MOSCOW, Idaho—The youth movement for the Idaho Vandals was in full effect on Friday. Eight underclassman helped Idaho to a 25-27, 25-12, 25-15, 25-11 win over Tennessee Tech. Five newcomers in all saw significant playing time.

Idaho's (5-6) youth made for a different look on the floor. Three first-year Vandals, Klaree Hobart, Haylee Mathis and Megan Ramseyer, cracked the starting lineup. Freshman Tara Eaton filled in for Terra Varney, the team's lone senior, at libero.

"After we got through game one I thought our team made a bit of a turn," head coach Debbie Buchanan explained. "We really tried to control the match, instead of being controlled. We had a young group out there. We went to a 5-1 with a freshman setter and just allowed the rest of the team to play defense. We saw some great things from a lot of players today. We are young. It is going to take everybody on this team to contribute."

Sophomore Sarah Sharp continued to be the fuel that fed the Idaho offense. The sophomore totaled a match-high 16 kills. Junior Torrin Crawford led the match with an impressive .632 hitting percentage with 12 kills on 19 swings. Becca Mau recorded her third double-figure kill match of the season, closing with 11.

Ramseyer moved into the lone setter position on Friday. Idaho called an audible, shifting from running a 6-2 offense to a 5-1 system. Ramseyer did not disappoint handing out 41 assists, becoming the first Vandal with 40 or more assists since Meredith Coba's 42 on Nov. 13, 2014. Both Ramseyer and Mathis surpassed 200 assists on the season.

"Megan did a good job," Crawford said. "She is a freshman so it is always a little nerve-wracking to play in games as freshman, but you cannot tell with her. She came in and set some good balls."

Tennessee Tech (4-8) stole the first set from Idaho, 27-25. The Vandals outhit TTU, .317 - .149 percent in the frame. Idaho also out-killed the Golden Eagles, 17-14. Idaho, which has struggled this season with errors, got bit again late on the final point, giving TTU the win.

The Silver and Gold dominated the remainder of the match winning the final three sets by double-figure differences. The Vandals used an 8-0 run to close the second set, 25-12, setting the tone for the remainder of the match.

Idaho's top numbers came in the third set. The team attempted a match-low 26 total attacks, but made every swing count. The Vandals hit .500 percent with 14 kills and just one error. Idaho's middles stepped up in the set. Crawford and DeVonne Ryter both totaled four kills, with Ryter hitting. 800 percent.

"We [the middles] have been working on our connection with our setters in practice," Crawford added. "Our setters are doing a really good job feeding the ball to us. That is where that production is coming from."

As a team the Vandals finished hitting a season-high .351 percent. Idaho also added 11 team blocks, the second highest total this season. Crawford led the team with five total blocks. Klaree Hobart led the defense with a season-high 22 digs. Idaho had its best four-set match total of the season, recording 70 total digs.

The Vandals close out the Idaho Volleyball Classic with Oregon State at 7 p.m. PT. The Beavers have a 2-0 tournament record with two sweeps over TTU and Wyoming.  
 
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