Despite the Idaho volleyball team’s momentum thanks to its recent five-game winning streak, the Vandals were swept by the Idaho State Bengals (16-25, 24-26, 18-25) Saturday at Reed Gym in Pocatello. It is Idaho’s first loss since Oct. 3 at Eastern Washington.
The Vandals are now 6-4 in the Big Sky Conference and 9-13 overall.
The Bengals have won 11 out of their last 12 games and are 9-1 in conference, which is tied with Northern Arizona in the South division of the Big Sky. Idaho is still second in the North division, only trailing Eastern Washington.
The Vandals’ hitting percentage Saturday was .100 and no players earned 10 or more kills.
Senior outside hitter Katelyn Peterson led Idaho with eight kills. She surpassed the 900-kill mark in Saturday’s loss.
Senior defensive specialist and Pocatello native Jenna Ellis was among three Idaho players who earned 10 or more digs. She led the team with 11.
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said the team struggled throughout the night staying consistent and stopping the Bengals, who ended the night with a .321 hitting percentage.
“We did not really come out and play our game tonight,” Buchanan said. “We learned from game one and came out and competed in game two. At the end of the night we just had too many errors overall. We will hopefully face them again at some point and play a better match.”
Idaho’s next four matches will be the final home games of the season. The Vandals play Montana State at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Memorial Gym.
The Vandals swept the Bobcats in their first meeting this season to extend their winning streak against Montana State to 16.
Buchanan said the team needs to make several adjustments before Thursday’s game.
“We will have to go back to the drawing board,” Buchanan said. “We need to tighten some things up technically. We are going to be back home and do not have to travel for two weeks. These next three weeks are going to be important ones as far as Big Sky seeding goes.”
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected]