Idaho volleyball falls to Northern Colorado on Senior Night
In addition to being Senior Night, Saturday’s volleyball game was also a battle for the No. 3 seed in the Big Sky Tournament.
Unfortunately for four Idaho volleyball seniors, Northern Colorado ruined Senior Night, as the Bears beat the Vandals 3-1 in Big Sky volleyball action Saturday night in Memorial Gym. The loss allowed Northern Colorado to jump Idaho in the Big Sky standings.
Brenda Ely | Argonaut
The Idaho volleyball team returns a volley during its 3-1 loss to Northern Colorado Saturday in Memorial Gym. With the loss, the Vandals move into the Big Sky Tournament as the No. 4 seed.
Idaho setters, freshman Sami Parris and sophomore Michele Brown, filled in for the usual setter, junior Meredith Coba, who sustained a season-ending leg injury in Idaho’s Thursday night loss to North Dakota. Brown finished with 16 assists and Parris finished with 15 assists and nine digs.
Northern Colorado earned the No. 3 seed for the Big Sky Tournament while Idaho is the No. 4 seed out of the eight teams competing in Pocatello.
The Vandals will play No. 5 seed Northern Arizona in the quarterfinals 4 p.m. Thursday. The Big Sky Tournament can be viewed at watchbigsky.com.
While the Big Sky Tournament will be played in an unfamiliar city for most of the Vandals, the trip to Idaho State will be a bit of a homecoming for Parris and junior defensive specialist Jenna Ellis, as both players attended Century High School in Pocatello.
As for Saturday night against Northern Colorado, four Idaho seniors — Stephanie Hagins, Alyssa Schultz, Tineke Bierma and Jessica Hastriter — played their final match at Memorial Gym.
“I’m just proud of how far we’ve come and I’m proud of how we’ve fought through adversity this game without Meredith Coba,” Schultz said. “I’m just so glad I got to be a part of this and I got to play for the coaches I got to play for and the people that I got to meet, all the boosters and everyone that made this happen. I had a great ride.”
Schultz, who earned first-team All-WAC honors the last two seasons, said she will miss a lot about playing volleyball for Idaho.
Brenda Ely | Argonaut
Joe Vandal dancing while the volleyball team gets ready for the second match Saturday evening at Memorial Gym.
“I’m going to miss game days the most, just the atmosphere, the excitement that comes out,” Schultz said. “I’m going to miss the people. It’s such a small community and people recognize you everywhere you go. I’m just going to miss it all.”
Hastriter, who led the Vandals with 12 kills Saturday, said she has also enjoyed her time at Idaho.
“It’s been such an amazing experience,” Hastriter said. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Hastriter is in her fifth year at Idaho since she redshirted one year. But she said her time at Idaho went by really fast and said she will miss the team aspect of volleyball in Moscow.
“I’ve always been around a team for years, probably about 10 years, and it’s going to be really weird not having that and not being in here training every day,” Hastriter said.
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]