COLUMBIA, Mo. - Idaho Volleyball got off to a historic start to the 2026 season, taking on and taking down Towson at the Mizzou Invitational.
Undeterred by a two-set deficit to start the day, the Vandals stormed back, rattling off back-to-back-to-back set wins to shock the CAA powerhouse, claiming the program's first reverse sweep since the 2021 spring season.
Idaho kept the scoreboard even throughout the early portion of the first set, with Kiana Greer picking up where she left off from a standout freshman campaign and Alaina Armstrong chipping in points to keep momentum locked at 12-12. Towson rattled off nine straight points from there and held the lead through the set. The Tigers started out hot going into the second as well with a quick 10-0 lead, an advantage that would, despite strong efforts from Sarah Sullivan and Allie Ferrin, put Idaho into the two-set hole.
From there, everything shifted. Idaho started the third period strong with Koen Makaula getting the scoring started. Lucy Ryan and Anika Hudson put up a wall at the net to keep the Tiger attack at bay. The Vandals took advantage of key errors from Towson to swing momentum in their favor, and Greer and Ferrin kept the pressure on to put the Brave and Bold on the board in set three.
The Tigers responded by taking the first three points of the fourth frame and a 9-5 lead into the first media timeout, after which they would boost the advantage to seven before the Vandals got their footing and cut the lead to 14-9 to force a Towson timeout.
It was nearly all Vandals from there. Greer and Ferrin paced the Idaho offense with strong setting from Csenge Krakoczki and Zola Zuccolo to knot the total at 17 apiece. The two teams traded blows, but the Vandals got away from the Tigers to force the all-deciding fifth set.
UI and Towson alternated points for nearly the entire set, with the Black and Gold going toe-to-toe with the CAA program that had won 20+ contests annually over the last decade. With the scoreboard knotted at 11, Greer came alive, sharing blocks with Makaula and Hudson and notching a kill, while Sophie Danielson tallied a kill to earn Idaho the reverse sweep over Towson.
Kiana Greer led the way for the Vandals with 14 kills, with Allie Ferrin putting up seven. Zola Zuccolo led the team with 17 assists in her collegiate debut, while Csenge Krakoczki was up next with 14. Anika Hudson had a hand in seven total blocks, and Keira Kleidon notched 14 digs in the Vandal debut for both. Greer finished in the top three for Idaho in four of five major stats, with her 14 kills and trio of service aces both team leads, the second-most digs for the Vandals with seven, and three block assists ranking third.
UP NEXT
Idaho will continue the Mizzou Invitational Saturday vs. the host Missouri Tigers, led by Dawn Sullivan, mother of Vandal senior Sarah Sullivan. First serve is set for 6:00 PM CST / 4:00 PM PST.
FOLLOW THE VANDALS
To stay up to date with Vandal Volleyball, follow the team on Instagram (vandalvolleyball), X (IdahoVolleyball) and visit govandals.com
