UPDATED STATS
OGDEN, Utah (September 24, 2016) – With one week of Big Sky volleyball play in and seven to go, three teams grabbed an early edge in the league and division races on Saturday.
Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona and Sacramento State each began conference action perfect with 2-0 records on the road. EWU now sits atop the north division while NAU and Sac State share the lead in the south division.
Sac State had one of two five-set thrillers on the day, with the Hornets and Montana each taking down teams from Idaho. Montana held off a rally from Idaho in five sets, earning its first win over the Vandals in over 16 years. Sac State held off a pair of match points and outlasted Idaho State in five.
Northern Colorado also made a strong statement Saturday, rallying to take the opening set and then eventually sweeping North Dakota, a team that was picked just one spot below them in the coaches’ preseason poll. Weber State became the second Big Sky team to 10 wins this season, shaking off its first loss from Friday night with a four-set victory over Portland State.
The conference play race resumes Thursday the 29
th.
Northern Colorado 3, North Dakota 0: Kortney Lockey had 11 kills with 17 digs, Ashley Guthrie dished 41 assists along with seven digs, four blocks and four kills and Northern Colorado grabbed its first Big Sky win with a solid sweep over visiting North Dakota.
The Bears (7-7, 1-1 BSC) hit .325 as a team, with six players hitting .333 or better, and had a strong advantage in blocks (10-5) and kills (50-37). Timarie Nymeyer (10 kills), Emily O’Neill (eight kills, five blocks), Kim Weissmann (eight kills) and Alex Kloehn (seven kills, three blocks, .500 hit percentage) each contributed to a balanced passing game from Guthrie.
UND (9-8, 1-1) was in control for most of the first set, pushing out to leads of 8-3, 16-9 and 22-17. UNC rallied from there, closing the set on a 9-2 run while fighting off a set point in the process. The Bears had five kills and a pair of blocks during the late surge to win 26-24. UNC kept that momentum in the second set, hitting .412 to UND’s .088 and building an eventual nine-point lead on the way to a 25-18 result. UNC hit .317 in the final frame, using an 8-1 run to create distance and eventually finish off the sweep 25-18.
The Fighting Hawks were held to .131 hitting with 21 attack errors to UNC’s 11. Chelsea Moser led UND with 11 kills, Tamara Merseli added eight with six digs and Alivia Fraase had a match-high 19 digs.
Northern Arizona 3, Southern Utah 0: Jensen Barton had 34 assists, seven kills and seven blocks, pacing a balanced Northern Arizona attack to a 3-0 sweep at Southern Utah.
NAU (12-3, 2-0) hit .344 or better in all three sets, totaling .368 for the match with 14 kills in the first two sets and 15 for the final frame and just eight attack errors overall. Lauren Jacobsen (10 kills, 14 digs) and Sydney Lema (nine kills, 11 digs) were two of five Lumberjacks with seven or more kills. Brittni Dorsey also chipped in eight blocks and a pair of service aces.
With the score at 13-11 in the first set, the Lumberjacks put together a quick 4-0 spurt and ended on a 7-2 run to win 25-18. SUU (2-12, 0-2) pushed to an 8-5 advantage in the second, but NAU answered with a 12-2 stretch as Lema had two service aces and a pair of kills. The Lumberjacks would go on to win the set 25-15. NAU kept it rolling in the third set, rolling out to a 7-0 lead and hitting .387 to win the final frame 25-14 in a match that took just one hour and 20 minutes.
The Thunderbirds were held to .115 hitting and were out-blocked 13-4. SUU’s Chennin Benson (12 kills) and Sariah Pelaez-Harris (17 digs) each recorded match highs on the afternoon.
Montana 3, Idaho 2: Alexis Urbach finished with 19 kills, Cassie Laramee added nine with eight digs and three service aces, and Montana fought off an Idaho rally to win 3-2 in Missoula.
The Grizzlies (4-8, 1-1) used a 13-8 blocking advantage and a pair of strong hitting sets to gain the edge for their first win over the Vandals since 1999. Silerolia Gaogao had nine kills with six blocks, Raegan Lindsey and Ashley Watkins combined for 51 assists and Sadie Ahearn grabbed a match-high 20 digs.
Montana came out on fire, hitting .609 in the opening frame and closing the set on a 9-1 run to win 25-13. In an extended second set, Montana prevented Idaho from clinching a pair of set points and earned a 30-28 decision on an ace from Laramee.
Idaho stormed back after the break, hitting .524 in the third set and throttling towards an early 14-2 lead on the way to a 25-12 victory. A 6-1 surge gave the Vandals a cushion in the fourth set, forcing a fifth set with a 25-19 win. With the decisive set tied 6-6, Montana would only allow one more point from Idaho the rest of the way, closing on a 9-1 spurt fueled by five kills from Urbach.
