POCATELLO, Idaho – For the first time since the 2018 season, the Idaho State Bengals volleyball team is headed to the Big Sky Conference postseason tournament.
The Tournament starts Wednesday, Nov. 23 and runs through Saturday, Nov. 26 and is hosted this year by the Weber State wildcats.
The No. 8 seed Bengals will take on the No. 1 seed UNC Bears at 10:00 AM Wed. 23 in Ogden, Utah.
All matches will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available as well. Follow the links below to access the media for the matches
Watch | Live Stats
The Big Sky Conference also has a championship information page that can be accessed by clicking here.
Bengals vs Bears this season
Idaho State and UNC split their regular season matchups this year.
The Bengals struck first in Pocatello on Thursday, Sept. 22 when they downed the Bears in a reverse sweep five set match. Emrie Satuala led the Bengals with 14 kills as ISU overcame errors and a strong Bears team to take the victory.
The full recap can be found here – RECAP.
The second meeting, Idaho State fell to the Bears 3-0 in Greeley on Nov. 10. At one point in the second set, the Bengals held an 18-10 lead over the Bears, but UNC was able to put together a run, win the set and eventually the match.
Currently, the Bears lead the Big Sky in both hitting percentage, averaging .262 a game, while also leading in hitting percentage defense, holding opponents to .154 on average.
The Bengals will look to win the battle at the net. Idaho State ranks above UNC at 3rd in the conference in blocks, averaging 2.38 per set. Bengal freshman, Emrie Satuala leads the team and the Big Sky averaging 1.31 blocks per set.
This will be the first meeting of the two programs in the Big Sky Tournament. And just the 27th overall meeting of the two schools. At neutral sites, ISU leads the all-time series 3-2
