ATLANTA, Georgia – Idaho State (1-2) dominated the fifth set to secure the Bengal's first victory of 2018 over the Winthrop Eagles at the Hyatt Regency Invitational Saturday morning. The Bengals showcased their blocking abilities in the deciding set, stuffing four Eagle attacks to solidify the 3-2 win (18-25, 25-22, 25-19, 22-25, 15-6).
Brooke Pehrson anchored the Bengals defensively with six block assists and a solo block while adding 13 kills on 29 attempts.
Abby Garrity led the team in kills for her second time with 16 in the match and eclipsed 800 career digs with ISU (She has over one thousand career). The senior hit at a .224 clip and added six digs.
Alexis Thompson-Smith ended the match with four kills and five block assists and
Duquesne Moratzka was the forefront of the Bengal attack in the fifth, collecting four kills on eight attempts.
Taylor Meeks had eight successful attacks and
Chelsea Johnson collected another 45 assists.
ISU tallied seven kills in the first set while hitting .289, but was unable to stop the Winthrop attack. The Eagles collected 16 kills and committed just one error to hit .484 and cruised to a 25-18 victory.
In the second, the Bengals cut their attacking errors to two while hitting a match-high .314. Neither team led by more than two points until the final point. The game was tied 22-22, but a kill by
Nicole Lee and an ace from Pehrson clinched the second set victory 25-22.
Johnson spread the ball in the third as Garrity and Pehrson each recorded four kills while Lee added three. ISU surged to an 11-5 lead, but Winthrop cut the lead to two by the 21-18 mark. Lee and Garrity each terminated twice to fuel a 4-1 run and the Bengals won 25-19.
Idaho State struggled in the fourth, recording just six kills and posting a negative hitting percentage as the Winthrop blockers came alive for five redirects. The Eagles took the lead at 8-7 and never looked back as they glided to a 25-22 victory.
In the fifth, Idaho State's blocking forced Winthrop's hitting percentage below zero as Pehrson and Thompson-Smith each earned a pair of block assists. Moratzka guided the way for ISU as they went on six and five-point runs to collect the set 15-6.
Winthrop had four players with 10-plus kills in Jace Kleffner (11), Lourdes Rosario (10), Sydney Gunter (16) and Makayla Doyle (12). Kleffner and Yamaguchi both collected 11 digs to complete double-doubles; Yamaguchi had 52 assists.
Idaho State held a slight advantage in hitting percentage (.182-.179) and dominated from the service line with 10 aces. Winthrop led in kills, assists, digs and blocks.
The Bengals play their final match of the Hyatt Regency Invitational this afternoon with a 2:30 p.m. clash against Abilene Christian. Live stats can be found
here.
Bengal Milestones
Abby Garrity eclipses 800 ISU kills.
Nikole Cook reaches 25 digs.
Haylie Keck reaches 75 aces.
New Match Highs
Chelsea Johnson: 3 blocks | 3 block assists
Taylor Meeks: .273 attack percentage
Alexis Thompson-Smith: 5 blocks | 5 block assists
Duquesne Moratzka: 5 kills | 18 attacks | 10 digs
