FULL STATS (Link)
OGDEN, Utah (October 29, 2016) – A week’s time has sure changed things in Big Sky Volleyball. Three more teams secured league tournament bids Saturday, putting five teams in the field with just three more spots remaining.
Each of the five wins Saturday carried some magnitude, with Idaho State, Northern Colorado and Sacramento State each picking up tournament bids via sweeps.
League leaders North Dakota and Northern Arizona also moved to 10-2, with the Fighting Hawks sweeping Montana State and NAU outlasting Portland State in five sets.
With two weeks left in the regular season, those five teams already in will now look to jock for position seeding wise while also gunning for the regular season title and hosting rights.
Sacramento State 3, Southern Utah 0: Madeline Cannon had 15 kills, Shannon Boyle added 12 with 10 digs and both hit over .300 as Sacramento State wrapped up a tournament bid with a sweep of Southern Utah.
The Hornets (15-11, 9-3 Big Sky) have shown dominance at home as of late with 13 straight Big Sky wins and with four consecutive sweeps to get to nine wins. Sac State hit .274 as a team with 45 kills and 59 digs. Kennedy Kurtz directed the offense with 38 assists and eight digs while Lexie Skalbeck had her second straight 21-dig outing both coming in three sets.
Sac State used an 8-0 run to move out to a 17-5 lead in the opening set and rolled to a 25-12 decision. A 7-1 surge in the second set put the Hornets up by seven and they stretched the lead to nine late before winning 25-17. Sac State erased an early 4-1 deficit in the third with an 8-2 spurt, and stretched its lead to six on the way to a 25-20 victory.
Southern Utah (4-20, 2-10) was held to .134 hitting, but had an 8-5 blocking advantage. Chennin Benson paced the Thunderbirds with a double-double, notching 12 kills, 10 digs and four blocks.
North Dakota 3, Montana State 0: Chelsea Moser finished with 11 kills on a .409 hitting clip along with four service aces and three blocks as North Dakota became the first Big Sky team to 10 league wins with a sweep of Montana State.
The Fighting Hawks (19-9, 10-2) held a .210 hitting percentage along with eight service aces and no errors. Ashley Brueggeman chipped in 10 kills, Tamara Merseli had nine with 11 digs and Sydney Griffin dished 35 assists.
UND moved out to an early 19-10 lead, but had to stave off a furious MSU rally that tied back up the score at 22 late. UND hung on to win the set with the final three points after a MSU attack error, a kill from Griffin and an ace from Alivia Fraase. Two kills from Brueggeman along with four MSU attack errors ignited a 6-0 surge that put UND up 15-9 before taking the set 25-18. Faith Dooley had three kills to help push UND to a 9-4 lead and MSU could only pull within four the rest of the way, with the Fighting Hawks winning 25-17.
The Bobcats (5-16, 3-9) out-blocked UND 9-5, but hit just .137 with 34 kills to 18 errors. Kiana Black paced MSU with 10 kills on just 16 swings along with seven blocks.
Idaho State 3, Weber State 0: Brooke Pehrson had 13 kills on 16 swings, Hayley Farrer handed out 42 assists with seven digs, five kills and three blocks to help Idaho State clinch a spot in the league tournament sweeping travel partner Weber State for the second time this season.
The Bengals (13-12, 8-4) bounced back from the first loss in October Thursday, hitting a stout .330 with 51 kills. Pehrson’s .812 hitting percentage is the best single-match performance in the league this season. Abby Jensen (12 kills, six digs), Marissa Todd (11 kills, .529%) and Chloe Hirst (nine kills) each made solid contributions offensively while Haylie Keck dug a match-high 14 balls.
ISU hit over .400 in the opening two sets, jumping out to a 10-1 lead towards a 25-16 win in the first and closing the second on a 5-1 run with a pair of kills from both Farrer and Pehrson to win 25-19. The Bengals appeared ready to coast to the sweep jumping to a 19-10 lead in the third set, but WSU stormed back with a 14-2 surge to set up set point 24-21. ISU fended off three set points before a service error set up another for the Wildcats. Farrer’s kill kept the set alive, and Todd hammered down two straight kills to take the match 27-25.
The Wildcats (13-8, 4-8) have lost five straight and now sit tied with Idaho for the eighth position in the tournament picture, holding the tiebreaker in that matchup. Megan Thompson led WSU with 10 kills, a .471 hitting clip and four blocks.
Northern Colorado 3, Montana 0: Northern Colorado had a strong balanced effort with Emily O’Neil totaling 10 kills and Kortney Lockey, Timarie Nymeyer and Alex Kloehn chipping in nine apiece to get the Bears back into the Big Sky tournament with a sweep of Montana.
UNC (15-9, 9-3) had an 8-3 blocking advantage with a .205 hitting percentage. Ashley Guthrie guided the offensive balance with 37 assists while Lockey was one of three players with double-digit digs.
The Bears erased an early five-point deficit in the opening set, using a 6-1 run to take the lead late and scoring four of the last five points to win 25-23. UNC hit .310 in the second set, built an early 8-2 lead and closed on a 5-1 fueled by two of O’Neil’s kills and won 25-18. Nymeyer and O’Neil each had a pair of kills to fuel a 5-1 spurt that put UNC up 12-8 in the third, and the Bears traded points from there winning 25-21.
Montana (4-18, 1-11) was limited to .081 hitting with 24 errors to 34 kills. Missy Huddleston had 11 kills and eight digs for UM, while Raegan Lindsey and Ashley Watkins each notched double-doubles combining for 27 assists and 20 digs.
Northern Arizona 3, Portland State 2: Lauren Jacobsen totaled 21 kills and 20 digs, Jensen Barton turned in 55 assists, 20 digs, five kills and seven blocks and Northern Arizona rallied from a 2-1 deficit to top Portland State in five sets.
The Lumberjacks (20-5, 10-2) remained atop the league standings with four matches remaining after hitting .194 with 20 blocks and shaking off 14 service errors. Kaylie Jorgensen added 15 kills, Brittni Dorsey added 11 blocks with five service aces and Abby Akin tallied nine kills and seven blocks.
PSU (14-10, 6-6) took the early lead with a strong finish in the opening set, scoring the final six points to win 25-20. NAU evened the score after a back-and-forth second set where the score was tied 23-23 before a pair of PSU attack errors gave NAU the set. In a marathon third set, NAU fought off seven different set points before PSU got kills from Erin Clark and Eva Linden to prevail 30-28.
NAU hit .364 and got two aces from Dorsey and three kills from Jacobsen for a 5-0 spurt that built an 18-12 cushion, leading the ‘Jacks to a 25-21 decision and forcing a fifth set. A late 6-2 run with two kills from Jorgensen set up match point at 14-9 for NAU, and PSU could only fight off two points before the Lumberjacks took the match 15-11.
The Vikings hit .138 for the match with 34 attack errors and sits tied with Eastern Washington for the No. 6 spot in the tournament picture. Tasha Bojanic had a career-high 35 digs for PSU, while Pati Anae (19 kills, 18 digs), Caitlin Bettenay (10 kills, 14 digs) and Clark (40 assists, 14 digs) each had double-doubles. Katy Wilson flirted with a triple-double with eight kills, nine digs and eight blocks for PSU.