POCATELLO, Idaho – For the sixth time in a row, the Bengals entered Dahlberg Arena and came out with a win. Thursday evening, the Idaho State Bengals defeated the Montana Grizzlies 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 27-25, 26-24) in Missoula, Montana.
"Our team did a nice job following our scouting report," said Head Coach Sammi Stuart. "They took care of the details and it paid dividends."
After dropping the first set, the Bengals would go on to win three straight sets and come out with the victory. Aliyah Sopoaga had a huge game for the Orange and Black with a 24 assist 22 dig double-double.
"Aliyah has been working on temp and location to the right side and found a way to get her right sides involved," continued Stuart. "She had a gritty performance defensively."
Going into the first set, the Bengals and Grizzlies set the tone for the remainder of the match. In a set with eight tie scores neither team was able to gain a foothold until around the 15-point media timeout.
The Griz would go on a 5-1 lead to jump ahead and hold a minimum two-point lead until the end of the set, taking the early match 1-0 lead.
The Bengals just coming off of a 3-1 loss to Portland State were not going to allow a repeat of that match this night.
In Set two the Bengals responded dominantly, growing a lead that would swell to 12 points en route to a 25-18 set two victory.
In set three the Griz were determined to retake the match lead. Facing this onslaught, the Bengals had the opportunity to show what they were made up. Facing a 17-11 Griz lead midway through the set, the Orange and Black didn't blink.
ISU would go on to hit .263 percent in the set, out killing the Griz 19-15 to erase the Griz lead.
Near the end of the set, the Griz had a 24-21 match point lead. Even facing this, the Bengals never gave up. After kills by Kaia Rhodes and Dani Devlin, the Bengals tied the set at 24-24. After giving up a kill to Montana the Bengal offense came up with three-straight kills, capped by Taylor Burnham's set-winning kill.
Facing losing the match, the Griz came back in a fourth set that turned out to be an all-out battle.
There were 13 tie scores and five lead changes in a set that from 5-5 didn't see a lead of more than one point until the set was won in extras.
The two teams battled back and forth with the Bengals taking the first match point before Montana was able to tie it up again.
The Bengals could taste victory though and with two-straight kills from Raegan Kunz and Sadie Bluth secure the 26-24 set victory and the Bengals 3-1 match victory.
The win puts the Bengals at 2-1 in Big Sky Conference play, a position the Orange and Black haven't been in for four years.
The Bengals finished the match with the 2nd highest attack percentage of the season at .218 percent and 2nd highest number of kills at 63.
Reagan Kunz finished with a game-high 17 kills and a .405 attack percentage. Sadie Bluth came in just behind with a 15-kill .375 percent performance. Before leaving the match in the third set, Jamie Streit had seven kills and a .417 attack percentage.
In a four-set match, the Bengals had a season high in Digs at 82. Sopoaga had a team high with 22. She was followed by Asiah Sopoaga who had 18 who also rounded out a double-double with 18 assists. Andri Dewey finished up the third double-double of the night with a 14 assist 10 dig performance.
Dani Devlin and Rhodes contributed to eight of the Bengals 13 total blocks.
The Bengals return to the court Saturday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. in Bozeman when they take on the Montana State Bobcats.
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