Idaho to stay on West Coast in nonconference moving forward
With the move from an independent schedule to the Sun Belt, Idaho football coach Paul Petrino’s team has had very little wiggle room as far who and how often the Vandals will be staying on this side of the country. However, it was recently announced that in 2015, 2016 and 2017 the Vandals will travel to face three teams out of the Pac 12 in USC in 2015, and in 2016 the Vandals take on Washington and Washington State, both also on the road. In addition to these Pac 12 road trips, the Vandals will also travel to Auburn in 2015 and host Wofford. Idaho has also scheduled home-and-homes with UNLV, Western Michigan and Nevada in this three-year window.
Soccer ninth In preseason poll
Despite an impressive showing last spring, and returning 14 players from the 2013 squad, coach Derek Pittman and the Vandals were not able to woo the coaches of the Big Sky as they were voted ninth in the preseason poll. In total the Vandals earned 29 points in the poll, which was two ahead of the10th place team, Eastern Washington. The preseason favorite, Portland State, tallied a whopping 93 points in the poll and five first-place votes. Idaho is 0-2 to start the season.
Volleyball picked third by coaches
The Idaho volleyball team was picked to finish third in its first season in the Big Sky in the conference’s preseason coach’s poll. The Vandals received two first-place votes and 95 points in the poll. Idaho State and Northern Arizona are the favorites at 108 points and four first-place votes apiece. The Vandals were successful in their previous stint in the Big Sky winning the conference championship during their last four seasons in the conference from 1992-95. Last year, Idaho finished 19-11 falling in the WAC Tournament semifinals to eventual champion New Mexico State.
Changes to Big Sky volleyball alignment
With Idaho joining the Big Sky on July 1, the conference now has an even 12 volleyball participants split into two six-team divisions. Idaho is participating in the North Division, along with Eastern Washington, Montana, Montana State, North Dakota and Northern Colorado. The South Division will consist of Idaho State, Northern Arizona, Portland State, Sacramento State, Southern Utah and Weber State. Each team will play each division opponent twice and each of the teams in the other division once. At the end of the season the top eight teams, regardless of division will compete in the conference tournament, hosted by the regular season champion.
Volleyball earns another academic honor
For the fourth consecutive season, the Idaho volleyball team earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Team Academic Award. The Vandals were one of 134 NCAA Division 1 teams to receive the award, which goes to teams that maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average. Four Vandals earned a perfect 4.0 GPA for at least one semester during the 2013-14 academic year, including Katelyn Peterson, Ashley Christman, Alyssa Schultz and Taylor Wilkinson.
“Our girls are committed to academics,” Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. “Part of that starts with the recruiting process … Above that, based on their busy schedules and the commitment that they make, it says a lot about our academic department here and the support they give not only in our department, but across campus with the professors.”