COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—Idaho had a comfortable lead in the fourth set, looking to close out Towson and pick up its first win of the Golden Eagle Invitational Friday evening. Up 16-9 and 2-1 in the, the Silver and Gold was unable to close out the victory. Towson took the final two sets of the match for its 12th win in a row.
Idaho (2-9) recovered from its morning loss to Western Carolina with three strong sets. Katelyn Peterson recorded her second double-double on the day, reaching 10 kills and 10 digs by the third set. She finished the match with a season-high 16 kills and 14 digs. Torrin Crawford and Becca Mau both finished with double digit kills. Crawford hit a match-high .632 attack percentage with 13 kills, while Mau added 12 of her own.
The Vandals hit .310 in the team's 25-20 third-set win, building momentum going into the fourth set with. Idaho opened the seven-point advantage a 9-2 run to begin the match. . Down 16-9, the Tigers burned a timeout that inspired a 6-0 run to cut Idaho's lead to 16-15. Tineke Bierma put a stop to the run momentarily, but the momentum had shifted to Towson. The Tigers, down 18-16, rattled off five straight points to gain the 21-18 advantage. Crawford and Peterson willed the Vandals along with two straight kills, cutting Towson's lead to 22-21. Jocelyn Kuilan finished the set for Towson, 25- 22.
“We had a great lead in game four,” head coach Debbie Buchanan stated. “Slowly they [Towson] chipped away. We let points slowly get away from us. We got into that moment, but we need to just be able to finish the game.”
Towson (12-1) and Idaho were even in the fifth set, trading points up to an 8-8 tie. A 3-0 swing for the Tigers put Idaho on the wrong end the scoreboard, down 10-8. A Mau kill put Idaho back to within one, before Towson continued on a 3-0 run to push its lead to 13-9. Idaho would get one more kill from Crawford, before Towson closed the set 15-10.
“We need to have a little more urgency about us,” Buchanan added. “In general it seems we are just waiting for something to happen. We are trying to change our mentality out there and have our team really want to take charge.”
Kuilan led the match with 27 kills. Jessica Lewis recorded a double-double for the Tigers with 16 kills and 10 digs, while Kyana Miller closed with 27 assists and 10 digs.
Meredith Coba returned to the starting rotation with a season-high 30 assists. Crawford and Sarah Sharp each had a hand in six blocks. Jenna Ellis led Idaho with 17 digs.
The Vandals play bright and early Saturday morning with a 6:30 a.m. PT start against host Tennessee Tech. The Golden Eagles fell to Towson 3-0 to begin the tournament. They play Western Carolina in Friday's night cap.
For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com. Fans can also follow Idaho volleyball on Twitter, @IdahoVolleyball.
