MOSCOW, Idaho – Idaho lost to Montana State in three sets, 23-25, 22-25, 15-25 on Thursday night in the Big Sky opener at Memorial Gym. 

Aubrey Nielson tied a career-high with 11 kills to lead all scorers for the Vandals. Taryn Vrieling also tallied double-digit kills with 10 while setter Natalia Wielgus led the team with 23 assists. The defense tallied 45 digs, led by Aine Doty and Duru Vardan each recording eight. 

Montana State earned an opening set victory, 25-23. Doty posted all eight of her digs in the set while Vrieling posted 4 of her 10 kills. Idaho hit .237 and held the Bobcats to a .186 hitting percentage. The Vandals used a late four-point run down 19-24 to pull within one (23-24), but the Bobcats delivered set point with a kill from Camryn Greenwald. 
 
The Vandals dropped the second set, 25-22. It was a back-and-forth affair as the set saw 10 ties and seven lead changes. Idaho's defense couldn't slow the MSU attack as they posted a .333 hitting percentage and used a 4-0 run to end the set. 
 
Idaho fell in the third set, 15-25, to move to 0-1 in the conference play. Idaho allowed the Montana State offense to hit .346 and record five aces to earn the sweep. 

 Up next, the Vandals will head to Flagstaff, Arizona on Sept. 23 to take on Northern Arizona at 5:30 p.m. PT.

Match Leaders vs. Montana State
Kills: Aubrey Nielson – 11  
Assists: Natalia Wielgus– 23
Digs: Aine Doty & Duru Vardan – 8
Blocks: Renata Lopez Morales – 3

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