POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State (3-4) earned its first sweep of the season with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-22) victory over Milwaukee in the fifth match of the Idaho State Invitational Saturday afternoon.
Idaho State featured several points of attack on the day with five players tallying seven or more kills. The Bengals also had three players hit better than .350 in
Raegan Steiner (.357),
Taylor Meeks (.462) and
Brooke Pehrson (.538); all three players gathered seven kills.
Idaho State was also strong on the block, recording 11 team blocks during the three-set match. Pehrson led the team with seven and
Nicole Lee added five, all assists. Garrity led the Bengals once again with nine kills on the day.
In the first, the Panthers and Bengals traded points up to the 6-6 mark when ISU began a 9-0 run with Garrity on the service line. The run was fueled by the defense as they recorded three blocks during the streak. Idaho State won the first set 25-18, closing the game with a kill by Pehrson.
The second set was much tighter, with neither team leading by more than three until the Bengals created a four-point spread at 23-19. Garrity tallied two kills in the final three points, giving ISU a 25-21 victory, to put the Bengals up 2-0 at the intermission.
Milwaukee held its first extended lead of the match to start the third, going up 7-5 after a handful of Bengal errors. Idaho State countered with a 5-0 run and did not trail for the remainder of the match. The Bengals completed the sweep with a 25-22 victory.
Sara Kartalovic and Kleja Cerniauskaite paced the Panthers with seven kills apiece. Cerniauskaite also tallied two of the Panthers' three blocks.
Idaho State averaged 14 kills per set while hitting .269 for the match. They out-blocked the Panthers 11-3 and recorded five more assists.
The Bengals play one more match in the invitational, closing the tournament with a contest against Boise State at 7 p.m. tonight.
New Match Highs
Nikole Cook - Kills:1, Attacks:1 (Firsts of Career)
Chelsea Johnson - Block Solo:1 (First of Career)
Haylie Keck - Attacks:2
Nicole Lee: Blocks:5, Block Assists:5
Raegan Steiner: Kills:7, Blocks:4, Block Assists:4, Attack percentage: .357
Milestones
Brooke Pehrson - 1000 career attacks
(Season)
Abby Garrity reached 100 kills
