FULL STATS
OGDEN, Utah (October 8, 2016) – The race for Big Sky volleyball tournament hosting rights and spots continues to gain steam as three teams moved atop the league standings Saturday and others stayed lurking with 2-0 weekends.
North Dakota, Northern Arizona and Sacramento State each picked up wins to move to 5-1 and sit atop the league standings. UND defeated Portland State, Sac State topped Northern Colorado in a first-place battle and NAU outlasted Idaho in five sets.
Idaho State defeated Montana State and Eastern Washington swept Southern Utah to complete 2-0 weekends along with North Dakota. Weber State beat Montana 3-1 to get back to .500 in conference play.
After the north division stole the show with a 5-1 record Thursday, the south claimed some revenge Saturday toting a 4-2 mark.
Three weeks into Big Sky play, North Dakota leads the north division while NAU and Sac State are tied atop the south. That sets up a key battle between NAU and Sac State next Saturday in Flagstaff.
Idaho State 3, Montana State 1: Marissa Todd had 17 kills, Abby Jensen added 14 and both put together efficient swinging efforts to help Idaho State to a 2-0 week to get back to .500 in Big Sky play.
The Bengals (8-11, 3-3 Big Sky) showed discipline with just seven attack errors on the way to a stellar .427 hitting percentage on the afternoon. Hayley Farrer was strong all around for ISU with 41 assists, three service aces, 13 digs and seven kills on a .500 hit percentage. Chloe Hirst also reached double-digit kills with 11, while Todd hit .536 and Jensen .464, respectively.
Todd had seven of her kills in the opening set, as the Bengals hit .444 and erased a 6-9 deficit with a 13-3 surge and eventually won 25-17. MSU bounced back scoring six of the last nine points to take the second set 25-22 as Alexandra Rader had three kills during that stretch. ISU hit .481 in the third set and .375 in the fourth, jumping out to early 10-point leads in the sets on the way to a pair of 25-16 wins.
Caitlin Lonergan and Natalie Passeck each led the Bobcats (4-11, 2-4) with 16 kills apiece and Allyssa Rizzo had a match-high 17 digs. MSU was limited to .199 hitting with 27 errors.
North Dakota 3, Portland State 1: Tamara Merseli had 16 kills with a career-high 30 digs, Faith Dooley contributed 11 kills with 10 blocks and North Dakota won its fourth straight, improving to 5-1 in Big Sky play with a four-set victory over Portland State.
The Fighting Hawks (13-8, 5-1) hit .190 for the match and had a 15-10 blocking advantage. Sydney Griffin paced UND with 51 assists, nine digs and four kills, Julia Kaczorowksa added 15 kills and Chelsea Moser had 10 kills with five blocks. Alivia Fraase tallied a career-high 33 digs for UND.
UND put together a 7-2 surge with Denae Dominguez providing two of her four service aces to go up 17-12 in the first set and ultimately win 25-19. Holding a narrow 20-19 lead in the second set, the Fighting Hawks got two kills from Kaczorowska and she combined with Moser for a block to score the last five points of the set.
Portland State held off a late UND charge in the third, with a couple kills from Katy Wilson and one from Jenna Mullen giving the Vikings a 25-23 decision. The score was 8-7 UND in the fourth set, but UND outscored PSU 11-4 from there to go up 19-11 after a kill and ace from Griffin and eventually took the match 25-18.
The Vikings (10-8, 2-4) were held to a .124 hitting percentage and dropped their third straight Big Sky match. Wilson led PSU with 11 kills on a .458 hitting percentage, Pati Anae chipped in 10 kills and 15 digs and Tasha Bojanic had a team-high 31 digs.
Weber State 3, Montana 1: Amanda Varley poured in a career-high 26 kills on a .333 hitting percentage to help pace Weber State past Montana in four sets.
The Wildcats (12-3, 3-3) had an 8-3.5 advantage in blocking leading to 28 attack errors from Montana, while also hitting .235 as a team. Megan Thompson had seven kills with six blocks, Taylor Kinikini distributed 41 assists and Thamires Cavalcanti grabbed a match-high 20 digs.
WSU hit .312 and held UM to negative hitting in the opening set, stringing together a 9-2 run to go up 16-10 and go on to win 25-17. Montana responded rolling out to an 18-7 lead while holding WSU to a .000 percentage and winning 25-20.
