POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State (17-12, 11-5 BSC) hit .314 or better in every set as the Bengals delivered a 3-1 loss to Sacramento State (15-15, 10-6 BSC) Saturday night. With the win, ISU jumped SAC in the conference standings and now sits tied for third with Weber State.
"All we can control is us doing what we do and that's what we talk to the girls about, one match at a time," said Head Coach Rick Reynolds. "We knew that we had the ability to beat anyone in the conference. It's really nice to beat SAC. Now we've beat everyone that was picked to finish ahead of us at least once. So, going into the conference tournament, we've beat everybody and I don't know that everybody else can say that."
The two players donning number four took center stage. Abby Garrity racked up 24 kills in her ninth double-double of the season. The senior also had a team-high 17 digs and hit at a .311 clip in the match. Sacramento State's Mikaela Nocetti returned to the lineup and secured her own double-double with 23 kills.
In the second set, junior libero Haylie Keck recorded her 10th dig of the match. With that pass, the Iona native became the first player in Idaho State history to reach 600 digs in a single season, surpassing her own single-season record set in 2016. She now has the three highest single-season dig totals in program history. She is also just 42 digs away from becoming the school's all-time leader in digs.
Keck finished the night with 16 digs and five assists. Chelsea Johnson tallied 56 assists and 12 digs in her sixth double-double of the season.
Nicole Lee and Raegan Steiner also reached double-digit kill figures with 13 and 10 respectively. Steiner added four blocks with two solo efforts.
The Bengals hit .331 for the match which is a season high during Big Sky play. ISU tallied three more kills than SAC on six fewer attempts. Idaho State had 13 more digs with 68 overall and two more assists.
As advertised, Sacramento State played tough defense at the net. The Hornets finished with 10 blocks on the night and had four service aces to ISU's three. SAC hit .350 in the opening frame of play, but trickled down to a .274 hitting percentage by the end of the fourth set.
"Don't get me wrong, SAC played great," Reynolds said. "I mean they had 62 kills so we didn't slow them down a whole lot, but it is nice to hit .331 and hold them to .274. Both teams hit really well."
The first set was close with the teams deadlocked at 8-8 early in the game. Sacramento State took the next five points with Nocetti tacking on the final two, and maintained control for the duration of the first. Idaho State narrowed the lead to three at 20-17 before Sacramento State grabbed the 25-18 win.
The Bengals led the Hornets 15-14 midway through the second set before surrendering five straight points. With a two game deficit looming, Idaho State ramped up the attack and began chipping away at the lead. Garrity put away consecutive points to cut the lead to one and force a timeout from Sacramento State.
Taylor Meeks registered a kill to tie the game at 22, but Nocetti gave SAC set point at 24-23. The Bengals denied the Hornets two times before gaining the advantage at 26-25. An attacking error by Sacramento State evened the series at 1-1.
Idaho State was in control for most of the third set. An ace from Johnson capped a four-point run that put the team up 13-8, and Sacramento State took a timeout down 17-11 a few minutes later. Garrity collected ISU's final three kills in the set as they rolled to a 25-18 win.
Sacramento State jumped to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set with its focus on a fifth game. A trio of points brought ISU within three at 13-10 and another three-point run put them just behind SAC at 17-16. The Hornets scored once more before ISU claimed six unanswered points to take a 22-18 advantage. Johnson gave the Bengals set point and Garrity closed the match with a kill.
"I thought our crowd was great in the fourth set when we started pulling back they started getting back into it a little more, and that always helps," Reynolds said. "Again, we have the best crowd in the Big Sky and that really helps."
In addition to Nocetti's 23 kill performance, Sarah Davis added 19 kills, five digs and two blocks to SAC's bottom line. Cianna Andrews also had nine kills and four blocks for the Hornets.
The Bengals have now defeated every team they have played in the conference. The only two teams they do not have wins against, Montana State and Montana, will play Idaho State next week. ISU will face both Montana schools for the first time this season with a road match against Montana State Thursday and Senior Night against Montana Saturday.
