FULL STATS
OGDEN, Utah (October 1, 2016) – Week two of Big Sky volleyball saw no shortages of action Friday and Saturday night with a triple-double going down, two teams moving to 4-0 and the league’s division leaders beginning to stake claim on the top spots.
After two weeks of Big Sky play, Northern Colorado and North Dakota sit atop the north division each at 3-1 with UNC holding the tiebreaker. Northern Arizona and Sacramento State each stayed undefeated and lead the south division at 4-0. NAU’s Jensen Barton recorded her second triple-double of the season in just three sets against Weber State.
Idaho State and Montana State each picked up Big Sky wins Saturday, both teams’ first of the season.
Big Sky volleyball action resumes Thursday.
North Dakota 3, Eastern Washington 1 (Friday): Faith Dooley paced North Dakota with 10 kills and eight blocks as the Fighting Hawks fought past Eastern Washington in a key north division matchup Friday night.
The Fighting Hawks (11-8, 3-1 Big Sky) had 16-8 blocking edge in a defensive battle that saw both teams hit under .125 for the match and 176 total digs. Tamara Merseli grabbed eight kills and 23 digs, Ashley Brueggeman added nine kills with five blocks and Alivia Fraase had a match-high 26 digs.
UND was the first to 20 in the first set after a 7-2 run, but had to fend off a late surge from EWU. The Eagles reeled off three straight points after being down 24-22 to set up a set point, but a kill from Brueggeman and two blocks gave UND the extended set 27-25. The Fighting Hawks trailed late in the second set, but scored six of the last seven points including two Dooley kills to win 25-22.
EWU (7-6, 2-2) bounced back in the third set, building a six-point lead late and scoring the final three points after UND had pulled within two, winning 25-20 and forcing a fourth set. UND turned up the defense in the final frame, holding EWU to a negative hit percentage on the way to an early 10-5 lead. UND pushed its lead to 23-18 before EWU threatened with a 3-0 run, but an Eagle service and attack error gave the Fighting Hawks the match 25-21.
The Eagles finished with 62 kills to UND’s 39, but struggled to get past UND’s smothering defense with 41 attack errors. Jessica Gilbert finished with 14 kills, while Ashley Seiler (18 kills, 14 digs), Ka’iulani Ahuna (10 kills, 20 digs) and Sophie Miller (30 assists, 16 digs) each recorded double-doubles.
Northern Arizona 3, Weber State 0: Jensen Barton posted her second triple-double of the season with 11 kills, 29 assists and 10 digs, this time coming in just three sets as Northern Arizona swept Weber State to move to 4-0 on the season in Big Sky play.
In a clash between the two teams leading the league in hitting percentage (NAU) and opponent hitting percentage (WSU), the Lumberjacks (14-3, 4-0 BSC) had the clear upper hand hitting an efficient .365 as a team over the three sets.
Barton had a .714 attack percentage along with four blocks and registered her second triple-double in a little over two weeks, as she had one in a five-set loss to Cal State Bakersfield on September 15
th. Lauren Jacobsen finished with 14 kills on a .323 hitting clip with six digs, Brittni Dorsey had nine blocks and Addy Lofstedt grabbed seven kills with five blocks.
NAU gained an early edge with the first four points of the match, and later built on its lead with a quick 3-0 spurt on a kill from Jacobsen and an ace from Barton to lead 19-13 on the way to a 25-17 victory. The Lumberjacks swung .438 in the second set, and Barton’s court vision led to four kills that closed the set on a 13-4 run to win 25-14. An 8-2 surge in the third set put NAU up eight before taking the match 25-19 and improving its home winning streak to 21 matches.
WSU (11-2, 2-2) entered the match as one of the top blocking teams in the country, but were beaten at its own game as NAU had a 13-4 advantage in blocks while WSU was held to .097 hitting. Megan Thompson led the Wildcats with 11 kills on .320 hitting, but the NCAA leader in blocks per set was kept off the stat sheet in that category.
Idaho State 3, Southern Utah 1: Chloe Hirst recorded 22 kills and 19 digs, Abby Jensen chipped in 16 and 12 as Idaho State picked up its first Big Sky win of the season, defeating Southern Utah in Cedar City.
The Bengals (6-11, 1-3) had a slight advantage in hitting percentage and a 61-43 difference in total kills. Hayley Farrer was three kills and three digs away from a triple-double with 48 assists, Haylie Keck added a match-high 34 digs and Brooke Pehrson had seven blocks with four kills.
