FULL STATS (Link)
OGDEN, Utah (November 10, 2016) – In a night of Big Sky Volleyball where scoreboard watching may have been abundant, the first two teams to finish set up the biggest match of the year, but the rest of the teams still carried magnitude in victory.
North Dakota prevailed in one of the hugest matches of the year, and is ironically rewarded with the new biggest match of the year. The Fighting Hawks earned a convincing sweep of Northern Arizona, handing the Lumberjacks their first home loss in 26 matches and giving UND at least a share of the regular season title.
Northern Colorado swept Southern Utah, setting up a showdown with UND in Grand Forks Saturday for a share of the regular season title and hosting rights for next week’s Big Sky tournament. UND will fight to stay home, while UNC can own the bragging rights of handing the Fighting Hawks two of their three league losses this season and claiming the No. 1 seed.
Entering the night with a chance at hosting rights along with NAU, Sac State saw those chances dwindle with the NAU loss, but still clinched the No. 2 seed and at least a share of the south division title after topping Idaho State in four sets. The Bengals will be the No. 5 seed in the tournament.
Portland State swept Weber State to secure the No. 6 seed, and Eastern Washington claimed one of the final two spots in the tournament with a win over Montana State. The Eagles also clinched the No. 7 seed, and will face Sac State in the quarterfinals in a week.
Weber State and Idaho are in the running for the final spot in the tourney, with the Vandals idle today getting set to take on Montana Friday. WSU travels to Sac State Saturday and Idaho hosts MSU.
With half of the seeds to be decided, and the site of the Big Sky tournament coming down to one match, Saturday will provide a strong exclamation to the regular season and preview for next week’s tourney.
Northern Colorado 3, Southern Utah 0: Kim Weissmann had 10 kills, Kortney Lockey added nine with 16 digs and Northern Colorado swept Southern Utah to earn a shot at the regular season title and tournament hosting rights.
The Bears (18-9, 12-3 Big Sky) hit a robust .356 for the match with just seven attack errors along with an 8-2 block advantage. Timarie Nymeyer totaled eight kills on 12 swings, Alex Kloehn grabbed seven blocks and Ashley Guthrie tallied 30 assists with two aces and three blocks.
UNC hit .440 to open the match and used a 10-2 run to stretch its lead to 15-8 on the way to a 25-15 victory. A 4-0 spurt in the second set gave UNC a cushion that it rode to a 25-21 decision. The Bears erased a 0-5 deficit in the third set and put together an 8-1 surge while hitting .414 to win the match 25-18.
The Thunderbirds (4-23, 2-13) were held to .126 hitting with a 31-19 kill to error ratio. Chennin Benson earned a match-high 15 kills and Alexis Averett had 22 assists with nine digs.
North Dakota 3, Northern Arizona 0: Faith Dooley muscled down 14 kills on just 20 swings and helped North Dakota grab at least a share of the regular season title and set up a match for tournament hosting rights, handing Northern Arizona its first home loss in two years.
The Fighting Hawks (22-9, 13-2) can claim the Big Sky title outright with a home win over Northern Colorado Saturday, and would also host the league tournament in that situation. UND hit .216 as Tamara Merseli contributed 11 kills and 16 digs, Chelsea Moser also added 11 kills and Alivia Fraase tied for a match high with 18 digs.
With both teams needing wins to stay in the tourney host hunt, it was UND jumping on the home team early as Dooley had seven kills on nine swings in the opening set. Dooley had a 3-0 run by herself to put UND up 19-13 in the first set, and the Hawks scored four of the last five points to win 25-18. UND pushed out to a nine-point lead after an 8-1 run, and hung on for a 25-22 second-set victory after NAU fended off five set points. Moser capped a 5-1 run with two kills to go up 19-15 in the third set, and UND mustered the final two points after NAU had closed within 22-23, with a kill from Dooley and Sydney Griffin clinching the sweep 25-22.
NAU (21-7, 11-4) saw its 25-match home winning streak snapped, was swept for just the second time this season and has its first losing streak of more than one game this year. Lauren Jacobsen led the Lumberjacks with 11 kills and 18 digs and Jensen Barton also grabbed a double-double with 27 assists and 12 digs.
Eastern Washington 3, Montana State 1: Ashley Seiler and Kai’iulani Ahuna each recorded 14 kills and eight digs apiece and Eastern Washington clinched a Big Sky tournament bid while ending Montana State’s postseason hopes.
