The second-seeded Vandal volleyball team made it all the way to the WAC Tournament championship match, but came up just short of what would’ve been Idaho’s first WAC title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, losing to New Mexico State in four last week in San Antonio.
Idaho beat New Mexico State in the final regular season match, but the Aggies emerged in the end to claim the WAC crown. Playing for the WAC Championship was the furthest the Vandals have advanced since joining the conference.
The Vandals’ WAC Tournament started with a 3-1 win over Texas State. The only downside was the loss of All-WAC sophomore Alyssa Schultz to an injury, which Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said was a big loss.
“It’s always unfortunate when you lose a player, and Alyssa is an asset to this team and has been all year, but that also allows the next kid to come in and shine, who has worked hard all year and competed on a daily basis and never given up,” Buchanan said.
Both sophomore Jessica Hastriter and junior Taylor Wilkinson were solid off the bench. Hastriter finished with 12 kills and Wilkinson added another 10.
After the win, the Vandals advanced to the semifinals where they beat UT-San Antonio in a come-from-behind five setter. After exchanging blows in the first four sets, the Vandals found themselves down 11-14 in the fifth, facing elimination, but with senior libero Janelle Chow at the service line, the Vandals rattled off five straight points to snatch a 16-14 victory and advance to the WAC Championship.
“It was amazing,” Chow said. “They had match point, I just wanted to serve for my team, for my seniors. Whatever happened I just wanted to leave it all on the court and give it my best. Once I got out of the whole mindset of ‘it’s match-point for them’ I just played my game. I’ve been playing volleyball forever and I just did what I do.”
All-WAC selection Allison (Walker) Baker matched her career high with 29 kills in the match to help send her team to the title match.
“I was trying to just be a leader on the court, keep everybody’s heads up,” Baker said. “There’s never a point when you should ever give up, and we didn’t and we won.”
On the other side of the bracket, New Mexico State took down top seeded Utah State to face Idaho in the championship. The two teams split the season series, but it was the Aggies who had the last laugh with a 25-20, 20-25, 27-25, 25-19 win.
After dropping the first set of the match, the Vandals responded with a 25-20 win in set two, setting up a pivotal third set. The Vandals fought set point twice before the Aggies went on a 2-0 run to take the third set 27-25. Idaho wasn’t able to reclaim the momentum in the fourth and the Aggies went on to claim the WAC crown and an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament.
The loss ends the season for the Vandals, who finished with an overall record of 17-14 — their highest win total since the 2008 season. It also marks the end for six Idaho seniors, Janelle Chow, Jenny Feicht, Alex Sele, Ryann Carter, Julia Church and Allison Baker.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]