The Idaho volleyball team began the Idaho Nike Invitational Tournament with a loss to the Missouri Tigers 3-2 Thursday at Memorial Gym.
It was the Vandals’ home opener.
Thursday’s match was one of three home matches over the weekend. Idaho takes on Boise State on Friday and Portland on Saturday.
“It’s not like we had a ton of errors, but they out-dug us down the stretch,” Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. “They were able to make those plays and that’s some- thing that we have to be able to do.”
Idaho was down 2-1 until it struck in the fourth set and prevailed 25-19. Idaho missed some key serves down the stretch in the fifth sealing the match for Missouri.
“We can’t have two missed serves in game five,” Buchanan said. “That just can’t happen.”
Starting outside hitter Ali Forde played the first set, but Buchanan chose to go with freshman Becca Mau on the outside for the rest of the match. Mau had a team-high 14 kills on 50 attempts.
“I just love that I can compete and participate and contribute to the team however they need me,” Mau said. “Hopefully we can start turning these great matches into wins.”
Buchanan noticed Mau’s play on the outside.
“She’s been that L-1,” Buchanan said. “She’s done some good things stepping in as a freshman.”
Outside hitter Jessica Hastriter led the Vandals with a .421 hitting percentage, which included a few important kills on the right side during the fourth set.
Buchanan said Idaho needs to focus and compete harder in the fifth set.
“If you look at the game, we’re doing some good things,” Buchanan said. “It’s just in the fifth game, we can’t lose control of the game. We can’t lose our focus and panic and I think we did that.”
The Vandals look forward to Friday when they host Boise State at 7 p.m. at Memorial Gym.
“It’s another good team that we have to get ready to prepare for,” Buchanan said. “Their offense is good. They’re being successful right now.”
Conor Gleason can be reached at [email protected]