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OGDEN, Utah (October 22, 2016) – After wreaking some havoc Thursday night, the Big Sky volleyball south division was back at it Saturday not only on the scoreboard but also in the league tournament picture.
Division leaders Northern Arizona and North Dakota remain in their top spots, with NAU sweeping Montana to continue holding the No. 1 position overall, and UND fighting past Weber State. Idaho State won its seventh straight match and beat another north division standout in Northern Colorado, helping put UND back atop the north division alone.
Defending champion NAU also became the first team to clinch a spot in the tournament field with its nine wins out of reach for three teams in the league and with NAU having a tiebreaker over 3-7 Montana State.
Along with ISU and NAU, Portland State and Sacramento State also put together 2-0 weekends to cause some shifting in the league standings. Sac State, UNC and ISU sit tied for third in the overall standings with the Hornets holding a tiebreaker over both. The Vikings moved into the sixth spot in the tournament contender field, and Montana State put some pressure on other teams with a win over Southern Utah.
With six games left in the league schedule, many teams will now look to clinch tournament spots while the fight for the regular-season title and hosting rights as well as division races continue.
Northern Arizona 3, Montana 0: Lauren Jacobsen had 13 kills on .448 hitting with 15 digs as Northern Arizona eased past Montana for its 25
th straight win at home.
The Lumberjacks (19-4, 9-1 Big Sky) toted a strong .342 hitting percentage with just six errors, and now own sole possession of the top spot in the Big Sky standings, putting NAU in good position to claim its second straight regular-season title with six matches left. Kaylie Jorgenson added 11 kills and Jensen Barton directed the offense with six kills, 32 assists, 11 digs and three blocks.
NAU hit over .300 in each set, but had to squeak out the first before finding its dominant form in the final two. UM used a 6-2 run late in the first set to pull within three, but Barton combined with Brittni Dorsey on a block and added a slick dump kill to take the set 25-22. NAU hit .375 and rolled in the second set, scoring the final four points to win 25-14. A 6-0 surge in the third set turned a three-point lead to nine with two kills from both Barton and Dorsey, and the ‘Jacks went on to win 25-19.
The Grizzlies (4-16, 1-9) were plagued by .105 hitting with 25 attack errors and just one block. Alexis Urbach paced Montana with 11 kills and libero Sadie Ahearn grabbed a match-high 22 digs.
Montana State 3, Southern Utah 0: Natalie Passeck finished with match highs of 12 kills and 14 digs, Caitlin Lonergan added 10 kills and seven blocks to help Montana State to a road sweep over Southern Utah.
The Bobcats (5-14, 3-7) moved a game within the eighth Big Sky tournament spot after hitting .231 with a 12-9 block advantage. MSU had six players with at least four kills, Savannah Laws picked up seven blocks and Passeck and Katie Rutecki each had a pair of service aces.
MSU pulled away late from a tight opening set, scoring the last five points after the score was tied 20-20 with Kiana Black providing a kill and assisting on two blocks. The Bobcats worked to 8-4, and 16-11 leads and ended on a 4-1 spurt to take the second set 25-19. MSU hit .267 and surged away with a late 8-2 run on the way to the 25-17 decision for the match.
The Thunderbirds (4-18, 2-8) were held to .080 hitting with 29 kills and 21 errors. Chennin Benson paced SUU with 12 kills on a .280 hitting clip while MaCail Evans had six blocks.
North Dakota 3, Weber State 1: Chelsea Moser totaled 15 kills on a .387 hitting clip with eight blocks, Sydney Griffin distributed 51 assists with 10 kills and North Dakota topped Weber State in four sets.
The Fighting Hawks (16-9, 8-2) bounced back from a 3-2 setback to Idaho State Friday night, hitting .269 and out-blocking WSU 14-13. Julia Kaczorowska had 13 kills, Tamara Merseli added eight with 17 digs and Alivia Fraase grabbed a match-high 20 digs.
UND hit .432 to open the match and used a four-point surge to grab a seven-point lead midway through on the way to a 25-20 victory. WSU answered back scoring four of the final five points, the latter two on kills from Megan Thompson to even the match with a 25-21 decision.
In the third set, UND erased an early 4-8 deficit with a 6-0 surge and ended with an 8-1 run capitalized by three block assists from Moser along with Griffin and Kaczorowska to win 25-20. The Fighting Hawks grabbed an 8-3 lead in the fourth set, and fended off WSU the rest of the way to win 25-22.
