Gallery: (9-22-2022) Idaho State vs UNC Bears 9.22.22
POCATELLO, Idaho – 600 Bengals stood in unison in Reed Gym and shook the glass with their screams as the surging Idaho State Bengals ( 9-5, 1-0 BSC) took down the defending Big Sky Champion UNC Bears (6-6, 0-1 BSC) in a reverse sweep, five-set match.
The Bears took an early 2-0 lead winning the first set handily 25-14 and coming back in the 2nd set to win 25-20. Facing down a confident Bears squad and a 2-0 deficit, the Bengals didn't blink.
The Orange and Black roared back in the third set, needing to go to extra points to stay alive in the match, but holding off a tie at 24-24, the Bengals got the job done and won the third set 26-24 on a kill by Sadie Bluth and a UNC attack error.
The Bengals then stepped up in the fourth set, taking an early lead and holding on to it through the set. With a 22-18 lead, the Bears never stopped fighting and were able to bring it back to 24-23 before the Bengals closed it out on a kill by Taylor Burnham to tie the match at 2-2 and force a decisive fifth set.
The fifth set showed what the Bengals were made of, after falling behind 4-1 early. Head Coach Sean Carter took a timeout, what he said in the huddle worked, because the Bengals surged back with kills by Sadie Bluth and Andri Dewey to take the lead back at 5-4.
Knowing they had the Bears on the ropes, the Bengals didn't relent, going on a 9-0 run to take a 10-5 lead in the set.
A kill by Sadie Bluth gave the Bengals 14-11 match point and on the final play of the match, the Bengal defense held strong, digging out a monster hit by the Bears before Taylor Burnham tipped it over the fingers of the UNC blockers and scored the final kill of the match.
Emrie Satuala and Taylor Burnham After the Match
Coach Carter's Thoughts
Highlights
Social Bites
Up Next
The Bengals head west to California to take on the Sacramento State Hornets on Saturday at 8:00 PM MT
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