OGDEN, Utah (November 5, 2015) – With how competitive the Big Sky Volleyball tournament is shaping up to be, you can tell teams have a keen eye on those No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. Idaho, Idaho State, Northern Arizona and Sacramento State each won Thursday night to add to a heated pair of division races.
NAU earned a win over Eastern Washington to extend its winning streak to 11 games, and Idaho topped Southern Utah to move into a tie for the North Division lead with EWU.
While NAU has its eyes on earning hosting rights for the league tournament, second-place ISU and third-place Sac State of the South Division kept the pressure on with victories.
Northern Arizona 3, Eastern Washington 0 – Janae Vander Ploeg finished with 18 kills, seven digs and had a .319 hitting percentage as Northern Arizona swept host Eastern Washington in a battle of the Big Sky’s two division leaders.
Payton Bock added nine kills and Lauren Jacobsen contributed eight, with Bock hitting .400 and Jacobsen grabbing six digs. Jensen Barton produced 35 assists with nine digs and a pair of service aces as NAU (22-4, 12-1 Big Sky) won its 11th straight. The Lumberjacks hit .316 as a team with just six attack errors.
NAU scored the last three points to take the first set 25-22, and hit .571 in the second with Vander Ploeg providing nine of NAU’s 17 kills for a 25-20 decision. EWU built a four-point lead in the third, but NAU answered with an 8-1 run to take back the lead for good on the way to a 25-21 victory.
Alexis Wesley led a balanced attack for the Eagles (14-10, 9-4) with nine kills while Ana jakovljevic, Jessica Gilbert and Chloe Weber each added eight. EWU hit .250 for the match, but couldn’t contain NAU’s efficient attack.
Idaho State 3, Portland State 0 – Tressa Lyman recorded her conference-leading 14th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 12 digs, helping Idaho State move past host Portland State for a 3-0 victory.
Lyman totaled a .303 hitting percentage and also had three service aces, while Bailey Bars hit .455 with six kills and tied for a match-high 14 digs. Hayley Farrer contributed a solid all-around game with 25 assists, seven digs, four blocks and four kills to set up the Bengals (19-8, 11-2) for a .241 hitting percentage.
In a first set that featured 13 ties and seven lead changes, ISU gained an edge with a 7-1 run, then held off a late PSU surge to prevail 25-22. The Bengals built an early seven-point lead in the second and fought off another late rally by PSU for a duplicate 25-22 win. ISU hit .423 to gain some distance for a 25-19 win in the third set for the match.
Patie Anae tallied 11 kills and nine digs, while Jenna Mullen also reached double digits with 10 kills for the Vikings (7-18, 3-10). PSU was limited to .145 hitting and had 19 errors attacking and another nine serving.
Idaho 3, Southern Utah 1 – Katelyn Peterson put together match highs of 16 kills and 23 digs and Idaho gained ground in the Big Sky North Division with a 3-1 win over visiting Southern Utah.
The Vandals (12-13, 9-4) used a balanced attack to hit .358 as a team, with Sarah Sharp and Tineke Bierma each chipping in nine kills. Meredith Coba and Jensen split the setting duties, with Coba totaling 30 assists and Jensen dishing 23.
Idaho hit at least .300 in each of its three set wins. They opened with a pair of 25-14 decisions, hitting .312 in the first and .452 in the second. SUU stayed alive with a 25-19 win, but Idaho turned it on from there and hit .516 in the deciding set.
Rebecca Nelson led the Thunderbirds (15-11, 6-7) with 12 kills while Chennin Benson had 10. Remo Gaogao finished with a team-high 15 digs and eight kills as SUU played short-handed, missing one of their top players in Madi Forsythe.
Idaho and EWU are both now 9-4 and sit tied for first in the North Division with the Eagles currently holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. That sets up a critical matchup between EWU and the Vandals for the division lead in Moscow on Saturday.
Sacramento State 3, Weber State 1 – Lauren Kissell finished with 18 kills, Madeline Cannon added 11 with five service aces and five blocks, and Sacramento State became the third Big Sky team to reach double-digit league wins with a 3-1 home victory over Weber State.
Kennedy Kurtz put together 40 assists with 10 digs and Cannon hit .421 to help the Hornets (23-5, 10-3) hit .276 overall. Sloan Lovett killed 10 balls while Morgan Stanley grabbed eight with eight digs.
Sac State hit .458 in the opening set with a single attack error, throttling to a 25-9 victory. The Hornets had six service aces in each of the first two sets, also taking the second comfortably 25-18. WSU bounced back containing Sac State’s attack to force a fourth set, but Sac State rolled out to a 10-2 lead and never looked back.
Amanda Varley and Andrea Hale combined for 21 kills for the Wildcats (5-20, 1-12) and Thamires Cavalcanti had a match-high 17 digs. WSU hit .152 and was out-blocked 11-5 while giving up 15 service aces and committing nine serve errors.