ISU Falls to Northern Arizona in Big Sky Conference Championship

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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Idaho State volleyball team fell to No. 1 Northern Arizona in the Big Sky Conference Tournament championship match Saturday evening, falling in three sets 28-26, 25-18 and 25-23 in its fourth straight BSC championship match. ISU closes its season with a 23-10 overall record and a 13-3 mark in conference play.

The Bengals were led by senior outside hitter Tressa Lyman who finished with her 18th double-double of the season with a match-high 19 kills to go along with 15 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Chloe Hirst also notched a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs, while junior setter Hayley Farrer recorded a match-high 36 assists.

"I thought our team played well," Head Coach Rick Reynolds said. "Hats off to NAU and Head Coach Ken Murphy. They worked hard; they earned it. We gave them everything we had and unfortunately we came up a little short tonight."

The Bengals started the match hot, capitalizing on a few NAU errors and adding a few kills from Lyman and senior middle blocker Makenzie Filer to take the early 4-2 lead. NAU closed the gap following two consecutive ISU attacking errors which began the back-and-forth point trading that summarized the remainder of the set.  NAU was able to break away with a four-point advantage, 19-15, following two ISU errors, but ISU quickly countered to close the gap and tie the match at 24-all. However, the Bengals suffered two errors coupled with an NAU kill, and the Lumberjacks took the first set 28-26.

In the second, ISU again took the early lead 4-2, and again NAU closed the gap to tie the match 4-all. Two consecutive kills from Lyman gave the Bengals another two-point advantage, which the Lumberjacks quickly erased following two consecutive ISU errors. The second set was close throughout, featuring 12 ties and five lead changes, but NAU took over after breaking an 18-all tie to score seven unanswered points for the 25-18 second set victory.

Following the break, the Bengals once again started hot, scoring the first four points of the set off three ISU kills and an NAU attacking error. ISU held its four-point lead at 11-7 but NAU capped a 5-1 run to tie the set at 12-all. Both squads traded point-for-point for the majority of the match, with Filer tying it up 22-all with a kill directly following an NAU timeout. However, the 'Jacks proved too much for the Bengals, and NAU finished the set with a service ace and a kill to claim the third set 25-23 and win the match 3-0.

"From day one, the greatest attribute is that they bought in," Reynolds said. "They believed in what we were teaching them to do and they executed it until the end. I'm really proud of them. What an amazing group of young ladies, and I'm just grateful for the opportunity to be their coach."

Lyman and Farrer earned all-tournament honors along with NAU's Janae Vander Ploeg (MVP), Payton Bock, Lauren Jacobson and Jensen Barton. Idaho's Kaela Straw also earned an all-tournament nod.

Tournament champion Northern Arizona earned an automatic berth to the NCAA volleyball championships that begins Dec. 4.