POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State (12-11, 6-4 BSC) was outpaced by Northern Arizona (15-8, 7-3 BSC) in four sets Saturday night at Reed Gym.
"NAU played really well," said Head Coach Rick Reynolds. "I thought our kids kept fighting no matter what was going on, on the court. I'm proud of that, but ultimately we need to execute better."
Juniors Haylie Keck and Brooke Pehrson continued to solidify their names along the Idaho State greats. Keck climbed to second on ISU's all-time digs list and Pehrson earned the 10th position among the schools' career leaders in blocks. Pehrson also has the eighth-most block assists in ISU history and is closing in on a spot on the solo blocks list.
Pehrson collected seven kills on 17 attacks and added four digs, a solo block and four block assists. Keck finished the game with 29 digs.
Abby Garrity was the only Bengal to eclipse 10 kills with 15 on 48 attempts. She added a service ace, eight digs and two blocks.
Nicole Lee and Taylor Meeks finished with eight and seven kills respectively. Lee was also active at the net with three blocks. Chelsea Johnson provided an assist on 41 of the 43 kills for ISU with six digs and a solo block on defense.
Idaho State had six more attacks (152-146) than Northern Arizona, but trailed in kills (56-43). The Bengals were plagued by attacking errors with 29 on the night compared to 12 for NAU. The Lumberjacks led the game in aces (8-3) and blocks (13-8), but trailed in digs (67-66).
The first game was 3-3 before NAU erupted for seven-straight points to put ISU in a 13-4 hole. The Lumberjacks extended the lead to 11 at 19-8 and took a 1-0 lead with a 25-11 win.
The Bengals surged to a 3-0 lead with kills from Pehrson and Garrity in the second set. The 'Jacks countered to even the game and began pulling away midway through the set. Their lead swelled to eight and Idaho State was unable to reign them in as they claimed the second 25-19.
Northern Arizona controlled the start of the third game and looked primed for a sweep with a 21-14 advantage. A kill by Pehrson put Alexis Simmons on the line as the Bengals embarked upon a dominant 11-0 run to close the set. Pehrson and Lee combined for five kills during the streak with the Bengals winning a crucial point that featured 13 changes of possession.
The Lumberjacks already had a 7-3 lead in the fourth set before adding an eight-point run. Northern Arizona was able to respond to their set three loss with another 25-11 win for the match victory.
Two losses on the weekend mark the first time ISU has lost back-to-back conference games in 2018. The team heads north to begin a streak of four games on the road next week. ISU faces Idaho on Thursday and Eastern Washington Saturday.
