Sept. 3, 2004
Laramie, WY--The Idaho State volleyball team fell 3-2 to Wyoming Thursday night at the Cowgirl Classic in Laramie, Wyoming. The Bengals fall to 0-2 on the season and will look forward to Friday night's matchup with fifth-ranked Minnesota.
The Bengals lost Thursday night's game 23-30, 30-28, 29-31, 30-26, and 15-10. Idaho State falls to 0-2 on the season, while Wyoming improves to 1-0.
"The game was close all the way," ISU head coach Mike Welch said. "We had an opportity to go up two games to one in the third game after being tied at 29, but we just didn't have the offense we needed tonight. Our offense was dissapointing."
Nikki Randall led the Bengals with a team-high 21 kills, along with nine digs. Three other Bengals recorded double-digit kills. Ali Gorny and Felice Yocopis each recorded double-doubles for ISU. Gorny tallied 15 kills and 12 digs, while Yocopis recorded 12 kills and 11 digs. Martha Brinton led the Bengals with 40 assists on the night.
As a team, ISU totaled 70 kills with 38 errors. The Bengals totaled 22 blocks led by Heather Kinnison and Yocopis, who each had seven. The Bengals had 57 digs.
"Our defense has to get better," Welch said. "We need to get more digs."
The Cowgirls were led by Rachel Smith's 21 kills. Three others tallied double-digit kills, including Sara Maytorena with 20, Shelby Heggie with 12, and Lauren Scott with 10. Wyoming recorded 78 kills.
The Bengals will be in action again on Friday night against fifth-ranked Minnesota. The match will begin at 5 p.m. ISU will also wrap up its four-game road trip with Texas-San Antonio on Saturday evening.
"Minnesota will be another high-quality team we face," Welch said. "This is a team that took the number one ranked team in the nation, USC, to five games. If we can bring our offense together and toughen up on defense, we will play them well."
