GRAND FORKS, N.D.—The Idaho volleyball team had four players record double-digit kills Saturday afternoon, but it was not enough to lift the Vandals to victory. North Dakota rallied from being down 1-0 and 2-1, on its way to the 3-2 win over the Vandals inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
For the second consecutive match sophomore Ali Forde totaled 17 kills, matching her season-best. Senior Stephanie Hagins eclipsed her previous season-high of 15 kills, contributing 16 on the day. Katelyn Peterson and Jessica Hastriter finished the day with 12 and 11, respectively. Hastriter's first kill of the night marked her 500th of her career.
“We had our opportunities to win the match,” head coach Debbie Buchanan stated. “On the road is where you need to really be able to compete and take care of it when it matters. North Dakota did a better job of that tonight. They are a good team that is not used to losing at home.”
The Vandals hit just .207 for the match, while UND hit .268 and out-blocked the Vandals, 15-5. Each team finished with 85 digs, setting a new season-high for the Vandals. Idaho falls to 5-9 on the season and 1-1 in Big Sky paly.
“We kind of played in streaks,” Buchanan added. “We had moments where we were really good and some not as good moments. Our offense was good, but it is not going to carry us all season.”
Setter Meredith Coba finished the match with 56 assists and 11 digs, netting her fourth double-double of the season. Her 56 assists marked a new season-high, surpassing her 51 at Northern Colorado. Forde and Peterson also finished with double-doubles. Both hitters totaled 13 digs.
In the first set Idaho it a stellar .417. Forde recorded seven kills, hitting .700 in the 25-16 Vandals set-win. North Dakota opened the second set with a 10-3 run and never let up control. UND hit .419 as a team in the second set on its way to the 25-8 win to tie the match at one.
The Vandals took the back and forth third set that featured 16 ties and nine lead changes. North Dakota tied the match late at 25, but recorded a service error on the ensuing server. Peterson capped off the set with her 10th kill of the match. North Dakota opened the fourth set on a 6-0 run and held that cushion the entire match, finishing 25-17 and forcing a fifth set.
The Silver and Gold got down early in the tiebreaker and fought back to tie the set at 10. Play went back and forth with neither team taking a controlling lead. UND fought off Idaho's first match-point opportunity, tying the match at 14. The Vandals denied UND's match-point and took a 17-16 lead. North Dakota would tie the match at 17 and 18, closing the match with two Chelsea Moser kills.
“We put ourselves in a whole to begin with,” Buchanan noted. “We had the lead 13-11 and that is when we needed to put it away. We battled. We had our opportunities, we just have to finish and take care of business.”
The Vandals return to Memorial Gym on Thursday, Oct. 2, to host its first conference match of the season. Northern Arizona will be in town for the 7 p.m. PT match.
