MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of Idaho volleyball team ended their two match skid Thursday night with a convincing three game sweep of the Cal Poly Mustangs. A crowd of 1,035 fans watched at Memorial Gym as the Vandals won, 30-13, 30-24, and 30-22.
"It's always nice to win in three," head coach Debbie Buchanan said. "I thought we came out really strong in the first game and even for the match to be able to come out and do what we did is really good and is going to give our team some momentum."
Idaho came out on fire in the first game as they cruised to the easy 30-13 victory hitting .633 percent. Sarah Meek and Erin Curtis led the way for the Vandals with six and five kills, respectively. Meek also added two service aces and two block assists.
"We know that our conference is tough and when we are at home we have to win matches," Buchanan said. "We had an awesome crowd tonight. I thought our kids played really well. I thought offensively we did some good things."
The Vandals had trouble getting into their offense in game two as they hit .188 percent, but they were able to hold the Mustangs to a .093 hitting percentage. Idaho built an early 13-4 lead before allowing Cal Poly to climb within six at 16-10. The Mustangs would get as close as five points at 29-24, but a Saxony Brown kill gave the Vandals the game.
Idaho continued to dominate in game three as they recorded 22 kills for a .364 hitting percentage. The Vandals saw an early lead diminish at 12-10 but a few Idaho kills and Cal Poly attack errors increased the lead to 18-11. Kati Tikker recorded six kills and Meek added five in the final game as Idaho took the match victory.
"I still feel like we had a little break at the end of game two and beginning of game three and we can't let that stuff happen," Buchanan said. "We need to be in a better flow."
The Vandals out-hit, out-dug, and out-blocked the Mustangs, .361 to .122, 55 to 35, and 8 to 4, respectively.
Sarah Meek led the way for Idaho with 14 kills on .600 hitting percentage. She also added a career high four service aces and six blocks. Saxony Brown played an all-around match for the Vandals as she recorded 11 kills on .556 percent, four assists, two aces, seven digs and three blocks.
Sophomore middle blocker Erin Curtis was perfect on the night as she recorded eight kills in eight attack attempts.
"Erin did a great job," Buchanan said. "The last week and a half she's done a better job. She's getting up and expecting the ball a little bit more than she has and she's hitting all of the assignments that we want for her."
Idaho (9-5, 3-3 BWC) hosts #13 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Oct. 9th in Memorial Gym. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
"We know that they are good," Buchanan said about Saturday's opponent, UC Santa Barbara. "They're a great ball control team and they are a team that is in a flow a lot. For us we are going to have to come out and do the same things we did tonight but we can't have those breaks. It's going to be a tough match."
Notes:
- Sarah Meek recorded her 328th career block assist which moves her into sixth on the UI all-time career block assists list. Meek also recorded her 51st career double-figure kill match which moves her into a tie for 10th on the UI career list.
- Mandy Becker recorded her 55th career double-figure dig match which moves her into a tie for first on the all-time career double-figure dig list.
