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DURHAM, N.H. – The Idaho State volleyball team fell to Sacred Heart in the first match of the Holly Young Invitational, hosted by New Hampshire in Durham, N.H. The Bengals fell in four sets with scores of 25-21, 25-23, 15-25 and 25-23.
"This was a disappointing match for us," Head Coach
Rick Reynolds. "Sacred Heart did a great job of taking the momentum and running with it. They played really well, and I didn't do a good enough job of putting us in a position to adjust to what they were doing."
Idaho State (4-7) was led by junior
Chloe Hirst and sophomore
Abby Jensen who contributed 14 and 13 kills respectively. Freshman
Brooke Pehrson also had a big effort for the Bengals with nine kills off 15 attempts for a .467 hitting percentage to go along with three blocks.
The Bengals started out strong with the early 5-2 behind two Bengal kills and three Sacred Heart (4-6) errors. Despite hitting .087 for the match, Idaho State had the advantage 11-10 midway through the set until three straight Bengal mistakes gave Sacred Heart its first lead of the match, 12-11. The Bengals were unable to regain their lead and feel to the Pioneers 25-21.
Idaho State was more accurate in the second set, hitting .171 for 13 kills with just six errors, and once again, the Bengals started with the advantage off a kill from junior
Marissa Todd. But the Pioneers were firing on all cylinders, hitting .371 for the set, and quickly took the lead 4-3 off a kill from Maddie Losure and started an 11-6 run to lead 15-9, forcing ISU into a timeout.
Out of the break, ISU delivered kills via Hirst and Pehrson to fuel a 7-4 run which cut the Pioneers' lead to four, 19-15. Idaho State continued to attack and cut SHU's lead to one, 23-22, but Sacred Heart responded, finishing the set with two kills to put the Bengals away 25-23.
In the third set, the Bengals put on a show, as five different players delivered kills while hitting .409 as a squad. ISU also dug nine of Sacred Heart's 24 attempts and allowed the Pioneers just nine total kills. The Bengals led the entire way and cruised to the 25-15 third set win.
The fourth set was a battle the entire way, with 11 ties and four lead changes. The set was deadlocked at 18-all until a kill from Jensen gave Idaho State the 19-18 edge. The two squads exchanged kills and were tied once again 20-all, but this time it was Sacred Heart that took the lead following an Idaho State attacking error. The Pioneers finished the set on a 5-3 run to win the set 25-23 and take the match 3-1.
"We have two more opportunities to get better this weekend," Reynolds said. "We need to take advantage of that."
Idaho State is back in action against Holy Cross Saturday, Sept. 17 at 8 a.m. MST in its second match of the Holly Young Invitational. The Bengals will face host New Hampshire at 5 p.m. MST.
