Oct. 20, 2006
Box Score
Pocatello, ID--Jessica Gurney matched a career high with 17 kills and Nikki Havens added 13 but a flat defensive effort handed Montana a 3-1 (17-30, 23-30, 30-27, 24-30) win over Idaho State Friday night at Reed Gym. The loss is the fourth straight for the Bengals, who fall to 8-16 overall, 4-7 in Big Sky play. Montana evens its overall record at 10-10 and improves to 7-4 in league play.
"We failed defensively tonight and that was the difference," said ISU head coach Mike Welch. "We only had three blocks and all three blocks came from our setter. We did some good things on the offensive side which gave us some momentum and helped us win game three, but our defense never showed up."
Gurney recorded her match-high 17 kills on 33 attacks with only four errors for a .394 hitting mark. Havens, who was honored for her 1,000th kill prior to the match, registered 13 kills on 33 attacks. Karli Maughan added nine kills, Ashlyn McDowell had eight, and Emily Waldron tallied six.
"I thought Jessica (Gurney) played very well tonight," Welch said. "It was her birthday and I know she wanted to come out play hard. We also asked Karli (Maughan) to do a lot of different things for us tonight and she helped keep us in the match."
Defensively, Bri Beal led Idaho State with a match-high 20 digs. Waldron also got into double digits with 10 digs.
The Bengals recorded 57 kills on 144 attacks while hitting .215. Montana connected on 68 kills on 144 attacks for a .354 hitting mark. ISU had 51 digs to Montana's 53 and recorded three blocks to UM's 14.
Idaho State will continue play on Saturday night when the team hosts Montana State. The match is set to open serve at 7 p.m.