WSU pushed ahead with an 8-3 surge in the third set, and scored the final five points to win 25-17. The Wildcats erased an early 0-6 deficit, later taking a 20-17 lead after a 7-0 surge before each of their final four points came off kills by Varley.
The Grizzlies (4-12, 1-5) were held to .128 hitting and also had 10 service errors. Missy Huddleston (11), Alexis Urbach (11) and Silerolia Gaogao (10) each notched double-digit kills for UM.
Sacramento State 3, Northern Colorado 1: Madeline Cannon hammered down 16 kills on a .483 hitting percentage with six blocks, Kennedy Kurtz dished 49 assists with 10 digs and Sacramento State topped Northern Colorado in a key divisional-leader matchup.
The Hornets (11-9, 5-1) toted a .232 hitting percentage while out-blocking UNC 13-5. Shannon Boyle added 15 kills, Mikaela Nocetti had 12 with 11 digs and Brie Gathright grabbed eight kills with seven blocks.
Sac State came out strong jumping out to a 6-0 lead, and pushed it to 14-6. UNC pulled within two, making it 20-18, but the Hornets hung on to win 25-21. The Bears (10-8, 4-2) worked towards an 11-4 lead to open the second set after two straight kills from Kortney Lockey and eased to a 25-19 win.
Coming out of the break hot hitting .343 in the third set, Sac State inched away from a contested set and scored six of the final nine points to win 25-21. UNC looked to force a fifth set, going up 21-19 late, but the Hornets reeled of four straight points with two kills from Boyle. A kill from Cannon set up match point, 24-22, and a kill from Nocetti sealed the narrow 25-23 victory.
UNC hit .205 as a team with 27 attack errors. Lockey had 13 kills with 13 digs, Ashley Guthrie totaled 49 assists with eight kills and Kim Weissmann also grabbed 13 kills.
Eastern Washington 3, Southern Utah 0: Ka’iulani Ahuna finished with 15 kills, 11 digs and a .406 hitting percentage in helping Eastern Washington complete a 2-0 weekend with a sweep of Southern Utah.
The Eagles (10-8, 4-2) had an efficient hitting percentage of .287 with 49 kills and a 6-3 advantage blocking. Ashley Seiler (10 kills, 12 digs) and Sophie Miller (20 assists, 12 digs) also notched double-doubles while Taylor Larsen killed nine balls on a .444 hitting clip.
EWU held SUU to negative hitting to open the match, breaking a 10-10 tie with a 7-2 spurt and working towards a 25-20 win. The Eagles hit .364 in the second set and .444 in the third, moving out to a 21-13 lead in the second and using a late 5-0 spurt in the third to complete the sweep.
The Thunderbirds (2-16, 0-6) were limited to .075 hitting with 22 errors. Chennin Benson led SUU with 11 kills and Alexis Averett distributed 27 assists with 13 digs.
Northern Arizona 3, Idaho 2: Lauren Jacobsen totaled 17 kills with 19 digs, Jensen Barton added eight kills, 50 assists and 15 digs and Northern Arizona held off Idaho in five sets.
The Lumberjacks (15-4, 5-1) bounced back from its first league loss in over a year Thursday, hitting .241 and earning their first win in Moscow since 1992. Kaylie Jorgensen (12), Abby Akin (11) and Addy Lofstedt (11) each put together double-digit kills for NAU.
The Vandals (7-11, 2-4) grabbed the early momentum, closing the first set on an 8-2 run to win 25-20. NAU rebounded turning the tides on UI in the second set, with aces from Barton and Jacobsen helping close the set with a 6-2 spurt to win 25-21. The Lumberjacks followed by hitting .444 and rolling out to a 16-7 lead before winning 25-18.
Idaho hit .316 in the fourth set, frequently putting together key runs to take the set 25-17 and move on to its second five-setter in as many matches. With the match tied 5-5, NAU reeled of six straight points ignited from a pair of kills from Jorgensen and an ace from Jordan Anderson. The Vandals trailed 14-8 and fended off three straight match points, but a kill from Brittni Dorsey sealed the victory for NAU 15-11.
Sarah Sharp led UI with 12 kills while Kaylee Mathis, Kaela Straw and Becca Mau each added 11 kills and Terra Varney had a match-high 34 digs. Idaho outhit and out-blocked NAU, but couldn’t outlast the Lumberjacks.