MOSCOW, Idaho - After four weeks of non-conference tournaments, including the return of the Vandal Volleyball Invitational in Memorial Gym, Idaho is set to begin Big Sky play alongside the other nine teams in the league.

The Vandals are coming off of a road weekend in Nashville at the Tiger Invitational where they collected their third win of the year under head coach Romana Redondo Kriskova, the first five-set win for the program in four years. In the win, freshman Kiana Greer and junior Cayton White became the first pair of Idaho players to have 20+ kills in the same match.

This weekend, the Vandals will commence league play, first going to Flagstaff to take on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Thursday before hosting the Montana Grizzlies in Moscow on Saturday.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA
The 'Jacks, initially picked T-7th in the preseason polls but receiving a first-place vote, have surged out to a 10-3 record in non-conference play, two games ahead of second place in the standings. This included a 3-0 sweep over Texas Tech of the Big 12 as well as a 3-1 takedown of Grand Canyon on their home court in Phoenix.

R-Jr. Hanah Stoddard has been as advertised since being named to the preseason all-conference team. Her 4.47 kills/set currently ranks 24th in the nation. She's been the go-to hitter for her team and it truly isn't close, as her 543 total attacks are ninth
in DI volleyball, and the gap between her and second place Ashlynn Archer of Sacramento State is more than Archer has tallied this year (241).

SCOUTING MONTANA
Montana started its season 0-3 with losses to Utah Valley, Navy, and Boise State. Since then, they've secured eight straight, including seven that went to no more than four sets. These included a five-set series over Gonzaga, and 3-0 sweeps over North Dakota State, Indiana State, and Seattle U, all common opponents with Idaho.

Delaney Russell, Mylee Blake, and Olivia LaBeau have all crossed the century mark in kills, with Russell (123) leading the way. Alexis Batezel's 4.48 digs/set are second-best in the conference and a top-40 mark in the nation. Allison Lawrence is in her ninth season at the helm of the program and sixteenth overall, and has kept the team in regular Big Sky contention, earning the conference Coach of the Year award in 2022.  

Both matches will be broadcast on ESPN+ and LiveStats and ticketing information can be found below.

TICKETS 
Idaho Athletics has announced that, for the 2024-25 academic year, tickets to home football, basketball, soccer, and volleyball are completely free to current enrolled students at Idaho. To purchase tickets to this weekend's events and beyond, click HERE.

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