FULL STATS
OGDEN, Utah (September 29, 2016) – The battle for position in the Big Sky volleyball division races is already picking up steam, as multiple teams picked up key wins Thursday night to gain ground.
Northern Colorado handed Eastern Washington its first league loss, and North Dakota topped Idaho to move into a three-way tie with EWU for the top spot in the north division.
Northern Arizona beat Idaho State 3-1, and Sacramento State swept Montana, pushing the south division-leading teams to 3-0 marks. Portland State and Weber State also grabbed key victories.
Big Sky volleyball league play resumes Friday with EWU hosting UND with a 3-1 record on the line, and five more matches are scheduled for Saturday.
Northern Colorado 3, Eastern Washington 1: Kortney Lockey finished with 14 kills and 15 digs along with a .361 hitting percentage as Northern Colorado handed Eastern Washington its first league loss and spoiled its home opener 3-1.
The Bears (8-7, 2-1 Big Sky) hit .232 for the match and moved into a tie for the lead in the north division. Kim Weissmann added 12 kills, Makenna Meier grabbed a match-high 21 digs and Ashley Guthrie paced the offense with 36 assists.
UNC put together a 9-2 run to go up 13-6 in the opening set after three straight kills from Weissmann. EWU (7-5, 2-1) reeled off five straight points, but couldn’t pull closer than two the rest of the way as the Bears went on to win 25-21. A 5-0 spurt in the middle of the second set gave UNC a 19-13 lead and it scored four of the last five points with a kill from Natalya King deciding the set 25-18.
The Eagles rebounded hitting .314 in the third set with 17 kills building a 21-14 cushion to keep the match alive 25-18. The Bears answered right back hitting .333 and pulling away with a 9-2 run to lead 20-11 on the way to a 25-16 win for the match.
Ka’iulani Ahuna led EWU with 14 kills and 10 digs and Sophie Miller also had a double-double with 23 assists and 11 digs. The Eagles were held to a .147 hitting percentage with 24 attack errors and 13 more serving.
Portland State 3, Montana State 0: Pati Anae had 12 kills on a .524 hitting percentage, Erin Clark dished 37 assists and Portland State rolled to a 3-0 sweep at home against Montana State.
The Vikings hit an extremely efficient .432 for the match with 42 kills and just 10 attack errors. Sarah Brennan (nine kills, .467%), Jenna Mullen (seven kills), Katy Wilson (seven kills, .667%) and Mikaelyn Sych (six kills, seven blocks, .857%) each made solid contributions to PSU’s dominating offensive effort.
PSU hit .375 in the opening set, jumping to a 10-3 lead and closing on a 7-2 surge to win 25-15. A .609 effort by the Vikings helped to another strong finish in the second set, closing 9-2 and once again winning 25-15. MSU (2-10, 0-3) kept the final frame more contested taking a 20-19 lead late, but Anae started and finished a surge as PSU scored the final six points to win the match.
Natalie Passeck and Eli Svisco combined for 14 kills and Passeck had four service aces while both hit over .300. The Bobcats were limited to .120 hitting overall and were out-blocked 10-3.
Weber State 3, Southern Utah 2: Megan Thompson showed up big on both sides with 11 kills and 10 blocks and Andrea Hale added 14 and six as Weber State held off Southern Utah in five sets.
The Wildcats (11-1, 2-1) hit .178 and totaled 18 blocks to SUU’s 10. Rylin Roberts (12) and Amanda Varley (11) also reached double-digit kills thanks to a spread-out passing game from Bailey Irwin with 52 assists, eight digs and three service aces.
WSU held off five different set points to start, extending the first set and outlasting SUU 28-26. The Wildcats hit .375 and rolled to an early 10-point lead on the way to a 25-13 victory in the second.
The Thunderbirds (2-13, 0-3) used a 5-1 run to set up set point in the third then withstood a late WSU charge that tied the set at 24, scoring the next two points on a kill from Chennin Benson and a Rylee Rogers ace to keep the match alive 26-24. SUU hit .325 in the fourth frame and scored eight of the last 10 points to prevail 25-21 and force a fifth.
