Game Notes | Watch ISU vs. GT | Live Stats for All Matches
POCATELLO, Idaho – The regular season is here for Idaho State volleyball as they travel to Atlanta, Ga. for the Hyatt Regency Invitational Aug. 24-25. The Bengals play two games Friday and Saturday with the season opener against Georgia Tech airing on ESPN 3.
Friday pits Idaho State against the ACC's Georgia Tech at 10 a.m. and Georgetown at 2:30 p.m. MDT. The Bengals play Winthrop University at 7:30 a.m. and Abilene Christian at 2:30 p.m. MDT on Saturday.
Idaho State
Idaho State's 2018 roster features nine letter winners, six newcomers and three starters from last season.
Brooke Pehrson,
Taylor Meeks and Second Team All-Conference selection
Abby Garrity return to the court with libero
Haylie Keck, who ranked second in the conference with 4.89 digs per set.
Keck was also the conference leader in ace average with 0.39 per set, helping the Bengals finish second among conference teams. Garrity led ISU in kills per set last season with a 3.43 average while Pehrson anchored the blocking with 102 redirects. Meeks ranked second on the team in blocks with 88 while tallying 1.44 kills per set.
ISU made the Big Sky Conference tournament for the sixth-consecutive season in 2017 after finishing 11-19 overall with an 8-8 conference mark.
Rick Reynolds leads the Bengals for his fourth year, carrying a 50-44 record at ISU with a 31-17 record in conference play.
Georgia Tech
The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 13-18 season with an 8-12 ACC record. The team is under the direction of fifth-year Head Coach Michelle Collier and returns 2017 starters Kodie Comby, Cori Clifton and Sam Knapp.
Comby was the second-best blocker on paper with 70 total stuffs. Clifton recorded 1.55 kills per set while Knapp anchored the defense with 3.38 digs per set.
Idaho State is 1-0 against Georgia Tech. The teams met in the New Mexico Tournament in 2013 and ISU swept the match 3-0.
Georgetown
The Hoyas had a difficult season last year, finishing 8-22 with a 2-16 conference record. The team is under new direction with first-year Head Coach Toby Rens.
The heart of the team, middle blocker Symone Speech, is back for her senior season after averaging 3.72 kills per set with a .379 percentage in 2017. Her play earned her AVCA All-Region honors and an invitation to the U.S. Women's National Team tryouts. Senior outside hitter Alyssa Sinnette also returns after posting 2.75 kills per set last year.
This will be the first match played against Georgetown in program history.
Winthrop
Winthrop also has a new coach for the 2018 season in Chuck Rey. He takes over a program that finished 18-14 overall with an 8-8 mark in conference play last season.
Junior setter Siani Yamaguchi returns after earning a spot on the 2017 Big South Conference All-Tournament team with 55 assists and 18 digs in two matches. She recorded 10.07 assists per set in 2017.
The top-three attackers, Phoebe Wu, Jace Kleffner and Sydeney Gunter, return after averaging 3.53, 2.76 and 2.67 kills per set respectively.
This will be the first match played against Winthrop in program history.
Abilene Christian
Abilene Christian finished 13-18 with a 7-9 conference record in 2017. The Wildcats made a postseason run for the Southland championship, but fell short in the title game against Central Arkansas.
The team has had one season under current head coach Angela Mooney. Three ACU seniors were named to the Preseason All-Conference team. Those seniors were setter Kendall Bosse, middle blocker Lauren Walker and outside hitter Jacey Smith. Smith ranked in the top-100 players nationally with 1,156 total attacks in 2017. She converted on 2.78 kills per set.
This will be the first match played against Abilene Christian in program history.
Around the Big Sky
All 11 teams compete this week, marking the beginning of the 31st Big Sky volleyball season.
Watch the Action
Watch Idaho State vs. Georgia Tech
Live Stats
Live stats links for all four matches will be posted on the volleyball schedule at isubengals.com when they become available.
