Sept. 12, 2003
Stats
Spokane, WA--Jennie James had 12 blocks, helping the Idaho State Bengals to their ninth highest single-match block total in school history as the Bengals overcame a slow start to defeat the Boise State Broncos, 20-30, 33-31, 30-26, 30-22, in women's volleyball action Friday night at the Martin Centre in the first round of the Gonzaga Volleyball Tournament.
James, a senior from Sandpoint, ID, posted career highs for total blocks (12) and block assists (10). Her total of 12 blocks tied for the 10th highest single-match total in ISU history. As a team the Bengals had 32 block assists, tying for the sixth highest single-match total in school history and 20 total blocks, the 10th most in Bengal history.
Early on the Bengals struggled as the Broncos won game one 30-20. ISU struggled in game two, but finally got their act together late, winning 33-31. The insertion of Lindsay Phillips late in game three seemed to help as she had four kills and three blocks in the final two games. ISU won game three 30-26, then rolled in game four 30-22 to win the match.
Also coming on strong the final two games was Ali Gorny, who had 25 kills against just six attack errors. She also led the team with 17 digs, giving her a double-double. Her .345 attack percentage was the second best on the team as well.
"The first three games we really struggled, but did enough to win," ISU coach Mike Welch said. "We played composed and pushed through the struggles. Game four we just rocked. Ali Gorny really picked it up in games three and four. The big change in game three was Lindsay Phillips. She helped us close out that game and helped us through game four as well."
We had some great individual blocking tonight. As a team we didn't block that well, but we had a lot of great individual efforts. Jennie (James) did a great job for us tonight at the net."
Junior Martha Brinton had a strong match with 48 assists, 13 digs, four blocks and six kills. Ashley VanderBloomen had 12 digs and Felice Yocopis had 13 digs and four blocks. Kami Olsen, who leads the Bengals in blocks added six more.
Jessica Childress led the way for Boise State with 26 kills. Cameron Flunder had 12 kills and Sarah Johnson had 11 to go with a team high 15 digs. As a team the Broncos had just five blocks against ISU.
With the win the Bengals improve to 7-4 on the season. Boise State falls to 1-6. ISU will return to action on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. when they face UNLV in the second match of the tournament. They will wrap up play in the tournament when they face host Gonzaga at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday.