The Eagles (12-12, 7-8) hit .228 with a 9-5 blocking effort. Sophie Miller guided the offense with five service aces, 35 assists and seven digs, while Chloe Weber finished with nine kills.
Miller had three of her service aces out of the gates as EWU rolled to an early 10-point lead, fended off a late MSU charge and won 25-18. MSU pieced together a couple different small runs to work towards a 25-21 second-set victory. EWU hit .341 after the break, building an early cushion and riding that to a 25-22 win after MSU fought off three set points. Two kills from Weber helped EWU put together an 8-3 run to set up match point, 25-22.
MSU (5-19, 3-12) was held to .156 hitting with 26 errors and has lost five straight. Natalie Passeck (11 kills, 10 digs) and Kiana Black (10 kills) headed a balanced Bobcat attack while Allyssa Rizzo had a match-high 23 digs.
Portland State 3, Weber State 0: Pati Anae (17 kills, 11 digs), Eva Linden (11 kills, 12 digs) and Erin Clark (42 assists, 10 digs, five kills) each notched double-doubles to help Portland State wrap up the No. 6 seed for the Big Sky tournament with a sweep of Weber State.
The Vikings (16-11, 8-7) hit .261 hammering down 61 kills. Caitlin Bettenay nearly earned a double-double as well with 15 kills and nine digs and Tasha Bojanic led the team with 15 digs as PSU used just eight players on the night.
In a marathon opening set, both teams traded off set points before PSU took the last two points 30-28 after a WSU attack error and a block from Bettenay. A 5-1 surge set up set point for PSU in the second after kills from Bettenay and Linden, and Bettenay got another to win 25-23 after WSU fought off three straight set points. PSU hit .341 in the final frame, pushing to a 14-7 lead and ultimately winning 25-16.
Weber State (14-11, 5-10) had a huge block advantage at 14-5, but couldn’t limit PSU’s stingy attack enough. The Wildcats are currently in the hunt for the final tournament spot with Idaho, owning a tiebreaker over the 4-10 Vandals, who play Montana Friday. Megan Thompson had eight kills and eight blocks to pace WSU.
Sacramento State 3, Idaho State 1: Shannon Boyle tallied 14 kills and 15 digs, Courtney Dietrich killed 11 balls on a .500 hitting clip and Sacramento State secured the No. 2 seed with a four-set win over Idaho State.
The Hornets (18-11, 12-3) lost their chances of hosting the tournament when NAU lost to UND, but still made out good clinching at least a share of the south division title and the No. 2 seed having a tiebreaker over the Lumberjacks. Mikaela Nocetti (13 kills, 11 digs) and Kennedy Kurtz (43 assists, 11 digs) each had double-doubles, Madeline Cannon chipped in 11 kills and Lexie Skalbeck totaled 30 digs.
Sac State rallied to open the match, erasing a 19-22 deficit with a 6-1 run to win the set 25-23 as Dietrich had a hand in two blocks and a kill. Another late surge sparked the Hornets in set two, breaking a late 19-all tie scoring six of the last eight points to win 25-21.
ISU put together multiple surges to take the third set 25-19, but it was Sac State using the same closing formula in a tight set, taking the final three points as Boyle had a kill and a block and an ace from Kurtz sealed the 25-21 win.
The Bengals (15-13, 10-5) had a chance at making some noise in the seeding this week, but will now settle for the No. 5 seed in the tournament. Chloe Hirst (25 kills, 18 digs), Abby Jensen (16 kills, 12 digs) and Hayley Farrer (51 assists, 16 digs) each had strong double-double outings while Haylie Keck had her third 33+ dig outing of the season.
Idaho 3, Montana 0 (Friday): Kaela Straw totaled 12 kills, Torrin Crawford added nine on 16 swings and Idaho kept its tournament hopes alive with a sweep of Montana.
The Vandals (10-17, 5-10) hit .336 for the match. Sarah Sharp and Becca Mau added nine kills a piece while Haylee Mathis flirted with a triple-double recording eight kills, 25 assists and eight digs.
The Vandals broke a late 20-all tie in the opening set, closing on a 5-1 run as Sharp had two kills during the close. Idaho hit .457 in the second set, jumping to leads of 10-5, 17-9 and ultimately 25-19 for the 2-0 lead. Idaho put together a 5-0 spurt in the third set and rode that cushion to a 25-18 win for the sweep.
UM (5-20, 2-13) hit .216 for the match with 14 attack errors. Alexis Urbach led the Grizzlies with 12 kills and Mykaela Hammer added eight.