Bengals Travel to Hawaii for NCAA Tournament

Match Notes

BENGAL OVERVIEW
Last weekend at the Big Sky Conference Championships third seeded Idaho State defeated reining tournament champion Northern Colorado and co-regular season champion North Dakota each in four sets to make it to their second championship match in row. There, they defeated co-regular season champion and tournament host Portland State in straight sets to earn their first Big Sky Tournament Championship since 1990 and a spot in the 2013 NCAA Championship.

In the first round, the Bengals take on Hawaii in Honolulu on Friday, Dec. 6 at 10:30 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast on KISU and at ISUBengals.com.

IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
After losing 3-1 and 3-2 to Portland State during the regular season, the Bengals came out strong in the championship match on Saturday night and swept the Vikings. As a team, the Bengals posted a .306 attack percentage - 48 kills on 111 attempts with only 14 errors.

The Bengals had a dominating performance in the first set, winning 25-18. In the second set, Portland State went up early and held a lead - by as many as four points - until the Bengals took their first lead at 25-24. Idaho State had four set points before an attack error by Portland State gave them a 29-27 victory.

The score in the final set was tied 10 times and the lead changed four times before Idaho State took the lead at 16-15 and never trailed again. They won their final set 25-20.  

Alydia Fields-Grimm, who posted the final kill of the match, had a team-high 13 kills on 22 attempts with a single error for an attack percentage of .545. She also posted seven digs. Tournament MVP Makenzie Filer posted 12 kills on 22 attempts with a single error for an attack percentage of .500.

AGAINST NORTH DAKOTA
In the Big Sky Tournament semifinals, Idaho State topped regular season champion North Dakota in four sets. The match marked Head Coach Chad Teichert's 100th career victory. The Bengals won the first two sets, 25-20 in the first and came back from a deficit to win the second 26-24. North Dakota took the third 25-23. Idaho State went on a 7-0 run to win the fourth 25-12.

In the final set, the Bengals posted no attack errors and came away with a .571 attack percentage.

"I don't really know what to say except won," said Teichert following Friday's match. "It was really a great effort by the whole team. It is rare that you don't have a single hitting error in an entire set."

For the game, they posted a .238 attack percentage compared to North Dakota's .172. Makenzie Filer, Marissa Todd, Alydia Fields-Grimm and Tressa Lyman all posted double-figure kills. Lori Mendenhall-Lee posted 44 assists and Kylee Searle-Sessions posted 26 digs.

AGAINST NORTHERN COLORADO
In a rematch of the 2012 Big Sky Championship, Idaho State faced Northern Colorado in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament. They won the match in four sets, winning the first two 25-21 and 25-17 before losing the third 25-17. They won the final set 25-16. They Bengals posted seven service aces in the match.

MAKENZIE FILER
Sophomore Makenzie Filer was named the Big Sky Tournament MVP on Saturday following the Big Sky Championship. In the championship game, Filer posted 12 kills on 22 attempts  with a single error for an attack percentage of .500. She also posted four assisted blocks.

Against North Dakota, Filer posted 13 kills, five digs, six blocks and three service aces. Against Northern Colorado, she posted 16 kills on 26 attempts with two errors for an attack percentage of .538. She also posted two service aces.

Filer currently ranks second all-time in program history for her single season attack percentage of .369. Her attack percentage also ranks 44th in the nation.

In addition to being the tournament MVP, Filer was named Big Sky All-Conference Honorable Mention and is this week's Bengal Athlete of the Week.

LORI MENDENHALL-LEE
Senior Lori Mendenhall-Lee was named to both the Big Sky All-Conference First-Team and the Big Sky All-Tournament team last week. Mendenhall-Lee led the Bengals in assists in all three matches with 44 against Northern Colorado, 44 against North Dakota and 39 against Portland State. Over the weekend, she posted 12 kills, three service aces, 23 digs, one solo block and eight assisted blocks.

Mendenhall-Lee currently ranks 37th in the nation with an average of 10.98 assists per set. This season, she has posted 1,384 assists, seventh-best all-time.

Mendenhall-Lee is tied for the all-time record for attack percentage with a career attack percentage of .310 and ranks third all-time for single season attack percentage with .366 from 2012. She ranks fourth all-time for career assists with 4,195. She is 13 assists away from moving into third-best all-time.

KYLEE SESSIONS
Junior libero Kylee Sessions was named to the Big Sky All-Tournament team following the Bengals win on Saturday night. Sessions' 24 digs against Portland State ties the Idaho State record for most digs in a three-set match. Against Northern Colorado, Sessions posted 14  digs and she posted 26 against North Dakota. During the tournament, Sessions posted five service aces and 12 assists.

With 441 digs this season, Sessions ranks 10th all-time for single season digs. She holds the record with 512 from 2011. She ranks third all-time for career digs with 1,313.  

TRESSA LYMAN
Sophomore Tressa Lyman was named to the All-Conference First-Team last week. This season, Lyman has led the Bengals in kills with 452, eighth most all-time. She has 1,251 attack attempts this season, sixth most all-time. Her 3.307 career kill per set ranks seventh all-time.

Lyman posted double-doubles at all three of the Bengals' Big Sky Tournament games. Against Northern Colorado, she posted 15 kills and 12 digs, 11 kills and 13 digs against North Dakota and 11 kills and 13 digs against Portland State in the championship. She posted six blocks at the tournament.

ALYDIA FIELDS-GRIMM
Junior Alydia Fields-Grimm posted attack percentages above .400 at two games during the Big Sky Championship. Against North Dakota, she posted 12 kills on 21 attempts for an attack percentage of .476. Against Portland State, she posted 13 kills - one the game-winner - on 22 attempts with a single error for an attack percentage of .545. At the tournament, she posted 23 digs and six blocks.

CHAD TEICHERT
With 61 career Big Sky wins, Head Coach Chad Teichert has set the Idaho State record for most Big Sky wins in program history. Teichert earned his 100th career win in the Big Sky Tournament against North Dakota.

With their 23 wins so far this season, the Bengals are tied for the third-best season all-time.

JoAnn Garavaglia holds the record for most career wins with 110 from 1975-1980. The 2012 Bengals rank third all-time for most wins in the single season with 23, the record stands at 31 in 1987.

ABOUT HAWAII
Last week, No. 11 Hawaii won a share of their 19th straight Big West Conference Championship, finishing the season with a 24-4 record.

Hawaii and Idaho State faced three common opponents this season. Hawaii swept Portland State (25-21, 25-20, 25-14) on Sept. 12. Idaho State fell to Portland State 3-1 on Oct. 17 and 3-2 on Nov. 23. They swept Portland State last Saturday to win the Big Sky Championship. Idaho State faced two of Hawaii's conference rivals, UC Irvine and UC Riverside early in the season. Idaho State topped UC Riverside in three sets and fell to UC Irvine in four. Hawaii swept UC Riverside twice during the season. They also topped UC Irvine twice during the regular season.

Hawaii comes into the match having won their last eight. The Bengals have only met Hawaii once in program history, on Sept. 9, 1995. Hawaii topped the Bengals 3-0 in that match.

BENGALS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Idaho State has made it to the NCAA Tournament three times in program history, most recently in 1990. That year, they lost to UC Santa Barbara in the first round.