Game Notes | Watch Live Idaho State vs. Denver | Stats Idaho State vs. Saint Peter's | Stats Idaho State vs. Fairleigh Dickinson | Stats Idaho State vs. Denver
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POCATELLO, Idaho – After hosting a nonconference tournament last week, the Idaho State volleyball team travels to the Mile High City for the Pioneer Showdown Sept. 7-8. Idaho State will face Saint Peter's on Friday and Fairleigh Dickinson and Denver on Saturday.
This is the third time the Bengals have played in the Pioneer Showdown. Idaho State previously took part in the tournament in 1999 and 2005.
The Bengals start the tournament with a 3 p.m. (MDT) match against Saint Peter's University Friday afternoon. The following day, they play an early match against Fairleigh Dickinson at 10 a.m. (MDT) before wrapping up the tournament against the host, the Denver Pioneers, at 7 p.m. (MDT).
Bengal Ranks
Idaho State has left its mark all over the national rankings. Sophomore setter
Chelsea Johnson sits atop the DI in assists with 349, and
Brooke Pehrson ranks No. 1 in blocks with 50. Junior libero
Haylie Keck ranks second in the nation in digs with 177. In her final season,
Abby Garrity sits at No. 3 in attacks (345), No. 9 in kills (119) and No. 13 in points (125.5).
As a team, the Bengals rank No. 2 in assists (387), No. 4 in kills (403), No. 4 in blocks (74), No. 20 in digs (447) and No. 30 in aces (42).
Recent Play
The Bengals lost their single match against Utah Valley and finished the Idaho State Invitational with a 1-2 record last week.
The victory came against Milwaukee via a three-game sweep Saturday afternoon. The Bengals lost to UC Riverside in three sets and dropped the matches against Utah Valley and Boise State in four sets.
Pehrson was named the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week after tallying 22 blocks and eight digs last week. She also added 28 kills and two service aces across 14 sets and hit a career high .455 against UC Riverside.
The Bengals are 3-5 for the season.
Scouting Saint Peter's
Saint Peter's University enters the tournament with a 2-8 record. The Peacocks are hitting .169 for the season, averaging 10.26 kills, 9.55 assists, 14.92 digs and 1.72 blocks per set.
The team is led by freshman outside hitter Alanis Alvarado, who ranks 11th in kills with 116 on the season. Her counterpart, Alexus Sharp, has hit at a .321 clip this year and averages 1.55 kills per set as a middle blocker.
Saint Peter's is under the direction of second-year Head Coach Amable Martinez. Idaho State won the lone contest between these two programs with a 3-1 victory at the Fordham University Tournament in 2003.
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Scouting Fairleigh Dickinson
Fairleigh Dickinson has yet to win a match in 2018 and has won just five sets so far. The team's hitting percentage is .097. The Knights average 8.91 kills, 8.30 assists, 14.74 digs and 1.74 blocks per set. The team features a young lineup with three freshmen and two sophomores in the starting rotation.
Erika Sullivan sets the tone for FDU with 2.74 kills per set and 3.57 digs per set. Andrea Nolan was promoted to head coach after serving as the interim head coach in 2017.
Idaho State and Fairleigh Dickinson have met just once with the Bengals earning a sweep at the St. John's Invitational in 2012.
Scouting Denver
The tournament hosts are the strongest team ISU will face in the Rockies. Denver enters the tournament with a 5-1 record and plenty of experience with extended matches. The Pioneers have played just one three-set match and four of their matches have featured a fifth set.
The team is hitting .250 for the season while averaging 12.96 kills, 12.11 assists, 13.59 digs and 1.83 blocks per set. Becca Latham, Katarina Marinkovic and Lydia Bartalo form a three-headed attack for the Pioneers with 2.85, 2.78 and 2.56 kills per set respectively.
Tom Hogan enters his third season with Denver after leading them to back-to-back Summit League regular-season titles, tournament titles and NCAA Tournament berths.
Denver topped Idaho State at their last meeting in 2005, but Idaho State holds a 2-1 advantage in the series. Each team has won once during previous Pioneer Showdown Tournaments. Â
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