the first and second. UM had two chances at set points in the third, but NAU scored the last four points to win 26-24.
The Grizzlies (4-13, 0-5) hit .154 for the match and had 23 attack errors. Hannah Sackett had a match-high 21 kills to go with 11 digs and Sadie Ahearn also chipped in a match-high with 20 digs.
Eastern Washington 3, Sacramento State 1 – Ana Jakovljevic tallied 16 kills and 11 digs, helping Eastern Washington push past Sacramento State 3-1 and improve to 5-0 in conference play.
Nicole Rigoni also had a double-double for the Eagles (10-6, 5-0) with 26 assists and 13 digs. Alexis Wesley and Allie Schumacher contributed eight kills apiece while Ryann Ensrud had a match-high 21 digs in helping contain one of the league’s top hitting offenses to .170 hitting.
EWU built a late cushion to take the first set 25-21, then hit .414 to Sac State’s .030 in the second for a 2-0 advantage. The Hornets (16-4 , 3-2) bounced back with a convincing 25-14 third-set victory. The teams exchanged runs late in the fourth before EWU scored the last four points to seal the win. Jakovljevic had seven of her 16 kills to spark EWU in the deciding fourth.
Lauren Kissell led Sac State with 14 kills and Morgan Stanley added 10 with 12 digs. The Hornets, who entered the match leading the league overall in kills and assists per set, struggled with a season-high 15 service errors.
Idaho State 3, Northern Colorado 2 – Tressa Lyman finished with 22 kills and 11 digs, helping Idaho State outlast Northern Colorado 3-2 in a rematch of last season’s Big Sky Championship match.
Makenzie Filer and Marissa Todd each nabbed 15 kills for the Bengals (13-6, 5-0), who hit .232 as a team despite 33 attack errors and 15 service errors. Lyman was one of three ISU players with double-doubles, as Hayley Farrer dished a season-high 63 assists with 15 digs and Chloe Hirst had 18 digs with 10 kills.
ISU surged late to take the first set, but UNC fought off a pair of set points and ended the second on a 4-0 run to win 26-24. The teams traded 25-20 decisions in the third and fourth, sending to a deciding fifth. After UNC fought back to make it 9-8 in the fifth, ISU reeled off a 4-1 run. Two kills from Filer ended the match at 15-11.
The Bears (6-12, 2-3) hit .197 for the match, led by Kendra Cunningham with 18 kills and 13 digs as well as Ashley Guthrie with 41 assists and 13 digs.
Idaho 3, Portland State 2 – Tineke Bierma finished with 18 kills, Katelyn Peterson contributed 16 with 16 digs and Idaho rallied for a 3-2 home conference victory over Portland State.
Bierma and Peterson each hit over .325 for the Vandals (5-12, 2-3), who hit .222 as a team and held PSU to .152. Kaela Straw tabbed 13 kills and Becca Mau had eight with 10 digs.
The first three sets were tight, with PSU winning 25-23 in the first. PSU fought off a set point before two kills from Peterson gave UI the 26-24 decision in the second. The Vikings (5-12, 1-4) fended off two set points and pulled ahead for their own 26-24 win in the third. Idaho pushed ahead in the fourth to hold on for a fifth set. The Vandals closed the fifth set on a 6-2 run to win 15-10.
Pati Anae (19 kills, 22 digs), Jenna Mullen (17 kills, 10 digs) and Eva Linden (12 kills, eight digs) all had solid games for the Vikings, but contributed 26 of PSU’s 31 attack errors on the night.