MOSCOW, Idaho - Idaho Volleyball, having continued steady improvement all season long, commenced week four of Big Sky Conference play with one of the toughest tests that the team has seen this year.
Despite returning home to Memorial Gym, Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona were on their way to Moscow, ranked #4 and #2 in the league standings, respectively, going into the matchups. Undeterred by what lay in front of them, Idaho took both opponents to five sets and, while the win-loss column will not reflect this, had two of the conferences top teams backed into a corner.
On Thursday, UNC came to the Palouse to take part in the Vandals' "Block Out Breast Cancer" pink game, in which the hosts were decked out in pink accessories. On the court, UI took a commanding lead right off the bat, riding kills from Kiana Greer, Sarah Sullivan, and a Cayton White ace to take the first seven points of the night. The Bears rallied to tie the set up and even took a brief lead, but consistent pressure from White and Greer closed it out with the lead.
The second set featured much of the same as the first, including the final score. The Vandals went on a 5-0 run early to take a 7-1 lead. UNC once again rallied to knot it up and take a lead, but despite trailing 19-23 in the frame and facing set point, Idaho would not surrender a rally from there and clinched a 2-0 lead, 25-23.
From there, the Bears turned up the heat, taking advantage of costly errors in the third and ultimately coming out on top to avoid the sweep. The fourth set was as back and forth as the first two, with multiple ties and lead changes and neither team truly holding momentum. Knotted up at 24-all, back-to-back Vandal attacks were just off target and a fifth set was needed to determine a victor. Northern Colorado led the way all the way and stole the win.
Greer led the way offensively with 18 kills, trailed just behind by White with 17. Koen Makaula had an impressive defensive performance with 5 total blocks and Gabi Smith followed up with 4.
On Saturday, Northern Arizona came to town for the first Big Sky rematch of the year for Idaho, and the first of any kind since the team played Cal State Fullerton twice in the non-conference slate. In this rendition, both teams traded sets all day long. The Lumberjacks took home the first set with a nine-point gap, but each one to follow was settled one way or another by no more than four.
The Vandals came out swinging in the second frame, bolstered once again by Greer and another standout performance from Makaula, who was in on seemingly all of the team's fifteen blocks. A 22-14 lead for the Vandals, led by that defensive effort, was too much for NAU to come back from.
A neck-and-neck third set went the way of the visitors, but Idaho responded well with backs against the wall, stringing together the longest run of any team in Memorial Gym this weekend and taking eight straight in the fourth frame. Once again, the deficit proved too much to overcome and the brave and bold had forced the tenth set played in three days. Ties and lead changes peppered the final series until NAU took six in a row and ultimately the match.
FINAL NOTES
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After two more matches each with double-digit kills, Cayton White has reclaimed the team lead in kills with 226, narrowly ahead of Kiana Greer who has tallied 225 so far. Chiara Gennari also recorded 10 kills on Saturday and still has the third-most with 114.
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Koen Makaula had a standout defensive weekend for the Vandals, tallying five total blocks vs. UNC and seven vs. NAU. Her team-leading total is now up to 65.
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After the fourth week of conference play, both Aleina Manaois and Csenge Krakoczki have each crossed the 300 mark in assists. Manaois' 17 on the weekend places her at 375 and Krakoczki's 66 put her at 315.
UP NEXT
The Vandals hit the road once again for week five of conference play, taking on Sacramento State and Portland State on the road on Oct. 23 and 25.
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