GREELEY, Colo.—The Vandals clinched the Big Sky North Division Title despite a 3-1 loss at Northern Colorado on Saturday. The UNC win tied the Bears with Idaho atop the division with a 10-6 conference record. The Vandals edge out UNC as the No. 2 seed in next week's conference tournament with a +1.25 scoring differential against the Bears. UNC will be the fifth seed.
“It is huge for us to get the No. 2 spot in the tournament,” head coach Debbie Buchanan said following the announcement. “Our goal over the final weeks was to win our division and we were able to do so. Bottom line is we are going to the tournament to compete.”
Senior Katelyn Peterson recorded her 19th career double-double with a match-high 16 kills to go with her 13 digs. Redshirt freshman Sarah Sharp totaled 11 kills and was in on seven blocks for the Vandals. Sophomore Becca Mau, a Colorado native, enjoyed her homecoming with six kills in the first set. She finished with nine on the day.
The entire match had a tournament feeling inside the Bank of Colorado Center on Saturday. Both sides played with high intensity throughout the match. Idaho showed its grit, never letting the Bears feel comfortable with the lead.
“We knew being on the road was going to be a good challenge for us,” Buchanan added. “Today we played fairly steady. We have to be mentally locked in as we head into the tournament. I think there are some things we could do better. We are going to have to finish when we are in the driver's seat.”
Idaho (13-15, 10-6) held late leads in each of the four sets. The best showing from the Vandals came in the second frame. The Silver and Gold fell behind 8-6 early in the second, after allowing UNC to run off eight unanswered points to close win the first set. Kills from DeVonne Ryter, Peterson and Tineke Bierma helped Idaho to a 9-1 run and a 15-9 lead. Two more kills from Peterson helped give Idaho a 19-12 advantage. Idaho closed the set on a 3-0 run to take the set, 25-18.
UNC (14-15, 10-6) took sets three and four, 25-23, 27-25, respectively. The Vandals had its chances to overtake the Bears. Timarie Nymeyer posted six kills in the final set to help overcome Idaho's 21-19 advantage. Kendra Cunningham led the Bears with 15 kills and 14 digs.
“We just have to finish games,” Buchanan stated. “We were up in every single game. We had the potential to be right there. We just have to finish.”
Idaho gets a rematch with North Dakota in the first round of the Big Sky tournament. UND enters the tournament as the No. 7 seed. The match will be the first of the tournament, set to start at 9:30 a.m. PT. Northern Arizona will host the tournament in Flagstaff, Ariz., as the Big Sky Regular Season Champion.
For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com. Fans can also follow Idaho volleyball on Twitter, @IdahoVolleyball.
