MOSCOW, Idaho—Idaho's Big Sky Tournament hopes live on after the Vandals swept Montana, 25-21, 25-19, 25-18, Friday night in Memorial Gym. Idaho controlled the match right from the start, never trailing by more than two points the entire night.

Idaho (10-17, 5-10 BSC) earned the win in a total team effort. Kaela Straw led the team with 12 total kills. Torrin Crawford, Sarah Sharp and Becca Mau each totaled nine kills. Mau's offensive night included her 700th career kill. Haylee Mathis finished just shy of her second triple-double of the season. She led the team with 25 assists, rounding out the night with eight kills and eight digs.

"The win tonight was great," Mathis explained. "This puts us in a great spot to make the tournament and that is ultimately what we want. We just need to keep rolling with this momentum and take out Montana State tomorrow."

The first set proved to be the closest of the night. Straw tied the match for Idaho at eight, netting the first point in a momentum shifting 5-0 run. Freshman Tara Eaton recorded two aces in the run that put Idaho ahead 12-8. Idaho would hold on to the lead up until a late 2-0 run by Montana, tying the match at 20. Kills by Straw and Sharp helped Idaho to set point at 24-20. Sharp tallied the winner two points later.

"I really feel like we are playing some of our better volleyball these last few weeks," head coach Debbie Buchanan noted. "We wanted the team to come out strong, have some pride and compete a high level. We did some really good things as far as controlling our errors. We had some good adjustments on the blocks. I think we controlled the match."

Mau came on strong for Idaho in the second. She recorded five kills and hit .455 in the set to fuel the Vandal offense. Two early runs gave Idaho a 10-5 advantage. A block from Crawford and Mathis closed a 4-0 push, sending Idaho to a 17-9 lead. The Grizzlies answered right back with a 4-0 run of their own, trimming the lead to 17-13. Mau's fifth kill handed the Vandals set point, 24-19. A Montana attack error sent the Vandals to break up 2-0.

The Silver and Gold came out strong in the third, opening a quick 5-1 lead. Montana came back and tied the frame at 7. Idaho responded with kills from Mathis and Crawford in a 3-0 swing, regaining a 10-7 advantage. A kill by Mau sparked a 5-0 run to go up 17-11, putting the match out of reach for the Griz. Straw's six kill of the set sealed the match for Idaho, taking the set 25-18.

Idaho now sits in a tie for eighth with Weber State for the final slot in the Big Sky Tournament.

"We have to control what we can control," Buchanan added. "That means coming out tomorrow and working our butts off and working to get a win. We can't control what Weber State does, but we can control what we do."

Idaho hit .336 (51-11-119) percent as a team, its best attacking performance since its win over Tennessee Tech on Sept. 16. Idaho handed out 10 more assists than Montana, 45-35.

The Vandals close the regular season tomorrow against Montana State. That match is set for a 4 p.m. start. The Bobcats are coming off a 3-1 loss at Eastern Washington on Thursday.

Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho volleyball by following the team on twitter, @IdahoVolleyball.