OGDEN, Utah (Sept. 26, 2015) – Multiple Big Sky Volleyball teams picked up statement wins in the opening weekend of conference play, most notably Eastern Washington, Idaho State and Sacramento State, who now sit atop the standings at 2-0.
Eastern Washington 3, Northern Colorado 0 – Eastern Washington picked up its second-straight sweep of a 2014 conference tournament participant, knocking off defending champions Northern Colorado 3-0 at home Saturday to improve to 2-0 in league play.
Jessica Gilbert had nine kills (.353 hit percentage) and 10 digs while Alexis Wesley chipped in nine kills (.444) and five blocks for the Eagles (7-6, 2-0 BSC). Nicole Rigoni recorded a double-double with 26 assists and 12 digs for an EWU team that hit .218 while holding UNC to .115.
The Eagles led wire-to-wire in the opening 25-20 set, then fought back from early deficits with late surges to take the second and third. They closed the second set on an 11-4 run after trailing 14-9, and erased an 11-5 deficit in the third before scoring five of the last six points to take the match.
Katie Champion led the Bears (4-11, 0-2) with 13 kills and Kendra Cunningham had seven with 12 digs. UNC hit .214 in the opening set, but was held to .154 in the second and just .022 in the third.
Sacramento State 3, Northern Arizona 1 – Lauren Kissell finished with 18 kills, Morgan Stanley added 14 with 16 digs and Sacramento State (15-2) improved to 2-0 in conference play with a hard-fought 3-1 win over visiting Northern Arizona.
Courtney Dietrich tallied 10 blocks (7 assists, 3 solo), heading a Hornet front that had 14 as a team and held a strong-hitting NAU team to .180. The Lumberjacks (11-4, 1-1) entered the match leading the league with a .274 hitting average this season.
Sacramento State rolled to an early 2-0 lead with 25-17 and 25-14 decisions, hitting over .330 in both sets. NAU fended off a late run from the Hornets to take the third set 25-23.
The Lumberjacks fought off four match-points in an extended fourth set, but Stanley put Sac State back on top with two-straight kills and then combined with Dietrich on a block to cap the 30-28 win. Kissell hit .486 for the match with a single attack error.
Janae Vander Ploeg led NAU with 19 kills and 19 digs and Lauren Jacobsen contributed 18 and 10.
North Dakota 3, Idaho 2 – Courtney Place had 18 kills and 11 digs, helping North Dakota hold off host Idaho for a 3-2 conference victory.
McKenzie Hart had a career-high 36 digs for North Dakota (12-6, 1-1 BSC) and was one of five UND players in double figures for digs. Chelsea Moser chipped in 16 kills and Julia Kaczorowska had 10.
UND fought back from an early six-point deficit to take the first set 25-23, then held off a late Idaho run in the second for a 25-20 decision in the second. Idaho (4-10, 1-1) stormed back to tie the match at two sets apiece, winning the fourth convincingly 25-10.
In the third-consecutive five-set match between the teams, UND took advantage of multiple Idaho errors for an 8-0 run in the fifth set to go back ahead for good. UND hit .318 in the decisive set with no errors to Idaho’s six.
Tineke Bierma had a match-high 20 kills and Becca Mau added 16 with eight digs for a Vandals team that outhit UND .237 to .182.
Idaho State 3, Weber State 0 – Tressa Lyman had 16 kills and seven digs to lead a balanced attack from Idaho State in a 3-0 conference home sweep over Weber State.
Makenzie Filer totaled nine kills and six blocks, one of four Bengals with eight kills and at least a .360 hitting percentage. The Bengals (10-6, 2-0 BSC) hit .306 with 49 kills as a team while holding Weber State to a .121 clip.
Amanda Varley led the Wildcats (5-8, 1-1) with nine kills and Thamires Cavalcanti added a match-high 15 digs. WSU trailed the entire first set and was held below .100 hitting in the second and third.
Montana State 3, Montana 1 – Natalie Passeck totaled 15 kills, Loni Kreun added 11 with eight digs and Montana State pushed past visiting Montana 3-1 in an early-season Brawl of the Wild matchup.
Natalie Godfrey finished with 10 kills, a .368 hitting percentage and five blocks for the Bobcats (3-7, 1-1 BSC). MSU had five players with at least seven kills and hit .227 as a team, helping snap a nine-game losing streak to Montana in Shroyer Gym.
The Bobcats shook off a shaky start where they had a negative attack percentage and fell 25-12 in the opening set. MSU pulled away for a 25-20 decision in the second, then came on strong hitting .467 in the third and .333 in the fourth.
Hannah Sackett led the Grizzlies (4-10, 0-2) with 16 kills while Silerolia Gaogao and Janell Sparks each contributed nine. UM hit .476 in the opening set, but committed 24 attack errors and hit just over 100 the rest of the way.
Southern Utah 3, Portland State 0 – Madi Forsythe and Chennin Benson each tallied 11 kills as Southern Utah used efficient hitting to sweep host Portland State 3-0 in a conference matchup.
Faith Ma’afala dished 36 assists for the Thunderbirds (10-5, 1-1 BSC), who committed just eight attack errors and hit .301 for the match. Ann Clappier added seven blocks and five kills while Remo Gaogao chipped in a team-high 15 digs.
The teams battled in the first set before three-straight kills from Benson sparked an 8-2 SUU run to take the 25-17 decision. The T-birds built an early eight-point lead in route to a second-set win, then surged late in the third to clinch the match.
Pati Anae paced Portland State (4-10, 0-2) with 16 kills and 11 digs and Jenna Mullen nabbed 15 kills. The Vikings hit .193 and had 17 of its 22 errors in the final two sets.