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GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Idaho State's 2016 season came to a close Friday evening with a 3-0 loss to No. 1 North Dakota in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Volleyball Tournament, hosted by North Dakota at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, N.D. The Bengals struggled to terminate with 19 hitting errors, while North Dakota was red hot hitting .448 for the match for 48 kills as the Bengals fell 25-10, 25-20 and 25-18.
"This has been a great ride," Head Coach
Rick Reynolds said. "These women fight for every point, and they left it on the court."
Sophomore outside hitter
Abby Jensen led the offensive effort with 10 kills hitting .240 to go along with nine digs and one block without a receiving error. Freshman libero
Haylie Keck led the defensive effort with a match-high 12 digs, while senior setter
Hayley Farrer closed her career with 28 assists, two digs and one block.
Idaho State (16-15) struggled to find any sort of momentum in the first set as the Bengals collected eight of their 19 hitting errors in the first set alone. Meanwhile, North Dakota (25-9) was cruising, hitting .552 for 16 kills. ISU was unable to terminate with UND's Faith Dooley at the net as she finished the first set with five of her six blocks in the first set alone.
But it wasn't all UND in the first set. ISU traded kills with the Fighting Hawks to start and the squad traded point-for-point with seven ties and one lead change in the first few possessions. A big kill from junior outside hitter
Chloe Hirst tied the match 7-all, but UND went on a tear with a 13-1 run that finally ended with a UND service error. The Bengals were unable to recover and fell 25-10 in the first.
Despite the lopsided first set loss, Idaho State kept its composure and led UND 11-8 midway through the second set. The Bengals hit .296 for 12 kills with just four errors in the second and led until a kill from Sydney Griffin tied the set 14-all. A 4-1 run from the Fighting Hawks put the Bengals behind 18-15 and forced the Bengals to call a timeout.
Following the timeout, freshman middle blocker
Brooke Pehrson had a monster kill to cut the lead to two, 18-16 but the Bengals would come no closer. UND closed the set with a 7-4 run to claim the 25-20 second set win.
The third and final set was close throughout with seven ties and two lead changes. Neither squad gained much of an advantage until UND went on a short 5-1 run to gain a four point advantage, 18-14. North Dakota's accuracy was tough for the Bengals to counter as the Fighting Hawks hit .371 for 15 kills with just two errors. Idaho State dug 12 of those attempts and blocked one, but UND's offensive output proved too much. UND took the third set 25-18.
North Dakota was led by Tamara Merseli with a match-high 16 kills hitting .417 with nine digs, two assist and one block. Alivia Fraase led the defensive effort for the Fighting Hawks with 11 digs.
"I am proud of every aspect of this program," Reynolds said. "We have become better people, better students and better athletes. It's a great day to be a Bengal."
NOTES
- Senior setter Hayley Farrer finishes her career ranked fifth all-time in ISU history in assists with 3,818, eighth in digs with 1,236, fifth in career sets played with 484 and tied for third in career matches played with 135.
- Freshman Haylie Keck finishes her debut season as the single season digs record holder with 599.
