Box Score PDF
CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Idaho State volleyball team fell in five sets at Southern Utah with scores of 25-18, 21-25, 19-25, 25-15 and 6-15 to halt a three-match Bengal win streak.
"Southern Utah did what we expected them to do, and we were not able to push through tonight," Head Coach
Rick Reynolds said. "Congrats to them on picking up the win."
Idaho State (11-15, 8-5 BSC) was led by senior outside hitter
Chloe Hirst with 17 kills and 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the season while junior outside hitter
Abby Garrity added 15 kills and 13 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. Sophomore libero
Haylie Keck added a match-high 24 digs while senior setter Makayla Lundin finished with a match-high 48 assists.
"We showed some flaw tonight that we have been seeing in practice, and it's on me and the staff to help us move past those," Reynolds said.
The Bengals suffered 31 hitting errors tonight, tying a conference-high for the season, while Southern Utah (7-18, 2-11 BSC) finished with 14.0 total blocks on the night.
The Bengals picked up the first set win, hitting .324 for 15 kills with just three errors while digging 19 of SUU's 41 attempts. Southern Utah finished hitting .122 for 12 kills, and the Bengals picked up the 25-18 first-set win.
The T-Birds claimed the second and third sets, 25-21 and 25-19 respectively, while the Bengals bounced back in the fourth set. Idaho State once again hit over .300 with a .355 hitting percentage for 16 kills while forcing the T-Birds to hit .160 for just seven fourth-set kills. The Bengals never trailed in the fourth set and cruised to the 25-15 win to tie the set two-all.
In the final set, Idaho State struggled to connect, finishing with just three kills hitting -.111. The Thunderbirds hit a match-best .444 for five kills while digging six of ISU 18 attempts. Southern Utah started the set with three-straight kills from Macky Fifita and the T-Birds never looked back, cruising to the 15-6 fifth set win and 3-2 match win.
"We need to finish better offensively to make sure this doesn't repeat itself," Reynolds said. "Our attention to detail with all six skills and the little things need to increase. We will be ready for NAU."
Southern Utah was led by Fifita with a match-high 25 kills hitting .333 with 13 digs while MaCail Evans added 10 kills.
Idaho State continues play on the road at Northern Arizona Nov. 4 at 2 p.m.
