Sept. 3, 2004
Laramie, WY--Idaho State volleyball fell 3-0 Friday evening to fifth-ranked Minnesota at the Cowgirl Classic in Laramie, Wyoming. The Bengals will conclude play at the classic with a matchup against Texas-San Antonio Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Gophers defeated Idaho State 30-19, 30-19, and 30-18. With the loss, Idaho State falls to 0-3 overall, while Minnesota improves to 3-1.
"This is what preseason play is for," ISU head coach Mike Welch said. "We learned a lot about ourselves tonight. We exposed a lot of things that we need to work on to get better. We need to fix the little things and make the adjustments to get better."
Felice Yocopis and Nikki Randall paced the Bengals, each tallying seven kills. Yocopis' seven kills came with just one error for an attack percentage of .375. Sophomore libero Ashley VanderBloomen recorded a team-high 10 digs.
"Felice had a great game for us tonight," Welch said. "It was also fun to watch our freshman, Katie Hurst, connect for her first collegiate kill."
Minnesota's Erin Martin led the Gophers with a game-high 14 kills, while teammate Jessica Byrnes added 10. Paula Gentil led the defensive attack, picking up a game-high 16 digs on the night.
Minnesota tallied 54 kills to ISU's 14. The Gophers had a team attack percentage of .361, while ISU tallied a percentage of .019 with its 24 errors.
The Bengals will conclude the Cowgirl Classic with a Saturday afternoon match against Texas-San Antonio. ISU will return to Pocatello for its home-opener against Montana Western on Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m.
