CORVALLIS, Ore.—Idaho volleyball wrapped up its two-day stay at the Beaver State Classic on Saturday with a three-set loss to Pacific. The Vandals saw improvements across all three matches this weekend, capping off the tournament with their best offensive showing of the weekend.

The Vandals hit .314 percent on the attack Saturday afternoon, having not reached the .200 mark the previous two matches. The Vandals also minimized their attack errors against Pacific, committing just six.

"I think we are night and day from where we started," head coach Debbie Buchanan noted. "We definitely were more composed. We played a team in Pacific that had a very fast offense. They had a lot of missed serves so that did not really allow us to get those potential attacks. Our goal is to get quicker in the transition game and we have to get more kills when we have the opportunity."

Individually, Sarah Sharp wrapped up her tournament with a team-high eight kills. She was named to the All-Tournament team after the match. Sharp totaled 31 kills on the weekend, averaging 3.44 per set. The closing match was her most efficient, hitting .300 percent with just two errors.

"Sarah got better every match for us just like everyone else," Buchanan explained. "I think we saw some good things from a lot of people. The goal is to go back keep fine-tuning things."
Pacific (1-2) started hot on offense. The Tigers opened the first set .467 percent on the attack, following it up with a .576 showing in the second. They finished with a .430 kill percentage, almost doubling Idaho's total kill 54-28.

Extended runs hurt the Vandals in each of the three sets. Idaho was able to gain leads in each set, but Pacific charged back for the wins. A 5-0 run for the Tigers in the first gave Pacific an 18-12 lead. Idaho trailed 7-5 in the second when Pacific used a 7-3 run to jump in front 14-8.

Idaho led 15-12 in the third set when the Tigers strung together a 10-3 run to go up 22-18, shifting control of the set. The Vandals clawed back with a 5-2 run, including a 3-0 run on match-point, but could not complete the comeback, falling 25-23.   

"[Today] could have gone either way," Buchanan added. "I think we were close in a couple of those sets. We are getting closer every time we play."

Torrin Crawford, Reece Carman and Kaela Straw each had five kills for the Vandals. Haylee Mathis led the team with 23 assists. 

Idaho will head to Chicago next weekend for a pair of matches at the UIC Tournament. The Vandals will open on Thursday, Aug. 31 against DePaul. They will play host, Illinois-Chicago, on Saturday.

Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho volleyball by following the team on Twitter and Instagram, @IdahoVolleyball.

For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com. Fans can also find Idaho on Twitter and Instagram, @Idaho_Vandals, or on Facebook by searching Idaho Vandals.