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OGDEN, Utah (October 27, 2016) – In a theme of some coveted streaks continuing and others coming to an end, multiple teams earned some statement victories in Thursday night’s Big Sky volleyball action.
Sacramento State made perhaps one of the bigger statements of recent memory in the Big Sky, sweeping league-leading Northern Arizona. Idaho snapped a five-match losing streak while also putting a halt to Idaho State’s league-high seven-match winning streak.
Portland State now holds the longest win streak in the league, sweeping Southern Utah for its fourth straight victory. Eastern Washington earned an important win in the postseason hunt, fighting past Weber State in five sets.
Volleyball action continues Friday with three more matches and another five on Saturday as teams continue to try and lock up one of the seven remaining Big Sky tournament spots.
Eastern Washington 3, Weber State 2: Ka’iulani Ahuna had 19 kills with nine digs, Ashley Seiler added 17 kills with 18 digs and Eastern Washington pushed past Weber State in five sets.
The Eagles (11-9, 6-5 Big Sky) hit .211 with 67 kills and out-blocked WSU 14-10. Ahuna swung at a .326 clip, Jessica Gilbert grabbed 11 kills and Chloe Weber totaled eight blocks with six kills.
It was Weber State (13-7, 4-7) taking the early momentum, ending the opening set on a 3-1 run with Megan Thompson and Amanda Varley providing kills to take the set 25-23. EWU bounced back using a 4-0 spurt to go up in the second set, and scored three of the final four points to win 25-21.
The Wildcats hit .265 and used two separate 5-0 surges to work towards a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-20 decision. EWU stayed alive with runs of 8-2 and 7-2 to pull away for a 25-17 victory in the fourth. The Eagles kept that energy in the decisive fifth set, hitting .353 and working towards strong leads of 11-5 and 13-6 before taking the set 15-9.
WSU hit .201 for the match and but had another rare outing on the season getting out-blocked. Thompson paced the Wildcats with 13 kills and five blocks, while Varley contributed 10 kills.
Portland State 3, Southern Utah 0: Pati Anae finished with 18 kills on a .316 hitting clip with eight digs and four blocks to spark Portland State to a home sweep over Southern Utah.
The Vikings (14-9, 6-5) toted a .263 hitting percentage with 44 kills and seven service aces. Eva Linden was one of five PSU players with five or more kills, Katy Wilson totaled seven blocks and Tasha Bojanic earned a match-high 14 digs.
PSU stormed out to an early 9-1 lead to open the match, and held off a big surge from SUU to win 25-19. An 8-2 surge in the second set put PSU up 14-7, and the Vikings hit .300 in the set to roll to a 25-15 win. PSU work towards a 5-6 point cushion in the third set, and ended on a 5-1 run with an ace from Bojanic and a kill and block from Wilson.
SUU (4-19, 2-9) was limited to .069 hitting, including a negative outing in the opening set and had a disadvantage in blocking 7-9. MaCail Evans totaled five kills and four blocks for the Thunderbirds.
Sacramento State 3, Northern Arizona 0: Mikaela Nocetti, Madeline Cannon and Shannon Boyle each put together 14 kills apiece as Sacramento State made a huge statement handing Northern Arizona its first three-set loss all season.
The Hornets (14-11, 8-3) hit an efficient .302 for the night and totaled 53 kills and 79 digs, extending its Big Sky winning streak at home to 12 games. NAU has lost just three Big Sky matches dating back to last season, and two of those have come to Sac State. Cannon was on fire with a .481 percentage, while Boyle (15 digs) and Nocetti (13 digs) each earned double-doubles. Kennedy Kurtz distributed 46 assists with 14 digs and Lexie Skalbeck added 21 digs.
Sac State used two aces from Skyler Takeda and a pair of kills from Boyle to spark a 7-0 run to take a 14-6 lead, and the Hornets hit .333 on the way to a 25-15 opening-set victory. Sac State pounced on NAU in the second set for an early 9-1 lead and hit .413 to go up 2-0 with a 25-18 decision. Clinging to an 18-17 lead in the third, Boyle and Courtney Dietrich each helped Sac State bring it home with two kills to close on a 7-1 run and take the match 25-19.
NAU (19-5, 9-2) was limited below .200 hitting for just the fifth time all season. The Lumberjacks saw their five-game winning streak snapped, and lost the edge it had on other division contenders in the league as they try to repeat as regular season champions. Sydney Lema led NAU with eight kills and nine digs, Lauren Jacobsen added seven and 15, and Jensen Barton put together six kills with 23 assists and 11 digs.
Idaho 3, Idaho State 1: Sarah Sharp and Kaela Straw combined for 32 kills and Idaho put an end to the longest winning streak in the Big Sky with a 3-1 victory over visiting Idaho State.
The Vandals (8-15, 3-8) hit .255 as a team with a 10-8 blocking advantage. Haylee Mathis chipped in an all-around effort with 30 assists, 12 digs and six kills while Terra Varney had a match-high 22 digs.
Coming in with a seven-match winning streak, ISU (12-12, 7-4) looked keen on extending it hitting .282 and closing the first set on a 9-2 run to win 25-16. Idaho responded hitting .400 in the second set and nabbing four of the final six points to win 25-21.
In a third set filled with back-and-forth runs, the Vandals had the one that mattered most, erasing a late 21-23 deficit as Sharp had three kills to spark a 5-1 spurt ending the set 26-24. Idaho turned on the gas late in the fourth set, ending the match on a 12-4 run to win 25-18.
The Bengals were held to .192 hitting with 26 errors. Abby Jensen, Marissa Todd and Chloe Hirst combined for 41 kills and Hayley Farrer guided the offense with 44 assists, 17 digs and five kills.