MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of Idaho volleyball team handed the Washington State Cougars their ninth straight loss Tuesday night in front of 1,244 fans at Memorial Gym. Game scores were 22-30, 30-15, 31-29, and 30-24.
"It's a great win; any win that we get right now is good," head coach Debbie Buchanan said. "I felt like we were a little lethargic tonight and I don't think we really played up to our level. I'm proud of the kids for fighting through it and coming out with the win."
The Vandals came out flat in game one as they recorded only 11 kills on .045 hitting percentage. Jessie Camp recorded six kills for the Cougars as they hit .262 as a team. Washington State also recorded four of their seven blocks in game one as they took the win, 30-22.
Idaho's offense got on track in game two as they recorded 12 kills on .300 hitting percentage and held Washington State to a .028 attack percentage. The Vandals rattled off nine straight points with Mandy Becker serving and took an early 15-7 lead. Two Saxony Brown kills gave Idaho the lopsided win, 30-15.
"Our floor tempo got a little bit better and our outsides started moving the ball around a little bit more," Buchanan said. "But I also thought that we started serving tougher. I thought we put a lot more pressure on them which had them out of their system a little bit more."
After establishing an early six point lead at 15-9, the Vandals allowed the Cougars to slowly climb back into game three and tie the score at 27. Brooke Haeberle led Idaho down the stretch as she recorded two of her game high seven kills and a service ace to give the Vandals the 31-29 win.
Kati Tikker and Sarah Meek led the charge for Idaho in game four as they recorded seven and six kills, respectively. The Vandals jumped out to a 10-6 lead, but once again allowed the Cougars to hang around. Washington State would get as close as 24-21 but Tikker responded with four kills to end the threat. A block by Meek and Saxony Brown gave the Vandals the game and the match, 30-24.
Tikker led all Vandals with 21 kills on .281 hitting percentage. Haeberle and Meek added 18 and 16 kills, respectively. Mandy Becker recorded 56 assists and 18 digs and Meghan Brown led Idaho on defense with 23 digs.
Washington State (3-15, 0-5 PAC-10) was led by Jennifer Todd with 23 kills on .333 hitting percentage. Kelly Rosin and Jessie Camp were the other Cougars with double-figure kills as they notched 20 and 10, respectively. Stacey Holbrook led the team in digs with 21.
Idaho out-hit Washington State, .237 to .192. The Vandals also recorded 10 service aces compared to just one for the Cougars. However, Idaho also had 10 service errors on the night. Both teams had seven blocks and the Vandals edged the Cougars in digs, 80 to 79.
Idaho (11-5, 4-3 BWC) heads to California this weekend for two Big West Conference matches. They face UC Riverside on Fri., Oct. 15th and Cal State Fullerton on Sat., Oct. 16th. Both matches begin at 7 p.m.
"We need to make sure we are focused on the right things and take one match at a time," Buchanan said of the upcoming road trip. "Our match against Riverside is going to be tough; they have a great outside hitter. But if we can play our game then I think we should be able to play good."
