BOZEMAN, Mont.—Idaho volleyball closed out the 2017 regular season in sweeping fashion on Saturday. Idaho recorded its 10th sweep of the season in the finale, defeating Montana State in three sets.
Saturday's win marks the 12th Big Sky win for the Vandals. It is the best conference win total for Idaho since rejoining the Big Sky in 2014 and the most conference wins in five seasons. The Vandals finished 2012 with a 13-5 record in the Western Athletic Conference.
Idaho's win also assures the team a split of the Big Sky North Division title and the No. 3 seed in next week's Big Sky Tournament. Sacramento State and North Dakota enter the field as the two top seeds.
The Vandals hit a season-high .406 percent on the night to improve to 17-10 overall. Junior
Sarah Sharp led the way for the Idaho offense with 13 kills on 26 swings.
Kaela Straw and
DeVonne Ryter each finished with eight kills. Ryter led the team in accuracy, swinging .636 percent for the match.
The first set was closely contested the entire way. The teams swapped leads five different times and played to 13 ties. The Vandals jumped out to the 1-0 lead in large thanks to Sharp. She totaled eight of the team's 16 kills in the opening set. Back-to-back kills from Sharp helped Idaho on the front end of a late 3-0 run.
Reece Carman and Ryter capped the run with a block to give Idaho set-point, 24-20. Carman found the floor with her lone kill of the set to secure the 25-21 win.
Idaho hit .481 percent in the second, its best frame of the night. The Vandals committed just one attacking error in their 27 swings. The Vandals gained control of the set with a 5-1 run to go up 16-11. Senior
Torrin Crawford recorded a late kill and Sharp and Ryter put down a block to post a 3-0 run, handing Idaho set point at 24-17. Sharp's 10th kill of the night sent Idaho into the locker up 2-0 on the Bobcats.
Carman, Sharp and Straw each hit over .375 percent in the third set, totaling seven of Idaho's 15 kills. The Vandals swung .400 percent as a team. Straw led the way with four kills in the set. The Silver and Gold opened with a 6-3 lead, after falling behind 2-0. Idaho controlled the set with five different runs of three or more points. Montana State narrowed the Idaho lead down to two at 11-9. The Vandals proceeded to score five of the next six points, getting kills from Straw, Sharp and Crawford, to build a commanding 16-10 lead.
Delaney Hopen put the match away for Idaho, 25-20, eliminating Montana State from postseason contention.
Junior
Haylee Mathis handed out 37 assists on the night.
Alycia Wodke totaled 12 digs, while Hopen tallied nine. Ryter led the team with eight total blocks, matching her career-high for the third time this season.
Natalie Passeck led Montana State with 12 kills.
The Vandals will head back to Moscow for a few days of practice prior to the Big Sky Tournament. The team will leave for Sacramento State next week and open the tournament on Thursday.
Tickets for the Big Sky Tournament are available for purchase now: Â
http://hornetsports.com/tickets/VB17
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