The Vandal volleyball team entered the WAC tournament with momentum, but came to a halt as Idaho fell to New Mexico State in straight sets in the semifinal match Nov. 22.
Idaho came into the tournament having won 10 of its last 12 matches, including a five-match win streak to end the regular season, which gave the Vandals the second seed.
The strong finish did not translate into a tournament victory, and the Vandals were one match short of their first-ever WAC Championship appearance. Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said it was a tough loss to swallow.
“I thought that we were ready, the kids were locked in, they were ready to compete,” Buchanan said. “The difference is they’re probably a little bit more experienced than we are, with the number of seniors that they have and the type of matches that they’ve been in so far in their careers, and that’s something that in our program we need to strive to.”
The Vandals fell in three sets by the scores 25-22, 25-22 and 25-16. The Vandals and New Mexico State both claimed victory at home this season, splitting the series.
“Before we even went out there today we talked about the execution of the game,” Buchanan said. “It’s two great teams that were getting ready to play and whichever team executed the game at the highest level was going to win.”
New Mexico State faced Hawaii in the championship, and Hawaii showed its dominance in a 3-0 rout of the Aggies, claiming its 11th WAC championship and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Warriors finished the regular season without losing to a WAC opponent.
The Vandals finished 16-12 and the highest since joining the WAC in 2005. Buchanan said she was proud of what her team did this year.
“If you look at our season as a whole, we definitely got better as the season went on,” she said. “That’s what you want, you want to peak towards the end and our team did that.”
Buchanan said her team had high expectations coming into this year and worked toward early goals. She said they practiced at 6 a.m., three days a week and she never heard a complaint from any of her players.
Sophomore Allison Walker was named to the all-tournament team for her 18-kill performance in the semi-final match, capping off a year where she was named the conference player of the week three times.
The Vandals lose seniors Cassie Hamilton, Alicia Milo and Rylee Walker who graduate during the offseason.