Volleyball | 08/15/2016
OGDEN, Utah—The University of Idaho volleyball team was selected to finish sixth in the Big Sky in 2016 by a vote of the conference's coaches the league announced on Monday.
Idaho, the 2015 Big Sky North champions, garnered 68 points in the poll. Northern Arizona was selected to repeat as Big Sky champions, totaling nine first-place votes and 119 total points. North Division foes Northern Colorado and North Dakota were selected second and third overall.
"I am not too surprised with the vote," head coach
Debbie Buchanan commented. "We lost a big group from our team last year. We definitely have to come back and prove ourselves this year. We have a lot of young girls this season.
"I think it is a good spot for us. I think it will give our team a lot of motivation. They definitely want to finish higher than that. Hopefully the can see that [the vote] every day and come out to practice and focus on the right things to get to the conference tournament."
The Vandals have finished conference play .500 in the last 13 consecutive seasons. Last season Idaho went 10-6 in Big Sky play, earning the tournament's No. 2 seed. The Vandals return three starters in
Torrin Crawford,
DeVonne Ryter and
Terra Varney. Varney figures to be the team's top defensive specialist, shifting into the libero role that was vacated by
Jenna Ellis.
Idaho State (86) and Sacramento State (79) are predicted to be ahead of Idaho in fourth and fifth, respectively. Portland State (60) and Eastern Washington (51) round out the predicted tournament field in seventh and eighth.
Idaho opens the season Aug. 26 at the University of New Mexico Tournament. The Silver and Gold will play three matches in the Albuquerque in the first of four non-conference tournaments.
| Team |
Points |
| Northern Arizona |
119 (9) |
| Northern Colorado |
104 (1) |
| North Dakota |
99 (2) |
| Idaho State |
86 |
| Sacramento State |
79 |
| Idaho |
68 |
| Portland State |
60 |
| Eastern Washington |
51 |
| Weber State |
44 |
| Southern Utah |
40 |
| Montana State |
23 |
| Montana |
19 |
(Number of first place votes in parenthesis)
