Box Score
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (November 17, 2016) – The Idaho State Bengals have taken on the theme of “Cardiac Cats” in their past two quarterfinal appearances, but no matter, they still got it done. No. 5 ISU rallied from two sets down to outlast No. 4 Northern Colorado and move on to the Big Sky Volleyball semifinals.
The 2016 Big Sky Volleyball Championship, presented by Red Lion Hotels Corporation, got its second five-set thriller of the day in an even more dramatic fashion. Chloe Hirst turned in 20 kills and 21 digs, Abby Jensen chipped in 19 and seven, Marissa Todd added 12 and 11, while Hayley Farrer set the tone with 49 assists, 17 digs and four blocks.
Idaho State finished with a .195 hitting percentage while holding a 10-5 mark in blocking. Haylie Keck tallied 27 digs and Brooke Pehrson grabbed five blocks for an ISU team that rode its starters and libero to the victory.
The match looked to be a barnburner from the beginning, with UNC breaking a 20-all tie scoring five of the last six points to take the opening set. The Bears got three kills from Kim Weissmann along with an ace from Makenna Meier.
UNC kept that run from the previous set going, taking the first five points and pushing the lead to 11-3 after a pair of aces from Taylor Els. The Bears wouldn’t look back in the set, working that cushion along with a .235-.129 hitting advantage in the set to go up 2-0 in the match, 25-15.
ISU was down, but not out. In the same place the Bengals found themselves in last year against Eastern Washington, they once again found their footing. ISU erased a 10-6 deficit with a 4-0 run, then later stretched its lead to three after a kill and block from Jensen along with Taeja Davis. UNC pulled within one twice, but the Bengals ended the set on a 5-2 surge with two kills from Hirst to win 25-21.
In the fourth set, ISU put together a 5-0 spurt to go up 7-3, but UNC would stay in contention. Hirst then had two kills and an ace to spark a 4-1 run and go up 22-19. UNC would fight off one set point to make it 24-23, but Todd sent it to the fifth set with a kill.
As if the match wasn’t already intense, the fifth set decided to one-up the previous four. UNC moved out to a 4-0 lead with Meier putting down her fifth and sixth aces of the match. ISU fought back to push the score to 6-8 and 10-11, but UNC answered with a kill from Weissmann and an ISU error made it 13-10.
Needing a spark, Jensen provided it with a kill, Todd followed suit, then Jensen grabbed another after a UNC set error to set up match point. UNC wound up fending off three match points, but Hirst followed with her 20th kill of the match and Pehrson combined with Farrer for a block to send ISU to the semis.
The Bears saw their season end in heartbreak, hitting .196 with 30 attack errors along with some make-or-break serving with 12 errors and 10 aces. Kortney Lockey led UNC with 19 kills and 20 digs, Weissmann killed 18 balls and Alex Kloehn added 13. Seniors Ashley Guthrie and Meier each had big performances in their final matches, with Guthrie posting 61 assists, eight digs and five kills while Meier tallied 32 digs and a career-high six aces. Meier's ace total ties for No. 2 all-time in a Big Sky tournament match.
ISU entered the tournament having played in the past four Big Sky Championships, and will get a chance to make that five when it faces the winner of the last quarterfinal between No. 1 North Dakota and No. 8 Idaho. The match will be at 7:00 p.m. CT. ISU handed regular-season champion UND one of its two league losses, and fell at Idaho in four sets this year.