Missoula, MONT.—Idaho volleyball battled themselves and the Lady Griz of Montana early on in Thursday night's contest at the West Auxiliary Gym. The Vandals stumbled out of the gate but was able to recover to take the match in five sets, 19-25, 25-15, 25-27, 30-28, 19-17.

Idaho (16-10, 11-4 BSC) improves to 4-0 on the season in five-set matches. The Vandals experience and determination helped avoid a negative result on the night. Idaho entered the night ranked 22nd in the nation in hitting percentage had a down night finishing .196 on the attack, well below its .269 season average.

"I am proud that our team got the win," head coach Debbie Buchanan commented. "I am disappointed in the way we came out to play tonight. I felt like mentally we were not really prepared. Montana played great and did a really good job of keeping us out of system. It was not pretty but it was a win."

Idaho junior Kaela Straw provided a bulk of the Idaho offense on Thursday. Straw led the team with 23 kills and a .417 hitting percentage. Junior Sarah Sharp recorded her 41st career match with double-figure kills, closing with 14. DeVonne Ryter reached double-figures with 10 kills, while tying a career-high with eight blocks.

The Vandals could not get out of their own way early on in the match. Montana jumped out to an 8-0 start to open the night, totaling six points off of Idaho errors. The Vandals committed five service errors in the set, handing the ball back to Montana on unforced errors.

Game two was a different story for Idaho. Sharp gave Idaho's its first lead of the night at 5-4. The Vandals used early runs to get out to build up a 13-7 lead. Montana cut Idaho's lead down to three, 15-12, but Idaho fired back with an 8-1 run to claim a 10-point advantage, 23-15. Reece Carman fired off a kill and Straw closed the set with a block to pull to even in the match.

Montana (7-21, 2-13 BSC) and Idaho traded runs throughout the third set. The Griz built up a 6-3 lead at the start. A Haylee Mathis dump-attack capped off a 5-2 run for Idaho to tie the set at 13. Montana countered with a 7-1 swing, going back up 20-14. The Idaho bench was awarded a yellow card and that seemed to fire up the Vandals. Idaho ripped off eight straight points following the warning, regaining a 22-20 lead. Montana outscored Idaho down the stretch, 7-4, to take the frame.

Montana again gained the early momentum in the fourth. Coach Buchanan used the team's first timeout, trailing 15-9. Montana scored the first point out of the break, but it was the Vandals that got the upper hand. Idaho put together an 11-4 run, tying the match at 20. Mykaela Hammer broke up the run for Montana, briefly giving Montana back the lead. A kill from Ryter followed by an ace from Sharp put Idaho back on top, 22-21. Idaho was the first to gain set-point at 24-23. Montana fended off Idaho's closing attempts, gaining a try at match-point, 26-25. A Mathis kill extended the set and a block by Mathis and Ryter gave Idaho its third shot at set-point. It was not until Idaho's fifth set-point that Paige Rupiper closed the door on Montana, taking the extended set 30-28.

"When you look at the timeout we took down 15-9," Buchanan explained. "We were able to regroup and take the set. That shows some character."

The final set was again decided in extend fashion. The two teams played back and forth swapping the lead three times and playing to 10 ties. The Vandals gained set point, 14-13, off another big kill from Rupiper. It took five match-point for the Vandals to close out the Lady Griz. Idaho was able to string together two points with a Sharp kill and a Montana attack error to put away the home team, 19-17.

"The fact that we stayed neck and neck in game five was huge," Buchanan added. "Luckily we have a little more experience in winning those kinds of sets and I think that helped us. I think the fact that we were able to battle out and be aggressive towards the end of the match –to fight for it and make some big plays was huge."

Mathis recorded her second-consecutive double-double. She finished with a team-high 56 kills and 11 digs. Alycia Wodke led Idaho with 22 digs. Delaney Hopen set a career-high with her 16 digs. Klaree Hobart and Maura Donovan also had double-figure digs with 15 and 12, respectively.  

Montana had four players hit in double-figures. Hammer led the Lady Griz with 20 kills to go with her 17 digs.

The Vandals closeout the regular season on Saturday at Montana State. Idaho still has a chance to clinch the Big Sky North Division. The Vandals are tied with North Dakota at 11-4 in conference play. UND closes the season with Southern Utah.