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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Idaho State volleyball team fell 3-0 at Northern Arizona Saturday afternoon at the Rolle Activity Center in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Bengals were swept by the Lumberjacks with scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-17.
Idaho State (11-16, 8-6 BSC) was led by senior outside hitter
Marissa Dance who finished with 12 kills hitting .267 to go along with eight digs. Junior outside hitter
Abby Garrity finished with 11 kills and seven digs, while sophomore libero
Haylie Keck finished with a match-high 15 digs.
"We have to play better defense," Head Coach
Rick Reynolds said. "We created opportunities for ourselves, but we were not able to take advantage. NAU put a lot of pressure on us and we didn't do a good job of handling it."
Northern Arizona (12-13, 8-6 BSC) started the match strong, connecting for 19 kills hitting .500 in the first set to put the Bengals on their heels. The Bengals kept it close in the beginning of the set, trailing the Lumberjacks 9-8 after sophomore middle blocker
Brooke Pehrson connected for a big kill. Yet NAU kept swinging and ISU struggled to stop them, finishing with 13 digs off 36 Lumberjack attempts. NAU made a run in the middle of the set to distance itself and continued on for the 25-17 first set win.
In the second set, Idaho State hit consistently at .227 for 16 kills, but once again the Bengals were unable to stifle NAU's hitting game. The Lumberjacks hit .486 on its way to the 25-21 second set win.
Idaho State stepped up its defensive game in the third set to keep NAU under .400 hitting, but the 'Jacks kept pushing. ISU twice cut the Lumberjack's lead to three, but it was unable to close the gap. A kill from Pehrson cut the lead to 19-16, but NAU finished on a 6-1 lead to claim the 25-17 win and 3-0 match sweep.
"We have two more opportunities against the two best teams in our conference this week," Reynolds said. "It will be important for us to recognize the opportunities in front of us and take advantage of them."
Northern Arizona was led by Kaylie Jorgenson with a match-high 16 kills hitting .366 while Abby Stomp finished with a match-high 43 assists.
Idaho State returns home to host Sacramento State Nov. 9 followed by Portland State Nov. 11. Both matches will be at 7 p.m. in Reed Gym.
