A showdown against two Big Sky teams from the North Division resulted in the Idaho volleyball team’s third straight five-set match. Like the last two matches, the Vandals got the win 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 25-27, 25-22, 15-13) against Montana Thursday at West Auxiliary Gym in Missoula, Montana.
Senior defensive specialist Jenna Ellis made history in Missoula by surpassing Meghan Brown on the Idaho all-time digs list. Ellis needed 11 going into the match and she ended the night with 18 (1,428 in her career).
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Sarah Sharp followed up a career-best 15 kills and .560 hitting percentage last Saturday against Sacramento State with a new career mark of 18 kills, including the game-winning kill.
Sophomore outside hitter Becca Mau, who earned no kills and sat out for most of the game last Saturday, also had 18 kills. It is Mau’s first game with 10 or more kills since Sept. 26 against North Dakota.
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said both Mau and Sharp’s performance was helpful to the team’s victory.
Buchanan also said the team was inconsistent at times but turned things around in the fourth set.
“We were able to create some offense, get some runs with points and start to build some momentum,” Buchanan said. “We were able to take (Montana) out of system and started to make a few errors which gave us the extra points. Even though we didn’t have the offensive numbers that we had the last time, we definitely had some good numbers. We just need to become more consistent and keep those numbers up.”
Idaho narrowly defeated Montana in hitting percentage and committed fewer hitting errors despite earning fewer kills and attack attempts.
After Idaho won the opening set, the Grizzlies won the next two and was poised to win the match.
In the fourth set, back-to-back kills by Mau and a block by freshman middle blocker Laine Waters and Mau started a 4-0 run for the Vandals, putting them up 14-12. The drive helped Idaho regain its momentum over the Grizzlies and keep its hopes alive as the Vandals won the set.
Idaho’s momentum carried into the fifth set, which was highlighted with three kills by Mau.
The Grizzlies continued to put pressure on the Vandals. But redshirt freshman outside hitter Kaela Straw earned four out of her five kills in the final set after coming off the bench to earn a .556 hitting percentage.
With their third straight win, the Vandals are now 4-3 in the Big Sky Conference and 7-12 overall.
Idaho continues its week at the Treasure State Saturday. It plays Montana State at 6 p.m. in Bozeman, Montana. The Vandals won their last match against the Bobcats 3-0 last Oct. 30.
Buchanan said the team has to play better offense, especially on the road.
“Montana State is a good team,” Buchanan said. “We’re gonna have to play better than we did (Thursday), get back in our offensive rhythm and see if we can play steadier, and that’s the challenge when you go on the road. You go to places where there’s a big crowd, it’s a different environment and we don’t have a lot of fans. We have to be able to create it for ourselves and be able to push.”
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected]