SACRAMENTO—Idaho volleyball thwarted in-state rival Idaho State in Thursday's opening round of the Big Sky Tournament. The Vandals picked up their 11th sweep of the season, taking the match 25-17, 25-18, 25-23.

The win for Idaho marks the first Big Sky Tournament wins since its 3-2 win over North Dakota in the 2015 tournament. The No. 3 seeded Vandals face off with the Fighting Hawks in Friday's semifinals.

"I am super proud of our team," head coach Debbie Buchanan said after the win. "We had a great night blocking and hitting. I thought we served extremely tough and really took Idaho State out of system. We did everything we talked about and followed our gamelan. Now we need to get ready for North Dakota."


Idaho (18-10) came out and took control in the first set. The Vandals hit .519% with 16 kills in the opening frame. Idaho built up an 11-7 lead with early kills from Sarah Sharp, Reece Carman and Kaela Straw. A run of three straight aces from Klaree Hobart put the Vandals up 20-12. Idaho closed the set strong, claiming five of the last seven points. Sharp, Idaho's lone First Team All-Conference selection, led Idaho with four kills in the set.

Idaho State (11-19) scored the first point in the second, gain its first lead of the afternoon. ISU opened with a 4-0 push, looking to take away the Vandal's momentum. A kill from Sharp sparked a 5-0 run, capped off by a kill from Carman to put Idaho up 9-5. Idaho put more distance between them and the Bengals with a 5-0 run, taking a commanding 20-12 lead. Kills from Straw and Torrin Crawford closed out the frame, putting Idaho up 2-0.

The Vandals played from behind in the final set. Idaho State gained an early 5-3 lead and controlled the scoreboard through the midway point of the match. Kills from Crawford and Sharp helped Idaho on a 4-0 run, taking the lead 12-11. The Bengals retook the lead with a 4-1 run, 15-13. ISU held the three-point advantage at 19-16 when the Vandals ripped off 5-1 run to jump in front, 21-20. The sides traded points down the stretch, playing to a tie at 22. Carman's seventh kill of the match put Idaho at set point, 24-22. Two points later Sharp clinched the win, 25-23.

"Both our outsides were hitting in the .400's going into that third set," Buchanan added. "Sarah was in there at the end and really made a push. She had some big swings. There were big plays at key times."

Sharp led the match with 17 kills and hit .351 in the process. Carman totaled a .429 hitting percentage with her seven kills, while Straw swung a .474 with nine kills.

Idaho finished with seven team blocks, forcing 16 ISU attack errors. Carman led Idaho with four blocks. Crawford totaled three blocks to go with her .714 hitting percentage (5-0-7).

Idaho matches up with No. 2 UND for the second time in two weeks. Idaho defeated the Fighting Hawks, 3-2, on Senior Night. Friday's semifinal is set for a 4:35 p.m. first serve on Eleven Sports and Pluto TV.