Pocatello, Idaho – After the best non-conference start to a season since 2003, the Idaho State Bengals stayed home to face the Eastern Washington Eagles in their first conference bout of 2024.
With the crowd on their side and the energy flowing, the Bengals were up in the majority of set number 1. A 10-3 run helped put the Eagles back in the lead up 17-16, but Idaho State answered right back with a 9-3 run for themselves as
Meline Robarge finished it with a rocket of a kill (25-20).
The second set was a tale of back-and-forths between the two conference foes, trading blows and fighting for the lead. The Bengals attack proved to be too much for Eastern, taking the second set in a dominant fashion on a missile from none other than
Jamie Streit (25-22).
The Bengals started hot and fiery going up 5-1 in the third with two aces and a big man block by
Marci Bell and
Meline Robarge. A 5-1 run put the Bengals up 15-9 before the Eagles rallied, going on a 16-6 run to stun the home crowd and take set number three (25-21).
The fourth and final set was one of small runs with 11 total lead changes, giving the home crowd a dramatic finish on the night.
Aliyah Sopo'aga helped ice the match with 16 total assists in the fourth and a career high 50 on the night. Points 7-11 were scored on the back of
Sadie Bluth with 4 straight kills and a monster block on the outside.
The Bengals were able to fend off a late minute comeback attempt by the Eagles, winning the fourth and final set in extra points (26-24).
When asked about the conference opponent after the match, Coach Carter had nothing but praise. "The setters did a really good job at mixing it up. They did their homework. I told the girls these guys were going to block balls and we better be ready to get them".
As the number 1 blocking team in the nation, the Eagles were ready at the net leading in that category (11-7) and forcing the Bengals to adapt their style of play. When asked about the disparity in blocks between the two teams, Carter stated "to me it was great to finally see the dig defense because now if we match up the blocking with the digging, it can be suffocating for the other team. It was great to see us hold them under .200 (in hitting percentage) and that's a real recipe for winning".
Up Next:
The Bengals will head off to Northern Colorado to face the burly Bears in what figures to be a tough conference match up. Idaho State will play Saturday, September 28th, at 6:00 pm in Greeley, Colorado.
Bengal Bites
- It was a night of career highs for the Bengals, as Aliyah Sopo'aga notched 50 assists, Meline Robarge recorded a best .565 attack percentage, and Jaydin Watts had 15 total kills.
- Four Bengals recorded double digits kills (with a fifth at 9) versus the Eagles as the team meshed extremely well offensively (Watts – 15, Streit – 14, Robarge – 13, Bluth – 10, Bell – 9).
- Idaho State continues to dominate all of Division 1 volleyball in blocks with 165 (10.5 more than 2nd place E. Michigan). The Bengals also boast 3 players in the top 100 in individual blocks with Marci Bell at 3rd (75), Jaydin Watts at 9th (68) and Meline Robarge at 74th (52).
- The Bengals remain strong in conference stats with their strong win over Eastern, leading in points scored (863), hitting percentage (.264), blocks (obviously) and are 2nd in assists (592) and 3rd in kills (632).
