PULLMAN, Wash. - The University of Idaho volleyball team fell in a grueling five-set match to border rival Washington State in its first match at the Nike Cougar Challenge Friday.
The teams alternated set victories with Washington State winning the first set 26-24 and Idaho responding with a 28-26 score in set two. After the break the Cougars moved ahead with a 25-20 win and Idaho rallied to a 25-14 score in set four to force a fifth set. Washington State jumped to a 4-0 lead to open the tiebreaker and eventually led 13-7. The Vandals made it interesting with three-straight points after Washington State earned match point but Idaho ultimately fell 15-11. The Vandals dropped to 4-3 on the season with the loss while the Cougars remained unbeaten with their ninth-consecutive victory.
"As the match went on we definitely made good strides," Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. "We started playing better, we started executing better, and we definitely stared taking them out of system. It was a great match all the way through until the very end. We can't ever let our passing slip and we got down 0-4 and that is hard to come back from in the fifth set. They are a great team and they are going to have a great year, but we need to make sure we keep executing on those little details."
Sarah Conwell led the Vandals with 18 kills and Alicia Milo was close behind with 14. Meredith Rice totaled 22 digs and Conwell added 16 for a double-double. Freshman Jennifer Feicht finished with 36 assists, seven digs and seven blocks and Debbie Pederson tallied 11 blocks. Pederson's 10 block assists in the match tied for 10th all time at Idaho.
As a team, Idaho hit .160 compared to .176 for Washington State. The Vandals led 19-15 in blocks, but the Cougars held a 75-70 advantage in digs.
Idaho finishes the Nike Cougar Challenge with a match Saturday (Sept. 12) vs. Cal State Northridge at Bohler Gym at 1 p.m.
