ALBUQUERQUE—It was not always pretty, but the Idaho Vandals opened the 2016 season with a 25-21, 25-16, 22-25, 25-21 win over the 2015 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champion Fairfield Stags on Friday to open the UNM Invitational. The win for Idaho marks its first season-opening victory since 2013 and the 10th since 2000.

Idaho (1-0) opened the match with two new faces in the starting lineup. Both Haylee Mathis and Tara Eaton got their first career starts. Six newcomers in all saw their first action throughout the match. Sophomore Sarah Sharp led the way for Idaho with a match-high 13 kills. Junior Torrin Crawford matched a career-high in blocks with six, while freshman Megan Ramseyer shined with 21 assists.

"We did some really good things," head coach Debbie Buchanan noted. "They errors we made were really just in scramble plays and going too fast. In game two we did a great job. That was our best game. We only had four errors and that was the difference."

The Vandals took the first match, 25-21, despite hitting only .097 percent. The team took advantage of early errors from the Stags, who committed 15 in the opening frame. Idaho's net play played a big role in the set, recording 10 block assists, limiting Fairfield to a lowly .029 hitting percentage.

Idaho shook off the webs in the second set, changing the tone of the match.  The Silver and Gold hit .800 percent in the early portion of the set, getting out to a 7-4 lead. The Fairfield errors continued to mount as the lead was increased to 11-4. The Vandals used two late 4-0 runs to climb out to a 22-11 cushion. Sophomore Kaela Straw closed out the set for Idaho with her third kill of the match.

The Stags, avoided the sweep in the third set. Fairfield outhit the Vandals .286 to .161 percent. Idaho fought late in the set to tie it at 22. A Fairfield ace broke the tie and led to a 4-0 run to close the set. The Vandals notched six errors on the attack, as the Stags forced a fourth set.

Idaho recovered nicely in the final set. The Vandals used a 7-0 run to build a 10-3 advantage. Fairfield pushed right back with a 6-0 blow of its own, cutting the Idaho lead to 10-9. Sharp took control of the set for Idaho, recording seven of her 13 kills in the set. DeVonne Ryter, Becca Mau and Mathis combined for a block assist to give Idaho match point at 24-17. Fairfield delayed the inevitable with a 4-0 run. Straw came through in the clutch for the Vandals on the fifth match point, closing out the set 25-21.

"This is just the starting point for our team," Buchanan added. "The exciting thing for our team is our ball control was really good, our defense was good and we did a good job of blocking. Now it is just a matter of taking care of the ball and working on or errors."

Idaho totaled 25 block assists, the most since record 34 against Portland State on Oct. 9, 2014. The Vandals' 12.5 total blocks would have been the second highest total of the 2015 season. Idaho twice recorded 13 total blocks last year.

"From a defensive standpoint we were good," Buchanan said. "I thought we did some nice things today for it being the first match. That is a really positive in where we are headed. It is only going to help our team grow and get better."

Senior Terra Varney shifted into the libero role for the first time in her career on Friday. She totaled a team-high 18 digs, finishing two assists shy of a double-double. Ramseyer and Mathis combined for 33 of Idaho's 42 assists.

The Vandals return to action later this afternoon when they take on Abilene Christian at 4:30 p.m. PT. The Wildcats take on New Mexico in the second match of the tournament.

Fans can also follow along live on Twitter, @IdahoVolleyball.