Game Notes | Watch vs. SAC on Watch Big Sky or Pluto TV (233) | Live Stats vs. SAC | Watch vs. PSU on Watch Big Sky or Pluto TV (232) | Live Stats vs. PSU
POCATELLO, Idaho – The Bengals' four-game home stand has come to an end as the team heads out to face Sacramento State and Portland State on the road this weekend. Idaho State plays SAC at 8 p.m. Thursday and PSU at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Last Time Out
The Bengals dropped their first match of conference play against Weber State last Tuesday, Oct. 2, before sweeping the Northern Colorado Bears on Saturday.
Abby Garrity and
Nicole Lee led the team with 28 and 21 kills respectively. Garrity also recorded five assists and two aces while Lee collected five blocks.
Brooke Pehrson and
Raegan Steiner combined for 32 kills and 13 blocks. Pehrson led the Bengals with a .342 hitting percentage and tied
Taylor Meeks with nine blocks.
Chelsea Johnson contributed in all facets of the game with seven kills, 80 assists, two aces, 14 digs and four blocks.
Haylie Keck was named Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the week for the second-straight time after collecting 56 digs, six assists and an ace. She was the first ISU player to win the award in consecutive weeks since September of 2012.
Keck tallied a career-high 38 digs against Weber State which is the third-highest total in Idaho State history. She also surpassed 1,500 career digs in the match.
As a team the Bengals hit .217 while limiting opponents to a .168 hitting percentage. They had 18 blocks and broke the century mark in digs with 124. The team averaged 14.0 kills, 13.6 assists, 1.3 aces, 17.4 digs and 2.6 blocks per set.
Idaho State Season
Idaho State is now 11-8 this season with a 5-1 record in Big Sky play. They sit second in the league standings behind Weber State (10-5, 5-1). The standings remain tight with Montana rounding out the top six at 4-2.
The Bengals average 13.1 kills, 12.4 assists, 1.4 aces, 14.6 digs and 2.3 blocks per set and have limited their opponents to a .196 attacking percentage collectively.
Idaho State has three conference leaders in Johnson (assists), Pehrson (blocks) and Keck (digs).
Scouting Sacramento State
Sacramento State is 9-11 this season with a 4-2 conference record. The team split on the road last week with a loss to Idaho and a sweep of Eastern Washington. The Hornets' other conference loss came against Montana.
Mikaela Nocetti paces the offense with 294 kills on the season. She collects 3.82 kills per set and is an active contributor at the service line (27 aces) and in defense (184 digs).
Brie Gathright and Lana Brown lead the defense at the net with 1.05 and 1.23 blocks per set. Ashtin Olin is nearing 700 assists for the year and Paige Winney just eclipsed 300 digs.
SAC records 11.9 kills, 11.0 assists, 1.8 aces, 15.4 digs and 2.6 blocks per set. They have averaged 0.8 more kills per set since conference play began. Sacramento State has the third-most aces in the nation with 139 and is No. 5 in blocks with 201.5.
The Hornets are coached by Ruben Volta who has a 174-168 overall record.
Sacramento State has a dominant record against the Bengals at 32-13. The Bengals have won just four of 21 games held in Sacramento, Calif.
Scouting Portland State
Portland State snapped a 15-game losing streak with a five-set win over Eastern Washington last week before losing to Idaho in three sets. The Vikings are 2-16 overall and 1-5 in Big Sky play.
Jenna Mullen has 163 kills this season with 3.08 per set. Katy Wilson leads the team in blocks with 54 and Maddy Reeb has 43. Reeb is also the team leader in assists with 423. No player has over 200 digs for the Vikings, although five players have eclipsed 100.
PSU posts 10.5 kills, 9.8 assists, 1.0 aces, 14.2 digs and 1.7 blocks per set. Just seven of their 18 matches have exceeded the minimum of three sets.
Michael Seemann, a graduate of Portland State, is in his 12th year at the head of the program and carries a 201-145 overall record.
Idaho State holds a 22-36 record against Portland State and is 9-18 when playing in Portland, Ore.
