IRVINE, Calif.—The Golden Coast of California has been anything but warm to the Idaho Vandals. In the span of 24 hours the Vandal spikers played three matches, wrapping up Friday with a 3-1 loss to Utah State in the UC Irvine Tournament.
Idaho (1-5) started strong in their second match of the day. The Vandals won their first opening set of the season, 25-21. Idaho trailed just once in the set, 14-13. An Ali Forde kill tied the match at 14 and the Vandals rattled off the following five points, increasing the lead to 19-14. Forde closed out the set with her fifth kill of the game. The sophomore striker finished the match with a season-high 11 kills.
“I think we have a ways to go,” head coach Debbie Buchanan commented. “You almost wish you could play these teams later on, because we are just going to keep getting better. We have that ability. Right now we just have a little work to do.”
Utah State (2-3) swept Idaho in the reaming sets, 25-18, 25-19, 25-22. The Aggies finished the night hitting .257 at the net. Rachel Orr, one of three Aggies with double-digit kills, recorded a game-high 17 kills. The Vandals totaled a.175 hitting percentage, showing some wear and tear down the stretch.
“You could tell towards the end that we were tiring,” Buchanan added. “We got into game four and even though we battled we were starting to break down with a little fatigue. We just were not really able to execute at the level that we needed to.”
Freshman Becca Mau led the way for Idaho. She closed the match with 29 attacks, a season-high 12 kills and two errors. Mau combined for 22 kills in Friday's two matches.
“Becca did a great job [today],” Buchanan said, “She has been the most consistent when it comes to being able to run the offense and keeping her numbers up.”
Senior Stephanie Hagins hit a .381 percentage, closing the night with 10 kills and two errors in 21 attacks. Junior Meredith Coba posted 44 assists and added two kills. Terra Varney recorded 21 digs for the second consecutive match. The libero has now compiled 20 or more digs in Idaho's last four matches. Redshirt freshman Torrin Crawford saw her first extended playing time of the early season, totaling a season-high five kills.
Idaho closes out its California road swing Saturday morning. The Vandals are set to take on the Waves of Pepperdine at 11 a.m. PT.
