Sept. 6, 2005
Box Score
Pocatello, ID--Idaho State's Felice Yocopis recorded her fifth double-double in as many matches as Idaho State defeated Montana-Western 3-0 Tuesday night at Reed Gym in the team's home opener.
Idaho State won in straight sets, 30-16, 33-31, and 30-15. The win pushes Idaho State's record to 2-3 on the season, while Montana-Western drops to 4-2.
"We wanted to come out strong tonight in front of our home crowd," Welch said. "It's great to be back home and I was impressed with our crowd tonight. I was pleased with the way our team played both defensively and offensively. We started and finished the match just like we wanted too."
The Bengals never trailed in game one. Tied at 5-5, Idaho State went on a 13-3 run to take an 18-9 advantage. ISU then allowed Montana-Western just eight more points on its run to the 30-16 win.
Idaho State held a held a strong lead for most of game two, holding a 26-19 deep into the contest. The Bulldogs battled back, going on an 8-2 run to cut the ISU lead to one point, 28-27. Montana-Western took a 30-29 advantage, but Idaho State rallied to gain their own game point at 32-31. A Karli Maughan kill secured the game for ISU, 33-31.
The third game was similar to the first game with the Bengals taking a commanding lead early and deep into the contest. ISU took an 11-3 lead and never looked back, taking the 30-15 win.
"We wanted to defend out court," said ISU head coach Mike Welch. "We've had a goal to not let the ball hit our floor and average 20 digs a game--we averaged more than 21 a game in this match."
Yocopis led the way for Idaho State, collecting a match-high 16 kills with just four errors on 42 attacks for an impressive hitting percentage of .286. The senior outside hitter also notched 17 digs, four assists, and three blocks. Junior Nikki Havens was just one kill shy of her fifth-straight double-double with nine kills and 11 digs, while Amanda Bevens led the offensive attack with 24 assists.
Maughan helped the Bengals with nine kills, while Zoe Beltz added seven. Beltz tallied her seven kills on 12 attacks and no errors for a .455 attack percentage.
Idaho State limited the Bulldogs to just 37 kills with 21 errors on 131 total attacks. The Bengals allowed Montana-Western to just one block.
Next up for ISU is a matchup with Mountain West foe and cross-state rival Brigham Young on Wednesday night at Reed Gym. The game is slated to begin at 7 p.m. The Bengals will hold an autograph session for fans immediately following Wednesday's match.
"This will be a fun one," Welch said. "I know our team is looking forward to it. There should be a real collegiate feel to it, so I hope a lot of people come out and enjoy it. BYU is a tough team, but I feel like we can match them defensively. Offensively, we will need to turn it up a notch."
