BOZEMAN, Mont— The Idaho volleyball team (11-8, 5-2) rallied late in Thursday's match to defeat Montana State (7-11, 2-5) in a four-set thriller at Shroyer Gym in Bozeman ( 22-25; 25-21; 25-22; 30-28).

"It wasn't the prettiest win, but it's a win," said head coach Debbie Buchanan. "I think anytime you can get a win on the road is huge. We didn't come out playing as consistent in our type of volleyball, and we had a lot of moving parts and made some subs."

"Offensively, things were pretty spread. We out blocked them, we out dug them, we out hit them and we started out a little bit higher percentage, but Montana State played well tonight. I'm pretty happy right now that we were able to not go to five and take care of it at the end even though it was neck and neck and kind of a battle."

First Set Summary
The score was tied 8-8 before the Bobcats started to go on a run giving them a two-point advantage over the Vandals. The Bobcats used a trio of errors to pull ahead, 14-10, forcing an Idaho timeout. The Vandals would answer back with two straight points. The score was going back and forth with the Bobcats consistently having at least a two-point edge over Idaho. Montana took set one, 25-22.

Second Set Summary
Both teams found themselves squared up for the third time in the set, 14-14, before Idaho went on a 4-0 run to pull ahead, 18-14. Although the Bobcats tried to battle back, Idaho went on another 3-0 run, which was enough cushion for the remainder of the set.

Third Set Summary
Point for point was the theme of Thursday night's match as the Vandals and the Bobcats traded points until Idaho found there groove pulling together a string points, a 7-0 run to be exact. Coming out of a timeout, Montana went on to rally back and came within two points, 24-22. Idaho would close the game on a service error.

Fourth Set Summary
The match concluded with a thrilling, back-and-forth fourth set. Neither team led more than three points for the majority of the fourth set. Idaho soon took a 20-16 lead, prompting a timeout from Montana. Out of the timeout, the Bobcats went on a 4-0 run to cut their deficit to one, 21-20. Idaho worked to keep their lead, but the Bobcats weren't going away easily, tying up the set, 25-25. After trading points, the Vandals pulled out a 30-28 victory.

Vandal Notables
- Sarah Sharp had her season-best 18 kills on the night followed by Reece Carman with 13 and Kaela Straw with 12.
- DeVonne Ryter tied her season-high of three aces while Becca Owen recorded two which is her season-best.
- Haylee Mathis led in assists with 30 followed by Donnée Janzen with a season-high of 24

Up Next
Idaho will be back in action on Saturday as they head to Missoula to face the Grizzlies of the University of Montana at 2 p.m. PT.

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.