WSU turned up the heat defensively with five blocks in the deciding set, holding SUU to a negative percentage with nine attack errors to nudge away late and win 15-10.
SUU was led by Benson with 17 kills, Ann Clappier contributed 12 with seven blocks and Sarah Vang had 11 kills with 14 digs. The T-Birds had 35 attack errors, leading to a .121 overall hitting clip.
Sacramento State 3, Montana 0: Shannon Boyle had 11 kills, Mikaela Nocetti chipped in 10 and Sacramento State moved to 3-0 in league action with a home win over Montana.
The Hornets (9-8, 3-0) improved its hitting percentage in each set on the way to a .223 clip for the match. Kennedy Kurtz distributed 31 assists with nine digs and Madeline Cannon hit an efficient .471 with nine kills and just one error.
Trailing 13-12 in the first set, Sac State finished on a 13-4 run to pull away 25-17. In the second set, Brie Gathright had two kills during a 9-3 surge that made it 21-13 and a kill from Kurtz later gave the Hornets the set 25-16. Sac State hit .270 in a tight last set, and got a kill from Moran Stanley and two from Cannon to net the last three points and take the match with a 25-22 decision.
The Grizzlies (4-9, 1-2) were held to .061 hitting with 21 errors on the night. Alexis Urbach (eight kills) and Cassie Laramee (seven kills, 10 digs) paced Montana.
North Dakota 3, Idaho 1: Chelsea Moser totaled 12 kills, Faith Dooley contributed 11 with nine blocks and North Dakota topped Idaho in four sets.
The Fighting Hawks (10-8, 2-1) improved to 5-1 all-time against the Vandals, avenging their only loss to Idaho last season in the Big Sky tournament. UND hit .257 overall and had a 12-7 blocking advantage. Sydney Griffin guided the offense with 45 assists, Tamara Merseli grabbed nine kills and 10 digs and Alivia Fraase led the match with 30 digs.
UND inched away late in a tight first set, scoring the final three points with the latter two coming from a block from Julia Kaczorowska and Chelsea Moser as well as a kill from Kaczorowska to win 25-22. A 10-2 run gave UND a cushion in the second set and it closed on a 5-1 spurt to win 25-18 and go up 2-0.
Idaho (6-9, 1-2) moved to an 8-4 lead in the third set and got another surge in the middle of the set to keep the match alive, 25-19. The Fighting Hawks hit .333 in the last frame and eased out to 10-3 and 19-9 leads before taking the match with a 25-18 decision.
The Vandals were held to .175 hitting with 26 attack errors and 12 more serving. Becca Mau led Idaho with 17 kills and 11 digs, Sarah Sharp added 15 kills and Terra Varney had a team-high 20 digs.
Northern Arizona 3, Idaho State 1: Lauren Jacobsen led Northern Arizona with 20 kills, Jensen Barton had 45 assists with five kills and the two combined for 17 digs in a 3-1 win over Idaho State.
The Lumberjacks (13-3, 3-0) moved to 3-0 in league play hitting .246 in a rematch of last season’s championship match. Sydney Lema recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs, Abby Akin added seven kills with five blocks and Jordan Anderson grabbed 21 digs.
NAU hit .261 to open the match, put together a small cushion and held off a late ISU spurt to win 25-22. The Bengals (5-11, 0-3) broke from a 16-16 tie with a 7-2 run sparked by two kills from Nicole Lee to eventually even the match 1-1 with a 25-22 decision.
The Lumberjacks moved out to a 7-1 lead in the third set, then held off a late ISU rally that made it a 22-21 score before two ISU service errors and a Jacobsen kill gave NAU a 25-22 victory. NAU hit .290 in the fourth set, using a 6-0 run with a solo block and block assist from Dorsey to go up 22-13 and ultimately take the match 25-17.
Chloe Hirst paced ISU with 14 kills and 11 digs, Hayley Farrer had 43 assists and 11 digs, and Nicole Lee and Abby Jensen combined for 22 kills. ISU was held to .183 hitting with 26 errors.