MOSCOW, Idaho— Opening weekend of home Big Sky play did not start the way the Vandals would have liked. Idaho dropped to 1-3 in conference play, falling to Northern Colorado 3-1 on Saturday.

The Vandals started the match strong, opening on a 5-2 run. UNC came back with a 4-0 run to gain a 9-7 lead. A second run for the Bears pushed the lead to 13-10. Idaho answered back with five straight points to jump back in front, 15-13. Idaho led all the up to 23-21 when a 3-0 run by UNC gave the Bears a one-point lead, 24-23.

"I thought that we came out and really fought in game one," head coach Debbie Buchanan explained post-match. "We battled [in the first set]. I think we battled a little in game four, even though we missed some key assignments at times we were still in that match and able to stay with them. We did not really see that in the other games."

UNC (9-7, 3-1) began the second on a 5-1 run, setting the tone for the remainder of the set. The Bears gained a 17-8 advantage and never looked back. The Vandals would cut the lead to eight, 21-13, but UNC would close on a 4-0 run to take the set.

The Bears used another early run to get things going in the third. UNC scored four straight points to get a 9-3 lead. A second 4-0 run boosted the advantage to eight at 14-6. The Vandals came right back with two 4-0 runs of their own, closing the gap to three at 19-16. A kill from Emily O'Neil gave the set to UNC, 25-21.

A  Becca Mau kill helped give the Vandals an early 7-5 lead in the fourth. The two sides traded points back and forth, seeing five ties in the span of nine points. UNC broke the tie at 11, going up 13-11. Idaho bounced back with a 3-0 run to regain the lead at 14-13. UNC strung together four points, climbing out to an 18-15 advantage. DeVonne Ryter and Sarah Sharp helped Idaho to a 4-1 run, tying the match at 19. UNC would regain the lead for a short moment, before committing back-to-back errors to knot the score up at 22. Northern Colorado reached match point at 24-23. UNC served into the net, giving the Vandals life. A 2-0 run from the Bears closed the set, 26-24, giving UNC the match.  

"I thought we did some things that were better tonight versus Thursday," Buchanan added. "Offensively, I thought we were in system a little more. We did not have as many missed serves. We did not have as many errors overall. We have to keep scaling it back."

Idaho (6-10, 1-3 BSC) was led by Sharp on offense with 16 kills, surpassing 400 for her career. Mau added 12 for the Vandals. Sophomore Haylee Mathis recorded her third double-double of the season, totaling 21 assists and 13 digs. Senior Terra Varney led the Vandals with 22 digs. She moved into fourth all-time in program history now with 1,206.

"We have to be able to execute the game," Buchanan said. "That is something that we have to continue to work on. We have to continue to reduce our errors. We need people to step up, start playing and be consistent. We are seeing that a little, but we are not quite where we need to be yet."

The Vandals have two more matches left on this homestand. Idaho will take on Southern Utah next Thursday, Oct. 6, and Northern Arizona on Saturday, Oct. 8.

Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho volleyball by following the team on Instagram and Twitter, @IdahoVolleyball