MOSCOW, Idaho - Idaho Volleyball continued the season with momentum unseen in recent years after opening the campaign with a win at the Vandal Volleyball Invitational for the first time since 2019.
The Vandals hit the road for the first time this year, traveling across the Evergreen State to the Seattle U invitational at the Redhawk Center. For the first match of the day, they faced off with the Manhattan Jaspers, who traveled all the way from the Bronx to the Emerald City for the round robin. MU took a set to start the day, but Idaho was undeterred, rattling off the next three, including back-to-back 25-18 Ws to earn the second victory of the young campaign.
On Friday, in the second day of action, the Vandals faced off with the host Seattle U Redhawks on their home court. The first set was taken to extras with SU taking the first, 26-24, but Idaho responded with two resounding wins in the second and third and starting the fourth on an 8-2 run. The Redhawks would rebound and force the fifth set, which they took, 15-13.
Finally, on Saturday morning, the brave and bold had their first rematch of the year way earlier than most do in the conference season. Cal State Fullerton traveled to Seattle and faced off with Idaho for the second time in six matches. CSF built upon how set five in Moscow ended last weekend, narrowly edging out the first, 25-23.
Idaho firmly took the next two sets to take the 2-1 advantage, but fell in the fourth and succeeding fifth to close out the tournament.
Kiana Greer built upon a strong opening weekend with 37 kills on the weekend, leading the team twice. Koen Makaula recorded 29 kills, a 30.9 hit%, and an impressive 16 total blocks over three days, earning an all-tournament team nod from Seattle U's coaches and staff as one of the five standouts from the weekend.
Idaho returns to action next week, where they will travel to Fargo and Grand Forks for the NDSU/UND invitational. North Dakota State, North Dakota, and UTSA will all feature in the round robin from Sep. 11-13.
FINAL NOTES
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Chiara Gennari set a new career high with 23 kills vs. Cal State Fullerton, more than doubling her old top mark of 10.
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Koen Makaula was named to the All-Tournament team for her work in Seattle. She is the first Vandal to be named to such a team since Haylee Mathis earned a nod in the conference tournament.
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Sara Hiebert made her Vandal debut vs. Seattle U and Cal State Fullerton this weekend, recording the first three blocks of her Idaho career.
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After two weeks of the season, Kiana Greer leads the team in kills with 69. Aleina Manaois took the team lead in assists with 139, Kyriah Trefren, holds 69 digs, and Koen Makaula sits atop the roster with 23 total blocks.
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