MISSOULA, Mont. - Idaho State opened with a first set victory over Montana and it was all the team needed to earn a No. 3 seed for the Big Sky Conference Tournament. The Bengals fell 3-1 (23-25, 30-28, 25-20, 25-18) to Montana who clinched the No. 4 seed Saturday night.
Portland State captured the regular season title with a 14-2 record edging out Northern Colorado in a tiebreaker situation. Since both Idaho State and Montana hold a 9-7 conference record and beat each other in four sets the tiebreaker came down to a point differential where the Bengals outscored the Griz 187-182.
Idaho State advances to its ninth Big Sky Conference tournament appearance in program history. The last time Idaho State advanced to the conference tournament was in 2005 where they fell in the quarterfinals to Montana State in five sets. The last time Idaho State captured a Big Sky tournament title was in 1990 when the Bengals defeated Eastern Washington and Montana in five sets.
Senior outside hitter
Haylee Thompson-Brock posted her fourth career double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs. Senior right side hitter Haylee Thompson-Brock posted a team-high 15 kills for the Bengals. Junior setter
Karissa Legaux also recorded a double-double with 48 assists and 11 digs.
Senior libero
Jenna Proost notched a team-high 22 digs. Sophomore
Breanne Van Every recorded a career-high 17 digs. Jaclyn Hone chipped in 16 digs.
Idaho State will play Northern Colorado on Friday, Nov. 26 at 6:30 p.m. MT in Portland, Ore. as the VIkings host the four-team tournament.
--www.isubengals.com--
