HONOLULU—A tough opening weekend did not get any easier for the Idaho Vandals with a 25-16, 25-22, 25-18 loss to Wichita State on Sunday. Idaho had its chances against Shockers, but the Vandal errors became too much to overcome.

Freshman DeVonne Ryter came onto the scene in just her second match. She led the Idaho offense with a team-high nine kills and a .429 hitting percentage. The Sedona, Ariz., native, also led the team in aces and blocks with two in each category. Sophomore Becca Mau recorded eight kills and Katelyn Peterson totaled six.

“DeVonne did a great job today,” head coach Debbie Buchanan noted. “One of our goals was to get our middles more involved and I thought we did a good job of that.”

Idaho was unable to reach the .200 attacking average plateau in either of the three sets, but it was not due to lack of effort. The Vandals finished the match averaging 41 swings per set. The Shockers seemed to be everywhere on the court on Sunday. WSU tallied 55 digs and 10 team blocks, while forcing 21 attack errors.

“We have to be more consistent with our error management,” Buchanan said. “Those errors make a big difference when you look at a two-point set. Our offensive tempo was real good this weekend. Now we just need to work to reduce those little errors that we are making right now.”

Idaho opened the match strong, getting out to a 3-0 lead. WSU would take the lead at 8-7 and post a 3-0 run to extend to advantage to 11-8. Torrin Crawford cut the Shockers' lead to 12-10, but an Idaho error on the ensuing serve ignited a 5-0 WSU run. Wichita State would post a .429 attack average in the opening set on the way to the 25-16 win.

The Silver and Gold came out hot again in the second set, taking a 7-4 lead. WSU flipped the scoreboard out of its timeout with a 4-0 run, forcing Idaho into a timeout. The Vandals chipped away at the Shocker lead, tying the match at 19 with a Kaela Straw swing. WSU's Katy Dudzinsky answered back breaking the tie, only to have Mau tie it up again at 20. The Shockers took advantage of late Idaho errors and quickly went up 23-20. A Peterson kill cut the deficit to one at 23-22, but a Shimen Fayad kill and an Idaho error clinched the final two points for WSU.

Straw's third kill of the match tied the third set at eight, after Idaho fell behind early. WSU answered with a 4-1 run to get to 12-9. A Ryter ace got Idaho to within one at 14-13, but the Shockers would extend the lead to 21-15 thanks to a late 5-0 run.

“We did a lot of really good things this weekend,” Buchanan said. “We are further ahead than where we were last year. We just played some really tough teams over here. I thought we competed and did some great things. We are fast to the pin. Our passing was consistent all weekend. Our offensive tempo was really good.”

Idaho opens its home season on Friday at Memorial Gym, hosting the Idaho Volleyball Classic. Seattle U, UC Irvine and Washington State make up the field for the two day tournament. The Vandals first match is will be against former WAC rival Seattle U at 7 p.m. PT.