Sept. 3, 2005
Box Score
Davis, CA--Idaho State dropped a pair of matches Saturday at the UC Davis Aggie Invitational. The Bengals took a 3-0 loss to tournament host UC Davis before dropping a very close 3-2 decision to Toledo in the nightcap.
Idaho State lost its first match of the day to UC Davis 30-19, 30-24, and 30-19. The Bengals then fell 25-30, 30-22, 32-30, 30-32, and 9-15 to Toledo.
The Bengals, who are yet to play a home match, fall to 1-3 on the season.
Nikki Havens and Felice Yocopis continue to lead the Bengals in both kills and digs, having an impressive day in both matches.
Against UC Davis in the first match of the day, Yocopis tallied a match-high 14 kills with 54 attacks. The senior outside hitter also added a service ace and 16 digs for her fourth-straight double-double. Havens had 11 kills with just four errors on 35 attacks. Havens also recorded a service ace and 18 digs for her fourth double-double in as many matches.
Amanda Bevens led the Bengals in assists with 21. She also had four kills in the effort against UC Davis.
As a team, Idaho State tallied 49 kills and 73 digs to UC Davis' 49 kills and 73 digs.
In the second match of the day, Idaho State went the distance with Toledo, falling in five games. The Bengals, who were actually serving for match point in the fourth game, ran out of steam and ended up falling 9-15 in the fifth and final game.
"That was tough to take," Welch said. "We relied to much on Nikki (Havens) and Felice (Yocopis) today. They are handling a big load of what we are doing right now, and others are going to have to step it up a little. We played young and our energy was low."
Yocopis again led the Bengals against Toledo with 28 kills, 24 digs, and seven blocks. Yocopis hit a .326 attack percentage with just eight errorst on 61 tries. Along with Yocopis, Havens had her fourth double-double in as many matches with 23 kills and 18 digs. Bevens led the offensive attack with 50 assists, while Katie Hurst also had an impressive match with 16 digs and six kills.
The Bengals won the war of the digs 93-92 and the blocking battle 13.5 to 6.5.
"We continue to do a good job of averaging 20 digs a game, which has been a goal of ours," Welch said. "However, we have the ability to up that total, which our team needs to do."
After opening the season with four straight matches on the road, Idaho State will return to Reed Gym for its home opener against Montana-Western on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. The team will also play on Sept. 7, hosting Brigham Young at Reed Gym.
"It will be nice playing at home," Welch said. "It's tough playing in a tournament atmosphere where at times there just aren't any fans in the stands because you are playing on a neutral court. It will be great to play in front of our fans. We are excited about it."
