Oct. 21, 2006
Box Score
Pocatello, ID--Nikki Havens connected on a match-high 23 kills and Jessica Gurney added 18 as Idaho State won a marathon 3-2 (31-29, 30-25, 17-30, 24-30, 15-12) match over Montana State Saturday night at Reed Gym.
With the win, Idaho State improves to 9-16 overall, 5-7 in Big Sky play. Montana State falls to 6-14 on the season, 2-9 in league play.
"We knew how important this match was to us and the team came through," said ISU head coach Mike Welch. "This match had a lot of tournament implications and our players battled to the end."
Havens collected her 23 kills on 53 attacks with only nine errors. The senior outside hitter registered a .264 hitting mark and tallied four assists and three digs in the effort. Gurney recorded her 18 kills on 43 attacks with three errors for an impressive .349 attack percentage. Karli Maughan also reached double digit kills with 12.
Amanda Bevens set up the offense for the Bengals with a match-high 66 assists. She also helped the defensive effort with 11 digs for the double-double. Bri Beal led the Bengals with 31 digs. Emily Waldron had 18 digs and Paige Palmer helped wit 11 and Katie Hurst added 10. Ashlyn McDowell led the Bengal effort at the net with a team-high five blocks.
"I thought it was a very good team effort," Welch said. "We played well offensively and our defense showed up tonight. It was a must win for us and we played like it. This was a great momentum booster for us and now we plan on building on this effort and taking it on the road with us."
As a team, Idaho State recorded 75 kills on 231 attacks for a .190 hitting mark. The Bobcats had 76 kills on 219 attacks for a .201 percentage. The Bengals had 93 digs and none blocks compared to MSU's 97 digs and 13 blocks.
"Montana State is a very capable team," Welch said. "They played great volleyball tonight."
The match wraps up Big Sky play at home. The Bengals now head out on the road to play four straight league matches, starting with Eastern Washington on Oct. 26. ISU will return home on Nov. 7 to host Utah State in its final match of the season.
