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PORTLAND, Ore. – The Idaho State volleyball team was swept by Portland State in its final regular-season match. The Bengals struggled to terminate, connecting for 32 kills off 127 attempts with 20 errors to hit .094 for the night.
Junior outside hitter
Marissa Todd led the Bengals with 10 kills, nine digs and two block assists, while senior setter
Hayley Farrer finished with her 19th double-double of the season with 20 assists and 14 digs. Freshman libero
Haylie Keck continued to extend her single-season digs record as she recorded a team-high 16 digs.
"I'm disappointed in our response tonight," Head Coach
Rick Reynolds said. "Portland State played well and we didn't match their level. We are excited to get back in the gym and prep for the conference tournament. It's a great opportunity for our program to show its growth and maturity since the beginning of the season."
In the first set, Portland State (17-11, 9-7 BSC) started the match with a service ace and never looked back. Idaho State (15-14, 10-6 BSC) fell behind 7-1 following several errors but a 6-2 Bengal run cut PSU's lead to two, 9-7. However, that's the closest the Bengals would come as the Vikings maintained the lead and cruised to the 25-21 first set win.
In the second set, the Bengals hit a match-best .140 for 12 kills, but the Vikings countered with 16 kills of their own hitting .300. As in the first set, the Vikings struck first with a kill from Mikaelyn Sych and never looked back, racing out to an 11-4 advantage. An 11-3 PSU run put the Bengals in a massive hole they were not able to climb out of and the Vikings rolled to a 25-18 second set win.
The Bengals came out strong in the third and gained an 8-4 advantage behind five kills and multiple Viking errors. Yet Idaho State's advantage was short-lived as a 4-1 Viking run cut the Bengals' lead to two, 9-7. The ensuing plays were in favor of Portland State as the Vikings registered three kills and a service ace to tie the set at 11-all.
The two squads traded point for point with seven ties and five lead changes until a service ace courtesy of Todd tied the match for the eighth time at 23-all. Portland State called a timeout and returned to the court to deliver two straight kills to win the set 25-23.
PSU's Pati Anae paced the Vikings with a match-high 15 kills to go along with 14 digs. Tasha Bojanic led the defensive effort with a match-high 23 digs.
North Dakota clinched the regular-season Big Sky title and the right to host the Big Sky Conference Tournament with a 3-0 sweep of Northern Colorado Saturday evening.
Idaho State will head to Grand Forks, N.D. for the Big Sky Conference Championships Nov. 17-19.
