MOSCOW, Idaho—Senior outside hitter Jessica Hastriter dominated on the offensive side of the net for Idaho Thursday night. She finished with a season-high 16 kills and a .583 attack percentage as the Vandals swept (25-23, 25-18, 25-15) the South Division leading Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona.
“I thought the girls played great tonight,” head coach Debbie Buchanan said. “I thought we did a great job from the service line, trying to take NAU out of what they were trying to do. On the offensive side, it was a great night overall. We were able to pass and dig balls in the system. We were able to keep our middles involved and opened up the pins. It was a good night overall, all the way around.”
Hastriter was not the only Vandal spiker that that had success on the night. Senior Alyssa Schultz enjoyed her sixth errorless attacking performance of the season. The middle blocker recorded 10 kills on 17 swings for a .588 hitting percentage. Junior Katelyn Peterson recorded her third double-double of the season, finishing the night with 12 kills and 11 digs.
“We came in knowing the plan of attack that we wanted to use,” Schultz commented. “Offensively, we came out aggressive. We wanted to stay steady, regardless of the whether point went our way or not. We came out with a sort of steady confidence that helped us fight through it.”
Junior setter Meredith Coba totaled 14 more assists than the entire NAU squad, 47-33. The Vandals tallied 63 digs, out-digging NAU, 63-52. Senior libero Jenna Ellis kept a season-high 24 balls off the court. Sophomore defensive specialist Terra Varney added 11 digs of her own.
“We spent all day Monday and Tuesday in practice, working on certain types of defense,” Schultz added. “We performed flawlessly. We worked very hard to be prepared for this game on defense.”
Idaho (6-9, 2-1) started off hot in the first set, getting out to an 8-3 early lead. NAU clawed back into the set off a 4-0 run that forced Idaho to burn a timeout, leading 14-13. The Lumberjacks would take the lead, 17-16,as both teams danced back and forth with the lead. Hastriter's fourth kill of the set pushed Idaho over the edge, 25-23.
Play was tight early on in the second set. Sophomore Ali Forde gave the Vandals the early advantage right from the start with her third kill of the match. NAU kept things close, eventually taking an 11-10 lead. Trailing 16-14, the Vandals went on an 8-0 run to regain the lead and the momentum. A Varney ace closed the set, sending the 'Jacks into the break down by two sets.
NAU (11-3, 2-1) opened the final set with the first point. Tied at two, the Vandals strung off the next 11 points, featuring four Peterson kills, to gain the 13-2 advantage. Idaho pushed its lead to 13 points midway through the set. NAU would slim the lead to 24-14, before Peterson closed the door on the match with her 12th kill.
“Anytime you can win in three is huge,” Buchanan commented. “I was a little worried being up two games coming out. I did not know how our team was going to respond. They came out and got after it right away. That was huge.”
Idaho takes the short trip up to Cheney, Wash., on Friday. The Vandals will take on the Eagles at 6 p.m. at Reese Court. There will be a gathering of Vandal fans at Zentropa Pizzeria & Pub before the match at 5:30.
Notes:
Schultz is now just seven blocks away from 800 for her career…Peterson is over 550 career digs (556)…tonight was career win No. 221 for Coach Buchanan…the Vandals hit a season-best. 323 (51-11-124).
