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POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State lost its third-straight Saturday evening, falling in a five-set battle to visiting Sacramento State. The Hornets bested the Bengals in ISU's first five-set match of the season with scores of 25-22, 15-25, 22-25, 25-12 and 17-15.
"I'm excited about the effort and competitiveness," Head Coach
Rick Reynolds said. "I'm excited about players wanting to swing in the moment. I thought our serving was much more aggressive, and we continue to improve in the serving game. I'm just proud of the effort overall. There are definitely some unforced errors that we need to take care of, but overall just really proud of the effort of the team."
Idaho State had three players record double-doubles on the night led by junior outside hitter
Chloe Hirst. Hirst recorded career-highs in both kills (23) and attempts (69), and collected 11 digs on the night. Sophomore outside hitter
Abby Jensen added 17 kills and 12 digs while senior setter
Hayley Farrer finished with a match-high 53 assists and 15 digs. Freshman libero
Haylie Keck continued her solid defensive play, finishing with a match-high 25 digs.
In the first set, the Idaho State (5-10, 0-2 BSC) were tied 22-all with Sacramento State (8-8, 2-0 BSC), but the Hornets finished the set on a 3-0 run behind two straight kills from Madeline Cannon and an attacking error by Idaho State to claim the 25-22 first set win.
But the momentum quickly shifted in favor of Idaho State as the Bengals forced Sac State to hit just .083 with 10 hitting errors. ISU broke a 5-all tie early in the set and put together a 5-0 run, capitalizing on three Hornet hitting errors in addition to two kills courtesy of Jensen and freshman middle blocker
Brooke Pehrson. The Bengals never looked back and cruised to the 25-15 second set win behind a .333 hitting percentage.
Out of the break, Sacramento State claimed the first point and gained a 4-1 advantage early, but midway through the set it was tied 10-all. A kill from Hirst broke the tie to give the Bengals an edge, and the Bengals put together a short 6-3 run fueled by three Hirst kills to gain the 16-13 advantage. Sacramento State cut ISU's lead to one, 21-20, but the Bengals pushed ahead behind a kill from Todd, two from Hirst and finished the set on a big kill from Jensen to claim the third 25-22.
The fourth set was all Sacramento State as the Hornets raced out to an 8-0 lead. During that early run, the Bengals suffered four attacking errors while Sacramento State terminated on four kills; Todd finally put the unanswered run to rest with a big kill. The Bengals were able to close the gap to five points, 10-5 after capitalizing on two CSUS attacking errors, but Sac State responded and put together a 10-3 run to extend their lead to 12, 20-8. Idaho State couldn't close the gap and fell 25-12.
The fifth set was a battle from the beginning, featuring nine ties and six lead changes. The Hornets struck first with a kill from Shannon Boyle, but Idaho State was able to build the early two-point lead, 5-3 with two straight kills, one from Hirst and another from Pehrson. Yet Sac State would outscore the Bengals 6-1 behind three-straight kills from Mikaela Nocetti to take the 9-6 lead midway through the final set. The Bengals closed the gap, and the set was tied five times to close the set: 11-all, 12-all, 13-all, 14-all and 15-all.
The Bengals had two match-point opportunities, but Sacramento State erased each of those opportunities with big kills to tie the match. The Hornets finished the set with two straight kills to take the set 17-15 and win the match, 3-2.
"At the end of the match, Sac State did what they were supposed to do," Reynolds said. "They executed on their side, and we did not execute on the last couple of points. We lost by two points…It's a tough way to go at the end."
Idaho State begins a four-match road swing Thursday, Sept. 29 as it travels to Flagstaff, Ariz. to take on the defending Big Sky champion Northern Arizona. The match is set for a 7 p.m. MST start.
