POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State (9-7, 3-0 BSC) remained undefeated in conference play with its second-consecutive sweep as
Abby Garrity eclipsed 1,000 career kills with ISU on Thursday night. The Bengals defeated Eastern Washington (8-7, 0-3 BSC) in straight sets (25-14, 25-11, 25-19) in front of 591 fans to start the homecoming week festivities.
"What I'm most excited about is that we had a great road trip, and our kids got better this week," said Head Coach
Rick Reynolds. "They're not resting on anything. It's our standard. It's our process."
Garrity led ISU with 11 kills, recording her 1,000th as a Bengal in the third set. She hit at a .276 clip and added two service aces, seven digs and a block.
"It's exciting, but we're just going to keep going up," Garrity said. "There's no stopping at 1,000 so I'm excited for what the season has to hold."
Garrity reached the milestone on just 2,931 attacks.
"A thousand kills is great and she's done it in a short time," Reynolds said. "What I'm probably most proud of is she's doing it at a really, really efficient level and she's bringing her team with her. She's been a great leader for us."
Nicole Lee also had 11 kills and hit .292 for the match with two blocks.
Taylor Meeks,
Raegan Steiner and
Brooke Pehrson each tallied five blocks at the net. Meeks and Pehrson combined for 17 kills while both hitting above .400.
Chelsea Johnson assisted on 41 of ISU's 45 kills and added seven digs and a block.
Haylie Keck anchored the strong defensive back row with 18 digs on the night.
"Eastern Washington had some different pressures they put on us and we handled it really well," Reynolds said. "We knew that our block was going to create opportunities for there to be tips and rolls, and our kids picked up tips and rolls and turned them into offense."
Idaho State had one less attack than Eastern Washington but generated 19 more kills on the night. The Bengals hit .319 as a team and limited the Eagles to a .063 hitting percentage. ISU collected four more aces than EWU and five more blocks with 10 overall.
Idaho State claimed an early lead off two Eastern Washington errors and surged to a 9-6 advantage. A kill from Pehrson and two successful swings from Garrity put ISU up 13-6 to force an EWU timeout. The Bengals continued to build a lead with small streaks before Pehrson closed the game 25-14 with a service ace.
The second set was tight to start as both teams went errorless through the first six points. Eastern Washington held a 5-4 lead before
Alexis Simmons took the line and sent the Bengals on a five-point run to force a timeout from EWU's bench.
The Bengals extended their lead to five at 14-9 and then buried the Eagles with a nine-point streak capped by consecutive service aces from Garrity. Pehrson closed the set once again with a kill to end the second game 25-11.
Eastern Washington tallied the first two points of the third set but trailed 7-4 after kills by Steiner and Meeks.
Mahala Bradburn's ace put ISU up 11-7 before EWU evened the score at 11-all. The Eagles won five of the next six points to force ISU's first timeout of the match.
Meeks emerged from the huddle and crushed three-consecutive attacks to put the Bengals back on top. The teams continued to battle with the score knotted at 19-19 late in the third. Idaho State capped the sweep with a 6-0 run fueled by four kills from Lee. Pehrson placed the finishing touch once again in the 25-19 win. The Bengals did not record a single attacking error after trailing 15-12.
Idaho State faces Idaho in the first Battle of the Domes event of 2018 on Saturday night. The in-state rivals were the only two undefeated teams heading into Thursday, but Idaho lost against Weber State in four sets. The Bengals are the only unbeaten team in Big Sky Conference play. First serve is 7 p.m. in Reed Gym.
Bengal Bites
Abby Garrity eclipsed 1,000 kills with ISU.
Brooke Pehrson eclipsed 150 career digs.
Taylor Meeks set a match high with five blocks.