ISU erased a late five-point deficit in the first set, scoring six straight to take the lead 21-20. SUU fought off a set point from ISU, but a service error gave ISU the early lead 25-22. The Thunderbirds (2-14, 0-4) used a five-point surge to gain a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in the second set and they closed with five of the last seven points to even the match 25-19.
The Bengals hit .312 in the third set, outscoring SUU 9-3 during a stretch to go up 16-10 and taking the set 25-19. ISU broke a 19-all tie late in the fourth with two kills from Hirst sparking a 6-1 run to set up match point. SUU fended off match point three times, but ISU kept the set from extending, winning 25-23.
SUU out-blocked ISU 14-9, but were outperformed by the Bengals in hit percentage and total digs. Chennin Benson paced the T-Birds with 16 kills and MaCail Evans totaled 10 blocks with five kills.
Montana State 3, Montana 1: Freshman Caitlin Lonergan posted a career-high 17 kills and Montana State used a late fourth-set rally to overtake Montana and claim its first Big Sky win of the season.
The Bobcats (3-10, 1-3) hit .130 for the match and had the advantage blocking as 12-9. Natalie Passeck (10 kills, nine digs), Kiana Black (10 kills, five blocks) and Audra Dugan (four kills, seven blocks) each contributed to MSU’s all-around effort.
Montana (4-10, 1-3) grabbed the early momentum in the Brawl of the Wild meeting, building a five-point lead and fending off a late first-set surge from MSU to win 25-22. MSU bounced back hitting .281 and putting together a 9-0 surge with three kills from Black to go up 21-12 and ultimately win 25-18.
MSU jumped out to a 12-6 lead, held UM to negative hitting and led by as much as 11 to take the third set 25-17. The Grizzlies looked to force a fifth set building a 20-15 lead, but MSU clawed back ending the match on a 10-2 to win 25-22. Keying the Cats’ rally was service aces coming from Sydney Mathison, Lonergan and the match-clincher from Allyssa Rizzo.
Alexis Urbach led Montana with 11 kills and Silerolia Gaogao added nine. The Griz were held to a .056 hitting percentage with 31 attack errors and 10 more serving.
Northern Colorado 3, Idaho 1: Timarie Nymeyer finished with 17 kills, Ashley Guthrie had 56 assists, seven digs and five kills and Northern Colorado pushed past Idaho for its third straight Big Sky win.
The Bears (9-7, 3-1) toted a .294 hitting percentage with a 65-48 kill advantage. Kortney Lockey had a double-double with 12 kills and 14 digs, Kim Weissmann and Alex Kloehn also had double-digit kills and Makenna Meier contributed a match-high 25 digs.
It was the home team getting the early edge, as Idaho (6-10, 1-3) worked to a 20-15 lead, held off a late charge from UNC as well as two set points from the Bears. An ace from Sarah Sharp and a block from Torrin Crawford and Paige Rupiper gave UI the first set 27-25. UNC responded by hitting .357, jumping out to a 10-3 edge and rolling to even the match 25-13.
UNC again built an early lead in the third set going up 14-6, but had to fight off a scrappy rally from Idaho that made it 19-16, hanging on for a 25-21 win. In a tightly-contested fourth set, UNC outlasted the Vandals with a kill from Nymeyer and an ace from Weissmann finishing it off 26-24.
Idaho was held to .161 hitting with 23 attack errors. Sharp led the Vandals with 16 kills, Becca Mau had 12 and Terra Varney chipped in a team-high 22 digs.
Sacramento State 3, Portland State 1: Madeline Cannon had 14 kills, Courtney Dietrich added 13 with eight blocks and Sacramento State remained unbeaten in Big Sky play with a key road win over south division foe Portland State.
The Hornets (10-8, 4-0) hit .271 for the match and out-blocked PSU 14-9. Kennedy Kurtz (48 assists, 10 digs, six blocks) and Shannon Boyle (10 kills, 10 digs) each notched double-doubles for Sac State.
PSU (10-6, 2-2) came out firing using a 10-1 run to go up 21-19 on the way to a 25-15 first-set win. Sac State grabbed a 13-8 cushion and hit .375 to win the second set 25-20. The Hornets trailed late in the third set 20-18, but Dietrich was huge down the stretch providing two block assists and three kills to end the set on a 7-0 run and win 25-20.
Sac State prevailed from a back-and-forth fourth set, trailing 23-22 but scoring the final three points on a kill from Cannon, a block from Brie Gathright and Cannon and a PSU attack error to take the match 25-23.
Pati Anae paced the Vikings with 20 kills and 16 digs, Sarah Brennan hit .342 with 17 kills and Erin Clark had 48 assists with six kills and eight digs. PSU also hit over .200, but had 11 more attack errors than Sac State with 27.