Bengals Sweep Portland State on First Stop of Final Regular-Season Road Trip

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PORTLAND, Ore. – The ISU volleyball team swept Portland State in Portland, Ore., Thursday evening with set scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-19. With the win, the Bengals are in second place in the Big Sky South Division, one game behind division-leader Northern Arizona.

"I'm really proud of the team and their effort tonight," said Head Coach Rick Reynolds.

Idaho State was led by senior outside hitter Tressa Lyman who recorded her 14th double-double of the season with a match-high 12 kills with a .303 hitting percentage to go along with 12 digs. Junior outside hitter Bailey Bars tied the match-high in digs with 14 and recorded six kills with a match-high .455 hitting percentage.

In the first set, Idaho State (19-8, 11-2 BSC) and Portland State (7-18, 3-10 BSC) traded point-for-point until PSU capitalized on two Bengal errors for a 12-9 advantage. ISU responded with two straight kills from senior middle blocker Makenzie Filer and Lyman to cut the Vikings' lead to one. The Bengals tied up the score four times before regaining the lead 19-18 following two straight kills, one from Farrer and another from Filer.  ISU never relinquished its late first-set lead and won the first 25-22.

The Bengals' momentum continued into the second set they claimed the first point following a massive rally that ended with a PSU attacking error. ISU capitalized on four-straight PSU errors and two-straight Lyman kills to go on a 6-0 run and extend its early lead to six points, 7-1. Portland State chipped away at ISU's lead and came to within two points, 10-8 off a kill from Eva Linden, but the Bengals responded with a 4-0 run to gain another six-point advantage and force a PSU timeout. The Vikings continued to chip away at ISU's lead, recording three-straight blocks to cut the Bengals' lead to one, 20-19, but ISU responded with four kills to claim the second 25-22.
 
ISU had another quick start in the third, racing out to a 7-3 lead that featured two aces from sophomore outside hitter Chloe Hirst and two kills from junior outside hitter Sommer Reeder. The third set was littered with service errors with eight total between the squads, but ISU was incredibly efficient on the attack, connecting on 12 of 26 attempts with only one error for a .423 hitting percentage. ISU maintained a comfortable lead for the majority of the third set, building a seven-point lead midway through at 17-10. The Bengals cruised to a third-set victory 25-19 to sweep the Vikings 3-0.

"The team did a great job of pushing through some early errors to play one of our more efficient sets in the third set," Reynolds said. "It was great to see them make the adjustments needed to be that efficient."

The Vikings were led by Pati Anae who finished with 11 kills and nine digs to go along with four blocks.

The Bengals travel to Sacramento, Calif. to take on the Hornets of Sacramento State Saturday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. MST.