GREELEY, Colo.—The University of Idaho volleyball team opened Big Sky Conference play with a four-set win at Northern Colorado Thursday night. The Vandals swept the Bears 31-29, 25-23, 25-19, after dropping the first set.
The win moves Idaho to 5-8 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. Thursday night marked the Vandals' first road-win of the season.
“Tonight was huge,” head coach Debbie Buchanan stated. “We started off a little slow. UNC has some really fast arms and in that first game I never really felt like we got in a rhythm. In the second game we countered and made some adjustments and really focused on getting our hands over the net.”
Three Vandals finished with double-digit kills on the night. Sophomore Ali Forde led the way with her third double-double of the season. She finished the night with a new career-best 17 kills, adding 10 digs. Senior Jessica Hastriter matched her season-best with 14 kills. She closed the night stuck on 499 kills for her career. Alyssa Schultz contributed 12 kills and seven blocks.
“Our pin hitters did a really good job tonight,” Buchanan added. “We did a really good job of keeping our errors low. Hitting .316 with 13 blocks was a pretty good first match for us.”
Northern Colorado (7-6, 0-1) started the night out-hitting Idaho, .378-.200 in the first set. The Bears opened the match on an 11-5 run, putting the Vandals on their heels from the start. Kendra Cunningham, the reigning Big Sky Player of the Week, hit the finishing kill to give UNC the 1-0 lead.
The Silver and Gold adjusted in the second set, becoming more active at the net. Idaho opened on a 7-1 run with early block assists by Stephanie Hagins, Becca Mau, Schultz and Forde. The Bears clawed back midway through the set, taking the lead, 15-14. The Vandals, down 24-21, rattled off the next four points to take the lead late. Neither team had success closing out the match, until Katelyn Peterson took matters into her own hands. Tied at 29, Peterson gave Idaho the lead and followed up with a solo block to put an end to the marathon-set, 31-29. In all, the set featured nine ties and four lead changes.
“The second set was a good test for us,” Buchanan said. “If we were able to fight through that, we knew it was going to be the turning point of the match. That is something that we have seen from us so far this season. We have shown that character and we can fight.”
Forde continued her barrage of the Bear's defense in the final two sets. She recorded nine of her 17 kills and clinched the third set with an ace. The Vandals flashed out to a 12-6 lead in the fourth set, pressuring the Bears early and often. The Vandals hit .432 in the final set, their third best set-percentage of the season, paving the way to the 25-19 win.
Junior Meredith Coba controlled the passing game for the Vandals. She finished the night matching her season-high with 51 assists. The setter also added five digs and three kills.
Next on tap for Idaho is North Dakota. UND defeated Eastern Washington Thursday night to start 1-0 in the Big Sky. The match originally scheduled for 5 p.m. PT was moved to a 1:30 p.m. start.
