Oct. 17, 2009
Final Stats
Utah Valley Box Score 
Pocatello, ID--Idaho State continues to struggle in its front row defensive efforts being out-blocked 16.5-to-8 by Utah Valley, a season-high for an opponent, in the Bengals five set loss (23-25, 25-23, 25-13, 23-25, 15-12) at Reed Gym Saturday night. The contest was Idaho State's final non-conference match as they fell to 9-10 while the Wolverines improved to 14-7 for the season.
"We've got to block better. They had 16 and a half, we had eight. If we had four more blocks maybe that's it. If we had 16 and a half and they had eight, then for sure," said head coach Chad Teichert. "And we gave them too many dog-gone tipped balls when we need to be hitting. It's hard to beat a good team when you are tipping."
The Wolverines also has a strong hitting effort led by Kayli Broadbent who recorded a match-high 25 kills, the most kills from an individual opponent for the season. She hit with a .281 attack percentage and recorded a double-double with 14 digs.
"She's a gun. She and our Haylee Thompson were teammates once upon a time in club and she has got an arm and she pounds it," said head coach Teichert. "We did not do a good job on the block getting in front of her, but she's a good athlete."
Senior redshirt Paige Palmer put in a solid effort in helping reduce the effectiveness of Broadbent's attack as she recorded a match-high 22 digs to post her 15th consecutive double-figure dig matches, the longest streak in the Big Sky conference.
Emily Waldron posted a double-double performance with 13 kills and 12 digs with a .222 hitting percentage. Waldron also recorded two block assists. The Bengals were led by sophomore Jaclyn Hone who produced 16 kills from 50 attempts, but recorded 11 errors for a .100 hitting percentage. Junior Britta Bartschi-Rhodehouse added 14 kills from 26 attempts with five errors for a team-high .346 attack percentage.
The Bengals started off strong offensively hitting a .300 percentage even with the Wolverines out-blocking ISU 5.5-to-1. The second set had the teams evenly matches, but the Wolverines took a smally lead holding throughout the set. In the third set the Bengals fell behind by eight points, down 6-14. Idaho State would get trounced 25-13 in the third with Utah Valley hitting .400 while holding the Bengals to a .040 attack percentage.
Idaho State would turn around and overcome the Wolverines fourth set as ISU's four blocks forced Utah Valley to push the limits with their offensive strategy creating more errors. Utah Valley recorded five blocks, while ISU recorded two service aces. Both teams hit a .044 attack percentage in the fourth set.
Freshman Breanne Van Every started the fourth set in the front row to give the Bengals added defense in the block. Van Every recorded two block assists in the fourth set and went on to record four for the match to post the second highest block assist count for the Bengals after only seeing two sets in the front row. Junior Sarah Carson led the Bengals in blocks with seven assisted and one solo.
"Clearly they are good. They've beat Weber State, Utah State, (#17) Utah so they are darn good. In set three they clobbered us," said head coach Teichert of Utah Valley's team. "With the exception of set three we played some real good volleyball. I just wish we would have played a little bit better. But they're a good team with some good athletes and we just didn't get the job done."
Even with potential momentum from capturing the fourth set the Bengals trailed the Wolverines throughout the fifth set to fall 15-12 at home. Idaho State falls to 1-2 in five sets this season and 2-4 at Reed Gym.
The Bengals, who are 3-2 on the road in conference play, will travel to Portland State and Eastern Washington next week as they return to Big Sky play. Portland State will host the Bengals on Friday, October 23 at 8 p.m. MT the Peter W. Stott Center in Portland, Ore. and the Eagles will host ISU on Saturday, October 24 at 8 p.m. MT at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.
