MOSCOW, Idaho - Idaho Volleyball collected its first conference win since the 2022 season over Eastern Washington, doing so in an away sweep over the Eagles in Cheney. 

Idaho (4-11, 1-2 BSC) has not only collected the Big Sky victory, but has also reached four wins on the season, the most since the '22 slate and double the total of the previous two seasons, highlighting the rising stock in the program.

Now the Vandals return to conference play after a lighter week of action, hitting the road once again to take on in-state rival Idaho State in Pocatello, ID on Thursday, Oct. 9. They will then go across the southern border of the Gem State, facing off with Weber State on Saturday, Oct. 11. 

SCOUTING IDAHO STATE
Coming off of a breakout season under then-second-year head coach Sean Carter in which they went 21-10, Idaho State had all the momentum coming into the 2025 season, being picked third in the Big Sky Preseason Polls and placing Jaydin Watts (MVP) and Meline Shulikov on the Preseason All-Conference Team as well. 

Despite the 4-11 record, the Bengals' elite defense has been as advertised, picking up right where they left off and recording 160.0 team blocks, T-6th in all of DI volleyball and ahead of teams such as Auburn, Louisville, Georgia, TCU, and Grand Canyon. Marci Bell paces the team with 77 total blocks, averaging 1.31/set, and Watts has earned 67 and 1.14 of her own while also leading the team with 134 kills and 2.27/set. Marci Bell is close behind with 119 and 2.02, respectively. In the non-conference slate, the Bengals picked up a 3-0 sweep over Memphis of the American Conference and a 3-1 takedown of Portland. 

Head Coach Sean Carter is in his fourth season in Pocatello, with the 2024 year being his most successful to date.

SCOUTING WEBER STATE
Always a threat in the Big Sky, Weber State sits at 10-5 after the first two weeks of Big Sky play with a 2-1 league record. Notably, the Wildcats opened their season with a 3-0 sweep over Nevada and took down the Iowa Hawkeyes in September. WSU opened league play with a sweep over Northern Colorado before falling to Sacramento State. Most recently, the Wildcats took down Idaho's thursday opponent, Idaho State, 3-1, in Ogden. 

While not as statistically dominant as ISU, Weber State is the fourth-best scoring defense in the conference, allowing a collective .200 hitting percentage from opponents and tallying 2.34 blocks/set. Saane Munyer is hitting the third-best percentage in the league with a .418 total to date, and Morgan Pratt stands as the active leader in assists/set with 9.60. 

Head Coach Jeremiah Larsen is in his eleventh season at the helm and has elevated the program to new heights since his hiring in 2014, including winning the conference tournament in 2021 and multiple postseason and title game appearances.

FOLLOW THE VANDALS
To stay up to date with Idaho Volleyball, follow the team on Instagram(vandalvolleyball), X(IdahoVolleyball) and visit govandals.com