MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho volleyball team (1-17, 0-6 BSC) travels to the Treasure State to compete in two road games this week against a pair of conference opponents in Montana (6-11, 2-3 BSC) and Montana State (11-4, 4-1 BSC).
 
Thursday's match against the Grizzlies is slated for 6 p.m. PT first serve, while Saturday's match against the Bobcats will start at 11 a.m. PT.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Idaho vs. Montana // Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. PT
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast 
  
Idaho vs. Montana State // Oct. 14 at 11 a.m. PT
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast 

ABOUT IDAHO

• Idaho suffered a pair of home losses last week at Memorial Gym, falling to Sacramento State and Portland State each by way of straight sets.
• Libero Aine Doty continues to be a consistent cog in the back row for the Vandals, ranking first in the Big Sky in digs per set at 4.70 and sixth in total digs with 249. The sophomore from Colorado Springs has tallied double-digit digs in 14 of 16 matches, including a career-best 35 against Western Illinois.
• Taryn Vrieling tallied 13 kills to lead the Vandals offense against Portland State last time out, marking the ninth double-digit kill effort of her sophomore season. Vrieling is leading the team in kills (149), kills per set (2.61), points per set (2.91) and service aces (14) this season. She also leads the team with two double-doubles on the season. 
• Middle blocker Renata Lopez Morales leads the Idaho defense at the net with 41 blocks and 0.67 blocks per set. Her career-high 11 blocks at Gonzaga earlier in the season is tied for the second most in a single match by a Big Sky player. 
• The Vandals have been led by a trio of setters that own at least 140 assists this season - Keelyn Muell (180), Natalia Wielgus (167) and Lacy Cox (140).  
• The 2023 season marks the 50th year of Vandal volleyball.

ABOUT MONTANA

• The Grizzlies are 6-11 (2-3 BSC) on the season and hold a 1-4 home record mark. UM dropped a pair of road matches last week to Northern Colorado (1-3) and Northern Arizona (2-3).  
• Outside hitter Paige Clark is tops on the team with 214 kills while ranking sixth in the Big Sky with 3.53 kills/set in conference matches. Setter Carly Anderson leads the team in assists with 619 and ranks second in the Big Sky in assists per set with 9.79. Defensively, libero Alexis Batezel is leading the Grizzlies in digs with 268 while ranking third in the Big Sky for digs per set with 4.06.  
• The Vandals carry a 40-33 all-time record over Montana. Despite Idado's overall success, the Grizzlies have been the team to beat as of late, winning the last four matchups. 

ABOUT MONTANA STATE 

• The Bobcats enter the week in second place in the Big Sky standings with an 11-4 overall record and 4-1 conference mark after earning a pair of wins over Northern Arizona (3-1) and Northern Colorado (3-2) last week. Montana State is perfect at home with a 6-0 record.
• The Bobcat attack is led by Kira Thomsen - who owns the highest kills per set average at 3.98 in the Big Sky and second most kills in the conference at 227. Outside hitter Jourdain Kamps ranks second on the team with 169 kills. Nellie Stevenson sets up the attack with the fourth-highest assists per set average at 8.08.
• The Montana State defense is led in the middle by two blockers that rank top 10 in the Big Sky in blocks per set - Kamps (8th, 0.98) and Jordan Radick (10th, 0.94).
• The Vandals meet the Bobcats for the second time this season after dropping a home match to MSU to open conference play less than a month ago. Idaho leads the all-time series, 39-16, but Idaho will look to snap a seven-match losing streak against MSU come Saturday.

UP NEXT: Idaho starts a three-match homestand next week, welcoming Eastern Washington (Oct. 21), Idaho State (Oct. 26) and Weber State (Oct. 28) to Moscow.

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