MOSCOW, Idaho - After a road weekend in Sacramento and Portland, Idaho Volleyball returned home to Memorial Gym to tip off the first of three straight home contests, hosting Eastern Washington on Saturday.
Earlier in the year, the Vandals had picked up the program's first conference win in three seasons, sweeping the Eagles on their home court in Cheney. Saturday's action featured much of the same, as Idaho proved too much to handle and took home the win, 3-1.
As she has done multiple times this year, Kiana Greer was the hot hand that fueled her team's offense, finishing with 19 kills and 12 digs and hitting the third best total of her career at .308.
Idaho has been in many tight contests this season and Saturday was the latest example. Both teams scored at least 20 in the first three sets and the Vandals won the first and third by two points. The Eagles held the Vandals to hitting an even zero in set two and stole a set in Memorial Gym, but the Brave and Bold responded by hitting the two best sets of the night by either team, recording a .297 clip in the third and a 0.31 in the deciding fourth.
Csenge Krakoczki and Kailee Wakatake had the best serving nights of their young Vandal careers, with the freshman setter earning a trio of service aces and the junior defensive specialist laying down a pair. Krakoczki and Aleina Manaois paced Vandal offense nearly identically, recording 21 and 22 assists, respectively. Chiara Gennari put down ten kills, including the point that sealed the Idaho win.
Zuzanna Whitman came onto the court for just the seventh time this year. A routine starter in her first two seasons, the junior provided a veteran presence and a spark on both offense and defense, tallying a pair of kills on .286 hitting and having a hand in a block.
The win moves Idaho to 5-17 with six regular season matches to play. With a tiebreaker secured over EWU, a strong finish to the season could very well lock down the Vandals' first postseason appearance since 2020.
FINAL NOTES
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The season sweep over EWU is the first for Idaho since the 2020 season, when the Vandals took down then-league foe Southern Utah in back to back days in the pandemic-stricken campaign.
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Seven total service aces vs. the Eagles ties for the third most this season. The top mark to date is 10 vs. Tennessee State.
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Kiana Greer's 19 kills are the most since she tallied 21 vs. Tennessee State in Nashville. The freshman has now tallied double digit kills in five straight matches and eight of the last nine.
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Most kills in a match for Koen Makaula (10) since she notched another 10 vs. Cal State Fullerton in Seattle.
UP NEXT
The Vandals are staying home for another week, hosting Weber State on Thursday, Nov. 6, and Idaho State on Saturday, Nov. 8. Fans are encouraged to wear white on Thursday to "Whiteout the Wildcats" and black on Saturday to "Blackout the Bengals."
FOLLOW THE VANDALS
To stay up to date with Vandal Volleyball, follow the team on Instagram(vandalvolleyball), X(IdahoVolleyball), and visit govandals.com
