MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of Idaho volleyball team dropped a close five-game match to the visiting UC Irvine Anteaters Saturday night at Memorial Gym. Game scores were 30-27, 26-30, 30-25, 20-30 and 13-15.
"I thought we had moments where we played great and I thought we had full control to win this match," head coach Debbie Buchanan said. "We went through spurts where we let up and things didn't go our way. Bottom line is we have to play tough and stay in it."
The Vandal offense was on fire in the first game as they recorded a .304 hitting percentage on their way to a 30-27 win. The Vandals also hit well in game two (.400 percent), but the Anteaters hit better as they won the game with 20 kills on a .514 hitting percentage.
Idaho battled back in game three as Irvine hit .154 percent to .231 percent for the Vandals. The Vandals were up by as many as six at 28-22 before allowing the Anteaters to score three straight points. However, Idaho held on to take the 30-25 win.
Game four was all Irvine as they hit .300 percent and allowed the Vandals to only hit .078 percent as they cruised to the 30-20 win to tie the match at two games apiece.
The fifth game was back and fourth but Irvine provided to be too strong as they recorded 13 kills on .524 hitting percent to take the game and the match, 15-13.
"I didn't think we blocked as well as we could have and offensively we were a little careless at the end," Buchanan said. "We were doing things that are typical of us throughout that match."
Kati Tikker led all players with 26 kills on .253 hitting percentage. Sarah Meek added 17 kills, four aces and eight digs for the Vandals. Brooke Haeberle was the other Vandal with double figure kills as she recorded 17 to go along with her 16 digs. Meghan Brown led the Vandals with 21 digs.
UC Irvine (16-6, 9-4 BWC) out-hit and out-blocked Idaho, .338 to .249 and 9 to 8. The Vandals held the edge in digs as they tallied 87 to the Anteaters 85.
"We need to win two out of the next four matches," Buchanan said. "We need to get three out of five on the road."
Idaho (14-8, 6-6 BWC) will travel to California next weekend for two Big West Conference matches. They face #20 UC Santa Barbara on Fri., Nov. 5th before taking on Cal Poly on Sat., Nov. 6th. Both matches begin at 7 p.m.
Notes:
Setter Mandy Becker moved into second on the UI career dig list during the match. She now has 1,103 career digs and needs just 14 more to break the all-time record.
Libero Meghan Brown moved into seventh on the UI career dig list during the match. She has 933 career digs.
