POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State volleyball was just edged out in five sets 3-2 (28-26, 25-23, 21-25, 25, 22, 15-8) by The Citadel Tuesday evening.
The two teams battled back and forth for five sets in a match that saw 28 tie scores and 16 lead changes.
The first set was not decided in 25 points and had to go to extras to determine a winner. The two teams traded the lead 3 times before the Bulldogs were able to pull away with the 28-26 victory.
The Bengals came roaring back in the second set winning 25-23.
In the third set, the Bulldogs took advantage of some Bengal errors and quickly built up an 11-3 lead. Instead of giving up the Bengals fought back and pulled the game to within two points at 22-20. The Bull dogs were able to capitalize though and win the third set 25-21.
The fourth set went similar to the previous three with both teams trading points evenly matched. Heading into the end of the set both teams were tied at 21. The Bengals capitalized on an error by the Bulldogs and followed it up with a massive kill by Reagan Kunz to take the 23-21 lead late in the set.
The Bengals followed it up with a kill by Jamie Streit and an attack error by the Bulldogs to win the fourth set 25-22 and force a game-deciding fifth set.
The fifth set started with the two teams trading points before the Bulldogs were able to take a 5-2 lead after a decision by the referees went the Bulldogs way.
The Bengals held in and kept battling but were unable to close the gap and the game ended with The Citadel winning the fifth set 15-8 and the match 3-2.
Dani Devlin had an 11 kill 11 assist double-double for the Bengals and ended the night with a .550 hitting percentage and a team-high 14.5 points.
Kunz tied Devlin for most kills with 11 and Taylor Burnham followed just behind with 10.
For the first time this season, the Bengals won the battle at the net, out-blocking the Bulldogs 12 to 10. Kaia Rhodes led the team with six blocks and Devlin came in just behind with five blocks. In all, the Bengals had a season high 22 block assists with nine different Bengals credited for blocks.
The Sopoaga sisters had a big night defensively working together for 37 of the team's season-high 79 digs. Asiah led the team with a new career-record of 21 digs and Aliyah came in after her with 16.
The Bengals are back in action tomorrow, Sept. 8 as they take on Charleston Southern.