The Vandals outhit Montana .214 to to .188, but had 11 service errors and another 23 attacking. Becca Mau led Idaho with 17 kills, while Sarah Sharp (11) and Torrin Crawford (10) also reached double digits and Megan Ramseyer distributed 43 assists with eight digs.
Weber State 3, Portland State 1: Andrea Hale totaled 17 kills, Megan Thompson chipped in 15 and both had six blocks apiece as Weber State bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 3-1 win over visiting Portland State.
The Wildcats (10-1, 1-1 BSC) hit .241 as a team while out-blocking PSU 14-6 and landing 10 service aces, grabbing their 10
th win of the season after losing for the first time Friday against Sacramento State. Rylin Roberts finished with nine kills and 14 digs, Bailey Irwin had 47 assists and Aubrey Sanders grabbed seven blocks with four kills.
Portland State (9-5, 1-1), looked to carry momentum from a 3-1 win at Idaho State Friday night, hitting .310 in the opening set and closing the first set on a 4-1 run after WSU tied it at 21-21. Pati Anae had a pair of kills during the late surge for PSU. WSU responded hitting .238 in the second and scoring the last five points of the set, the latter two blocks by Saunders and Hale, to win 25-18.
A pair of kills from Roberts in the third set ignited a 5-0 spurt for the Wildcats, as they hit .286 and held off a late PSU threat to win 25-21. Tanisha Langston had four of her five service aces during another key run for WSU, giving a comfortable cushion on the way to a 25-18 win for the match.
Anae and Jenna Mullen each had 14 kills while Anae also brought in 17 digs and three blocks for PSU. Erin Clark paced the Vikings with 46 assists and 11 digs while Katy Wilson and Sarah Brennan also reached double-digit kills. PSU hit .179 for the match with 26 attack errors.
Eastern Washington 3, Montana State 1: Jessica Gilbert and Ka’iulani Ahuna combined for 32 kills and 13 digs as Eastern Washington improved to 2-0 in league play with a 3-1 victory at Montana State.
The Eagles (7-4, 2-0 BSC) hit .271 as a team and had 61 kills to MSU’s 41. Sophie Miller distributed 53 assists, Gilbert hit .400 and Katie Mahoney (11) and Kimberly Brinkworth (10) also reach double-figures in kills.
EWU came out strong hitting .386 and .452 in the opening two sets for a pair of 25-17 victories. Eastern rolled out to a 15-7 lead in the first on a kill from Ahuna, and Mahoney finished off the last four points. The Eagles jumped to a 6-0 lead in the second and later extended the lead to 19-11 after consecutive service aces from Ashlee Vaoifi.
The Bobcats (2-9, 0-2) weren’t having a sweep, toting a .348 hitting percentage and putting EWU in the negatives in the third set, rolling to a 25-11 win to keep the match alive. With an MSU block making it 20-18 in the fourth set, Ahuna started and finished a 5-0 run to polish off the victory 25-18.
Eli Svisco led MSU with 10 kills and Natalie Passeck had nine for the Bobcats. MSU hit .238 and had a 10-2 blocking advantage, but couldn’t completely contain EWU’s aggressive attacking.
Sacramento State 3, Idaho State 2: Shannon Boyle (19 kills, 13 digs) and Kennedy Kurtz (52 assists, 14 digs) each recorded double-doubles as Sacramento State outlasted Idaho State to move to 2-0 in the Big Sky.
The Hornets (8-8, 2-0 BSC) hit .256 overall and rallied from a 2-1 set deficit to win a thriller in Pocatello. Madeline Cannon hit .351 with 17 kills, Mikaeal Nocetti pitched in 11 kills and libero Lexie Skalbeck was an assist from a double-double with 23 digs.
Sac State squeaked out a close win in the opening set, scoring the last three points off a block from Courtney Dietrich and Boyle and two kills from Cannon after ISU had tied the set 22-22. The Bengals (5-10, 0-2) responded hitting .333 in the second set, using a 6-0 surge to build a 11-5 lead and ending the set on a 6-1 run with two aces from Chloe Hirst to win 25-15.
ISU worked towards a 21-16 lead and held off a late charge from Sac State, scoring four of the next six points to win 25-22. The Hornets rebounded emphatically, hitting .393 and jumping out to an 8-0 advantage in the fourth set on the way to a 25-12 win to force a fifth set.
ISU erased a 9-6 deficit and led 12-11 before two kills from Boyle made it 13-12 Sac State. The Bengals set up match point twice, but kills from Boyle and Cannon kept the match alive. Cannon grabbed a second straight kill and Nocetti finished off the five-set thriller 17-15.
Hirst led the Bengals with 23 kills and 11 digs, while Abby Jensen (17 kills, 12 digs) and Hayley Farrer (53 assists, 15 digs) also recorded double-doubles. ISU hit .186 with 29 attack errors on the night.