The Wildcats (13-6, 4-6) hit .241 for the match and were out-blocked for just the third time this season during conference play. Amanda Varley (14 kills), Megan Thompson (13 kills, five blocks) and Andrea Hale (12) each registered double-digit kills for WSU.
Idaho State 3, Northern Colorado 2: Chloe Hirst poured in 28 kills on a .315 hitting percentage with 16 digs and Idaho State knocked off a north division leader in five sets for the second straight night.
The Bengals (12-11, 7-3) improved their winning streak to seven games and held a .201 hitting percentage, capping off an impressive 2-0 week with five-set victories over the top two teams in the north division in North Dakota and UNC. Abby Jensen (16 kills, 12 digs) and Hayley Farrer (46 assists, 17 digs) each notched double-doubles for ISU while Haylie Keck totaled 30 digs on the night.
ISU looked like a strong threat for a sweep, taking the first two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-22. ISU moved out to 13-6 and 20-12 leads in the first and ultimately took the victory. The Bengals built a 17-9 lead in the second, and fought off a late surge from UNC with Jensen’s kill putting ISU up 2-0.
UNC (13-9, 7-3) was in danger of getting swept, but stayed alive using a 4-0 spurt to go up 19-17 and scored three of the last four points after ISU had fought back to tie it at 23-23. UNC rolled to an 11-point lead in the fourth, but had to hold off a furious ISU 11-2 charge that put ISU within one late. UNC got kills from Ashley Guthrie and Kortney Lockey to force a fifth set.
With both teams playing a five-setter for the second time in 24 hours, ISU built a pair of three-point leads only to see UNC claw back and tie it. Two kills from Hirst and an ISU block sparked another 3-0 surge to set up match point for ISU. After a Bengals service error, ISU once again went back to Hirst and she sealed the match with her 28
th kill of the night.
The Bears were held to .155 hitting with 31 attack errors, but did have a 10-7 edge in blocking. Emily O’Neil led UNC with 16 kills, Guthrie distributed 49 assists with seven kills, and was one of three Bears with over 20 digs (Makenna Meier 24, Lockey 22).
Sacramento State 3, Eastern Washington 0: Shannon Boyle had 12 kills with 16 digs, Brie Gathright chipped in six kills and six blocks and Sacramento State capped off a 2-0 week with a sweep of Eastern Washington.
The Hornets (13-11, 7-3) finished with nine blocks and a .217 hitting percentage with just 11 attack errors on 36 kills. Kennedy Kurtz dished 32 assists with two aces and four blocks, Mikaela Nocetti contributed 10 kills and seven digs, and libero Lexie Skalbeck dug a match-high 18 balls.
Sac State got seven kills from Boyle in the opening set and used runs of 6-1 to go up 20-13 and scored five of the final six points to win 25-17. The Hornets bounced out to a 5-0 lead in the second and worked towards a late lead to win 25-20. Sac State put together a 10-3 run to climb from behind and take an 18-15 lead in the third set, and Nocetti had four late kills to end the match with a 5-1 surge.
The Eagles (10-9, 5-5) were held to .132 hitting with 23 attack errors and eight more serving. Ka’iulani Ahuna (10 kills, 11 digs) and Sophie Miller (25 assists, 11 digs) each paced EWU’s offense with double-doubles.
Portland State 3, Idaho 1: Erin Clark guided a balanced attack with 47 assists and nine digs and Portland State defeated Idaho in four sets to polish off a 2-0 weekend.
The Vikings (13-9, 5-5) held a .259 hitting percentage and moved into the sixth spot in the Big Sky tournament picture after other results around the league Saturday. Pati Anae (14 kills, 20 digs), Kylie Copple (13 kills, .462%, eight digs), Caitlin Bettenay (10 kills, 12 digs) and Katy Wilson (10 kills) each provided solid contributions to PSU’s all-around game.
PSU pulled away in the first set, outscoring Idaho 13-5 to take a 25-13 victory. The Vikings hit .343 and took advantage of three kills from Anae along with four Idaho attack errors during an 8-0 surge that put PSU up comfortably before winning 25-18.
Idaho (7-15, 2-8) rebounded hitting over .300 along with some key 5-1, 5-0 and 4-0 runs that gave them the third set, 25-18. PSU reassumed the lead in the fourth after a late 7-1 spurt, and Copple had three kills to spark a 5-1 surge to close the set and the match 25-20.
The Vandals dropped their fifth straight loss and were held to .155 hitting. Sarah Sharp led Idaho with 15 kills and Becca Mau added 11 with 10 digs.