POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State (0-2) gained an early 2-0 advantage against Georgetown (1-1), but was unable to stop the Hoyas' comeback in the second match of the Hyatt Regency Invitational Friday afternoon. The Bengals finished the day with two losses after dropping a match against Georgia Tech earlier in the day, but showcased high potential in several facets of the game.
"I see a lot of great things happening," said Head Coach
Rick Reynolds. "We executed at a really high level the last two sets of match one and the first two sets of match two. I am excited about all phases of the game and where I see us heading."
Abby Garrity and
Nicole Lee each eclipsed 25 kills between the two matches with Lee recording a team-high 19 against Georgetown. Garrity earned ISU's first double-double of the season against the Hoyas, finishing with 13 kills and 18 digs.
Sophomore setter
Chelsea Johnson also earned a double-double with 49 assists and 11 digs in the second match of the tournament. She finished the day with 87 assists for a 9.67 assists per set average.
Brooke Pehrson was a solid contributor across the board, tallying 16 kills, nine digs, 12 blocks (five solo) and three aces on the day.
Taylor Meeks and
Alexis Thompson-Smith each earned double-digit kills overall with 13 and 11 respectively, and libero
Haylie Keck racked up 55 digs.
Idaho State was red hot to start the match against Georgetown. The team exploited the Hoyas early on, recording 16 kills and just one error as they hit .441 in the first. The set was tied at 13-13, but ISU capped the game with a 12-4 run to win 25-17.
The Bengals continued to terminate at a high level in the second match and capitalized on Hoya errors to lead by as many as four. Georgetown rallied, tying the game at 15 and 17 points apiece, but Pehrson took control near the end, recording two kills and an ace to secure a 25-20 victory.
"I saw a lot of positives with our ability to attack our opponents in each rotation and in transition," Reynolds said. "Our serving created a lot of opportunities for us. We need to continue to be aggressive."
Georgetown came out of the intermission with several adjustments and chipped away at the Bengals, taking sets three and four 25-18 and 25-17 respectively to force a deciding set.
Both teams traded points to start the fifth before ISU charged ahead 8-5 off an ace by
Chelsea Johnson and forced a Hoya timeout. Georgetown tied the game several times, but did not gain the lead until 12-11. Idaho State took a timeout, but the Hoyas were unfazed as they completed the three-game comeback with a 15-12 win.
"Our level of execution went down in sets three and four," Reynolds said. "In set five, we were in control and had opportunities to put Georgetown away. We will grow from this and be ready to go in the morning. We need to continue to serve and pass at the level we are capable of."
The two teams recorded nearly identical stat lines with no difference greater than two in kills, attacking errors, assists, serving errors and blocks. Georgetown did hold an advantage in service aces with 13 to Idaho State's seven.
Georgetown's Iva Vujosevic and Alyssa Sinnette both recorded double-doubles off the kills and digs columns.
ISU dropped the match
against Georgia Tech 3-1 Friday morning. The Bengals play twice tomorrow with games against Winthrop and Abilene Christian at 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m MDT. The live stats links can be found on the volleyball
schedule here.
Bengals in the Books
Haylie Keck climbed two positions on the all-time digs list with 1,202. She now ranks ninth behind Hayley Farrer (1,236).
Career Milestones
Nicole Lee recorded her 100th kill.
Brooke Pehrson recorded her 250th block.
Nikole Cook,
Kaia Rhodes and
Duquesne Moratzka all played their first games for Idaho State.
New Game Highs
Chelsea Johnson: Kills – 4 | Attacks : 7 | Assists: 49 | Digs: 11
Nicole Lee: Kills: 19 | Attacks: 49
Taylor Meeks: Attacks: 24
Alexis Thompson-Smith: Kills: 8 | Attacks: 18 | Blocks: 3 | Block assists: 3
