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MOSCOW, Idaho – ISU volleyball fell in four sets at Idaho Thursday evening, 25-16, 21-25, 24-26 and 18-25. The loss snapped the Bengals' seven-match win streak and gave ISU its first loss during the month of October.
Two Bengals finished with double-doubles on the evening as senior setter
Hayley Farrer recorded her 15th double-double of the season with a match-high 44 assists to go along with 17 digs, while junior middle blocker
Marissa Todd added 14 kills and 11 digs for her 10th double-double on the year. Freshman
Haylie Keck led the defensive effort with a team-high 19 digs.
The Bengals started the match on a roll, hitting .282 for 15 kills while forcing the Vandals to hit just .044. Idaho State (12-12, 7-4 BSC) finished with three team blocks in the first set along, with five different players recording at least one block assist in the opening set. With the set tied nine-all, Todd delivered a monster kill to give the Bengals the 10-9 edge. From there, the Bengals completed a 5-2 run for the 15-11 edge. ISU never looked back and cruised to the 25-18 first set win.
In the second set, the Bengals stayed consistent in their hitting, connecting for 13 kills hitting .212, but it was not enough to offset Idaho (8-15, 3-8 BSC). The Vandals caught fire in the second set, hitting a whopping .400 with 17 kills off 35 attempts with just three errors. But the Bengals kept pace with the Vandals throughout the set and trailed by one midway through the set, 16-15. However, Idaho's hot hitting was too much for ISU to overcome, and the Vandals prevailed with the 25-21 third set win.
After the break the Bengals took the early lead 4-2 with kills from Todd and freshman middle blocker
Brooke Pehrson, but the Vandals quickly closed the gap and tied the set 7-all following an ISU setting error. Two consecutive Idaho blocks put the Bengals behind 9-7, but Idaho State put together a 4-0 run to reclaim the lead 11-9 and force and Idaho timeout.
ISU suffered three errors following the timeout while Idaho added two kills for a five-point swing and the Vandal lead 14-11. The Bengals battled back, stringing together three kills in addition to a Vandal attacking error to tie the set at 15-all. A following kill from sophomore outside hitter
Abby Jensen gave the Bengals a 16-15 lead. Late into the third set, ISU held a three-point lead, 22-19, but Idaho would finish the set on a 7-2 run to win 26-24 and take a 2-1 match lead.
The fourth set featured the same back-and-forth play of the second and third sets, with 11 ties and six lead changes. Idaho continued to have the hot hand, hitting .478 for 13 kills off 23 attempts with two errors. Idaho State also recorded 13 kills in the fourth set, but eight hitting errors and two serve receive errors gave the Vandals the upper hand. With the set tied 13-all, ISU took a brief one-point lead until a 3-0 Vandal run gave Idaho the 16-14 lead. The Bengals were unable to close the gap, and Idaho cruised to the 25-18 fourth set win and 3-1 match win.
Idaho was led on the offensive front by Sarah Sharp who recorded a match-high 17 kills hitting .385 while Kaela Straw added 15 kills while hitting .333. Defensively the Vandals were led by Terra Varney who posted a match-high 22 digs.
"I was disappointed in our defense and serve receive tonight," Head Coach
Rick Reynolds said. "Idaho was able to get into a rhythm offensively, and we were not hungry enough to meet them at that level. We need to do a better job of preparing for times like this. This team has risen to the occasion time and again, and this will be no different. We will regroup and get ready for Weber State."
The Bengals are back in action Saturday, Oct. 29 as they head to Ogden, Utah to face Weber State at 7 p.m.
NOTES
- Farrer's 44 assists give her 3,529 career assists moving her into fifth all-time in ISU history.
- Farrer's 17 digs give her 1,155 career digs, 17 digs shy of ninth all-time in ISU history.
- Keck's 19 digs gives her 450 digs on the season, good for ninth all-time in ISU history for digs in a single season. Keck passed Jenna Proost (2010, 442 season digs) and Kylee Sessions (2013, 447 season digs) in the process.
