Bengals Drop Tough Five-Set Contest with Weber State

POCATELLO, Idaho - The Idaho State Bengals dropped a tough five-set match against the Weber State Wildcats Friday evening in Reed Gym. The 3-2 (20-25, 25-16, 25-19, 22-25, 10-15) match was the seventh loss of the season for the Bengals and drop them to 1-2 in Big Sky Conference play. 

The team is no stranger to five set matches. Six of the previous eight contests that the Bengals have played have gone five sets.

After dropping the first set 25-20. The Bengals came roaring back in the second, taking advantage of an 8-1 run near the end of the second set to hold a 23-13 lead. The Bengals were able to hold the advantage and take the 25-16 set 2 victory. 

Set three saw one of the hottest starts for the Bengals so far this season. After starting the set with a 5-0 run, the Weber coaching staff called timeout. Instead of quenching the red-hot Bengals, ISU continued pressing with kills by Jamie Streit and and ace by Dani Devlin to start the set 9-0. The Bengals never took their feet off the gas in the third and took a 25-19 set victory.

The fourth set was a back and forth affair with neither team wanting to give an inch. The Bengals were able to pull out to a 19-16 lead in the set before Weber would go on a 6-0 stretch to take a 22-19 lead into a timeout. The Bengals never gave up but the Wildcats were able to pull away and force a deciding fifth set. 

In the fifth, Weber started with a 4-0 run. The Bengals came back to pull the game within 1 at 4-3 with another service ace by Dani Devlin. After that, The Wildcats took advantage of some costly Bengal errors and pull away for the 15-10 set win and 3-2 match win. 

The Bengals are back in action next week as they travel north to take on Eastern Washington and Idaho as Big Sky Play Continues.  Read Full Article