MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of Idaho volleyball team continued its winning ways at home as they swept the Lady Techsters of Louisiana Tech, Thursday night, winning their fifth straight home match. Idaho has not lost at home all season. Game scores were 30-19, 30-23, 30-25.
With the win Idaho improves to 8-14 overall and 7-3 in the Western Athletic Conference. The loss drops Louisiana Tech to 6-22 overall and 0-11 in the WAC.
"Every match is important," head coach Debbie Buchanan said discounting the idea that her squad might have overlooked Tech with an eye on the showdown with New Mexico State Saturday. "We did alright but we could have been even better, we hit a high percentage and blocked a good amount of balls, but I think offensively we can still improve. Erin Curtis had fourteen kills tonight which was huge."
Idaho was dominant in the opening frame of the contest as they rolled to a 30-19 victory in game one. The Vandals held a lead as big as 13 at one point in the game, taking a 17-4 lead on Samantha Crowder's attack error.
Curtis was strong in the opening game hitting .375 and collecting five kills. She also tallied a service ace and a block assist in the opening stanza.
"We just had to come out focused and play our game which we did," Curtis said. "I just hit the ball really well tonight. It felt good to finally get to play in front of our fans again."
The Vandals kept the heat on their visitors as they took game two 30-23. Curtis continued to have the hot hand in the match as she racked up six kills. Idaho again over powered Tech as they hit .237 to Tech's .111.
Idaho closed out the match after halftime as Curtis once again led the way with three kills, leading Idaho to the 30-25 victory and the 3-0 sweep.
Debbie Pederson also had a solid night for Idaho in the victory as she tallied six kills and five block assists.
"We scouted Louisiana Tech a lot this week and we knew they were a better team then the first time we played them and we knew we had to win this match," Pederson said.
Next up for the Vandals is No. 23 New Mexico State, the Aggies are the top team in the conference with a record of 27-1 overall and 10-1 in the WAC. The game begins at 7 p.m., in Memorial Gym.
