Volleyball Battles UNC for Five-Set Victory; Extends Winning Streak to Seven

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GREELEY, Colo. – The Idaho State volleyball team protected its undefeated conference record Thursday evening and defeated Northern Colorado in five sets, 25-19, 24-26, 20-25, 25-20 and 15-11. Idaho State (13-6, 5-0 BSC) dominated at the net with a season-high 76 kills and a .232 team hitting percentage.

Four Bengals finished with double-figure kills, led by senior outside hitter Tressa Lyman who recorded her third-straight double-double with a season-high 22 kills to go along with 11 digs. Junior setter Hayley Farrer posted a season-high 63 assists, and sophomore outside hitter Marissa Todd also came up big for ISU, tying her career high in kills with 15 off a .414 hitting percentage in addition to eight digs and four blocks.

"I'm definitely proud of the diversity we had tonight in our offense," Head Coach Rick Reynolds said. "We were able to get production across all of our hitters tonight. This a couple matches in a row where we've been able to spread out the offense a little more. That's what your ultimate goal is, is to be balanced, and that is what we are going to continue to strive for."

ISU traded points with Northern Colorado (6-12, 2-3 BSC) to start the first half but was able to shake the Bears loose following a UNC service error and two consecutive kills from senior middle blocker Makenzie Filer. ISU closed the first set with an 8-4 run to claim the set win 25-19 and the match lead, 1-0.

In the second set, the Bears capitalized on a few Bengal errors and converted at the net to build a small 4-1 lead. ISU responded with kills from Lyman and junior outside hitter Bailey Bars to tie the set 7-all and carried its momentum to a 13-9 lead. The Bengals kept UNC at bay and nursed a 21-17 lead late in the second, but a kill from UNC's Kendra Cunningham and three consecutive Bengal errors tied the match 21-all. The squads traded point-for-point until two more ISU errors and a kill from UNC gave the Bears the 26-24 second-set win.

Coming out of the break, the Bears broke a 7-all tie following another ISU error and built a five-point lead, 20-25. Idaho State was unable to recover and UNC won the set 25-20 and claimed the 2-1 match lead.

The momentum shifted in the fourth as ISU battled UNC for the 25-20 set win. The fourth featured six ties and two lead changes, but the Bengals were able to create some separation following a kill from Farrer to create a two-point cushion, 14-12. ISU was able to keep the Bears at bay for the remainder of the set to claim the fourth set win and tie up the match 2-2.

With the momentum, the Bengals never trailed in the fifth set. ISU was attacking from every angle as four players recorded kills in the fifth set alone. Idaho State built its biggest lead of the set, 8-3, following a bad set from UNC and stopped a 4-1 run Bears' run by forcing a UNC attacking error. The Bengals continued on for the 15-11 fifth set win, and won the match 3-2.

"I'm proud of the team and their effort tonight," Reynolds said. "I thought we battled some inconsistency in our offense on our side tonight, and I thought Northern Colorado did a good job of playing defense against us. Fortunately we were able to still have a great offensive night with 76 kills, but we've got to find a way to clean it up a little bit more and be more efficient."

Idaho State continues play on the road as it travels to Grand Forks, N.D. to face North Dakota Saturday, Oct. 10 at 11 a.m. MST.