IRVINE, Calif. – Two Vandals had double-doubles and the
Idaho volleyball team wrapped up its season-opening 12-match road trip with a
3-0 sweep of UC Irvine, as Idaho won 25-20; 25-21 and 25-22.
Alicia Milo had 10 kills and 10 digs, while Jenny Feicht
finished with 43 assists and 12 digs and the Vandals improved to 5-7 on the
season with the win.
Allison Walker had a match-high 19 kills and hit .340, and
Alex Sele had 10 kills and hit .600 as the Vandals won their fourth three-set
match of the season. Alyssa Schultz had seven kills and eight blocks, and Julia
Church added three kills and eight blocks. Cassie Hamilton had 21 digs for the
Vandals.
Idaho hit a season-high .292 with 51 kills, and had a 61-59
advantage in digs and a 10.0-4.0 advantage in total blocks.
“We obviously hit at a really high percentage tonight,”
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. “We were able to stay in system for a
majority of the match and reduce our errors.”
The Vandals broke a 14-14 tie in the first set with a 6-0
run to pull ahead 20-14. The Anteaters closed the gap to 22-18 before Idaho
closed out the set with a 25-20 win to pull ahead 1-0. Game two stayed close at
the beginning before Idaho broke an 8-8 tie with a 4-1 spurt to take the lead
for good on the way to the 25-21 win. The Vandals were able to close out their
fourth sweep of the season by closing the match with a 7-4 run.
“I like the team that I saw tonight,” Buchanan said. “We're
basically halfway through with our season right now as we head into conference
play. If we can continue to play the way that we did tonight, I like where we're
headed.”
The Vandals will return to action Sept. 22 when Hawai`i
visits Memorial Gym for Idaho's first home match of the 2011 season and the
Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams.