Three Vandals earn honors at Bronco Volleyball Classic over weekend
After a sweep in the Bronco Volleyball Classic with wins over Boise State, Sacramento State and North Texas, three Idaho volleyball players earned all-tournament team honors, including Tournament MVP Meredith Coba, middle blocker Alyssa Schultz and outside hitter Katelyn Peterson.
Coba, a sophomore setter from Salem, Ore., set a balanced Idaho offense that hit .309 in the tournament while averaging 11.21 assists-per-set and adding six kills and five blocks in 14 sets on the weekend. She also notched a career-high 67 assists in the win over North Texas.
“Obviously with Meredith being the MVP, a lot of that was because of her distribution,” Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. “Offensively our numbers wouldn’t have been that good if she wasn’t making some good decisions. You can’t have that without a good setter.”
Schultz, a junior from Issaquah, Wash., hit .412 with 2.71 kills and 0.64 blocks-per-set during the tournament. One of her best performances of the season came against Sacramento State when she had 12 kills and no errors on 22 swings to go along with four blocks and a .545 hitting percentage.
“Schultz is getting our outsides a lot of opportunities and then when she is open she’s getting that kill almost every time,” Buchanan said. “She’s a lower hitter and definitely making some big moves.”
Buchanan said Peterson had the best weekend of her career as she led Idaho with 3.5 kills-per-game during the tournament and hit .325. She also added 1.64 digs-per-set and had a team-best six aces.
Junior Jessica Hastriter just missed out on all-tournament team honors despite nabbing 23 kills and a .538 hitting percentage against North Texas.
Vandals in the NFL
Former Idaho safety Shiloh Keo was the highlight of the weekend as far as Vandal athletes in the NFL go. Keo notched four unassisted tackles in Houston’s 30-24 over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Keo played in place of injured veteran Ed Reed who is working his way back from offseason hip surgery.
The other active Vandals over the weekend went head-to-head in a lopsided 29-3 Seattle victory over San Francisco. Former Idaho lineman Mike Iupati protected 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s left side in what was a tough night for the former Nevada star on Sunday. Seahawks defensive end and former Vandal Benson Mayowa played on the winning side but didn’t record a tackle on the night.