Bengals Shutout Montana-Western 3-0 in Home Opener

Aug. 28, 2007

Box Score

Pocatello, ID--Charlee Kinghorn notched 17 kills and Emily Waldron added 12 as Idaho State shutout Montana-Western 3-0 (30-18, 30-17, 30-25) in its home opener at Reed Gym Tuesday night. With the win, Idaho State improves to 1-3 on the season while Montana-Western falls to 0-5.

"Our team looked like the team we've expected them to be tonight," said ISU head coach Mike Welch. "We've already grown a lot as a team. We got our confidence back and I was pleased with all aspects of our game tonight."

The Bengals were connecting on all sides of the net, connecting on a .500 hitting mark with 42 kills with only six errors on 72 attacks after the first two games of the match. The team finished the match with a .412 hitting percentage--the seventh-best team hitting percentage ever in a single match. The last time the Bengals connected on a .400 hitting mark or better dates back to the 1999 season when the team connected on a .400 mark against Portland State

"We were strong at the net," Welch said. "We were physical and I really liked that the offense was coming from the right side, left side, and middle. It was neat to see that our attack was clicking on all sides."

Freshman Sarah Carson celebrates a kill Tuesday night.

Kinghorn tallied her match-high 17 kills on 34 attacks with just three errors. The freshman outside hitter recorded a .412 attack mark. Waldron was just as impressive at the net, recording 12 kills on 27 attacks with only one error for a .407 mark. Ashlyn McDowell registered eight kills, while Sarah Carson and Christine Van Orden each collected five.

Van Orden set up the offense with a match-high 28 assists. Blakely Peppinger helped with 18 assists. Defensively, Waldron led the team with 11 digs and Katie Edgson reached double digits with 10.

Kirby Myers led Montana-Western at the net with a team-high seven kills, while teammate Lindsey Nicholls added six.

Idaho State continues play this week with three on the road, starting with Fresno State on Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. The Bengals return home on Sept. 21 for a matchup with cross-state rival Weber State.