Box Score PDF
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Idaho State volleyball team fell in three sets to No. 25 Colorado State Sunday afternoon in the final match of the Colorado State Tournament in Moby Arena.
Senior outside hitter
Chloe Hirst led the Bengals with 12 kills while junior outside hitter
Abby Garrity added nine kills with eight digs and one solo block. Freshman setter
Chelsea Johnson recorded 29 assists and five digs in her first match as a starter for the Bengals.
"I thought we had great composure today," Head Coach
Rick Reynolds said. "When the score gets to 16-16, and great teams separate themselves. I wouldn't say we lost our composure against them there, but I think we allowed [Colorado State] to go on some easy runs. I told the girls, I felt like we let them earn too many breaks."
Idaho State (3-7) battled throughout the match with No. 25 Colorado State (8-1) as there were 18 ties and eight lead changes throughout the match. In the first set, Hirst came out on fire for ISU with six kills of 13 attempts with two errors to hit .308. Midway through the set, a kill from Hirst tied the set 10-all, and the Bengals kept trading CSU point-for-point. The Rams gained some separation with three-straight kills to lead 18-15, but an ISU kill courtesy of
Nicole Lee cut the lead to two. Idaho State struggled to retain its momentum, committing four errors in the final four plays to give CSU the first set win, 25-17.
In the second set, it was freshman middle blocker
Taylor Meeks who stepped up at the net, finishing with four kills to lead the Bengals. Both Hirst and Garrity were close behind with three each, but it wasn't enough to offset CSU's Jasmine Hanna's five kills and Breana Runnels four. The Bengals continued to hang around for the entire set, challenging the Rams for every point. Trailing 21-18, Garrity connected for a big kill to bring the Bengals within three, 21-18, but CSU finished on a 4-2 run to take the second 25-20 and earn a 2-0 lead in the match.
"I was proud of our fight," Reynolds said. "I thought our serving was really tough late in the match. It came back on us a little bit and we were able to earn some points."
Two of ISU's four service aces in the match came in the third set, both courtesy of sophomore libero
Haylie Keck. With the Bengals trailing 14-9, Keck stepped to the service line to deliver back-to-back aces, forcing Colorado State to call a timeout. Two plays later, Garrity terminated for a kill to bring ISU within three, 15-12, but CSU put together another run to lead 21-15 late in the set. ISU couldn't put together a late rally and the Rams took the third set 25-18 and the match 3-0.
CSU was led by Runnels with a match-high 13 kills while both Sanja Cizmic and Jasmine Hanna had 10 kills apiece. Katie Oleksak added a match-high 43 assists, while Amanda Young finished with 18 digs.
Idaho State continues play on the road for the fourth-straight week next week as it heads to Boise State for the Boise State Classic. The Bengals open tournament play with Oregon State Friday at 7:30 p.m.
