An offensive battle between two Big Sky Conference rivals ended with the Idaho volleyball team beating Montana 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18) Saturday night at the Memorial Gym.
The win put Idaho at 8-4 in conference play and it clinched a spot in the Big Sky Tournament.
The Vandals ended the night with a .264 hitting average. Idaho also earned more kills and committed less hitting errors.
Sophomore setter Sami Parris led Idaho with 27 assists.
Outside hitters Katelyn Peterson and Sarah Sharp combined for 14 kills in the final two sets with Peterson leading Idaho with 14 kills on the night.
Peterson said Idaho’s confidence level helped the Vandals defeat Montana in four sets after their last meeting ended with an Idaho five-set victory.
“This time we had a sense of urgency about it,” Peterson said. “We knew that we want it more than (Montana) because they want that tournament bid really bad. So we just tried to fight for every point and take it one at a time.”
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said the win is huge as the Vandals push to finish the season strong. Buchanan said Idaho started well and picked up momentum as the match progressed but said the Vandals didn’t play as cleanly as they should have until the fourth set.
“I thought that we did a great job early on of establishing our middles, getting them the ball which opened up our pins,” Buchanan said. “But then our passing went down a little bit where we couldn’t do that.”
Buchanan said Idaho needs to continue to work on its passing game.
Sharp, a redshirt freshman who was second on the team with 13 kills, said Idaho’s victory against Montana State Thursday and Montana Saturday helps boost the Vandals’ confidence.
“It’s really good for us,” Sharp said. “We’ve been kind of struggling a little bit at practice with having some urgency and these two games really show that we did a lot better at that. This needs to continue … the more that we celebrate and talk, the better we play.”
Idaho plays its final two home matches of the season this week at the Memorial Gym. The Vandals play Southern Utah at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The Vandals defeated the Thunderbirds in five sets Nov. 6 last season.
Idaho then plays Eastern Washington at 7 p.m. Saturday for the Vandals’ Senior Night. The Vandals remain in second place in the Big Sky North, just one match behind the Eagles.
With the regular season drawing to a close, Peterson, a senior, said it has begun to hit her that her Vandal volleyball career is nearly over. But she said the team must continue to stay focused over the next few weeks.
“It’s going really fast and we’re just realizing that it’s our final push, so we’re really trying to grind it out,” Peterson said. “We have to keep putting in the effort and attitude in the gym and just stay focused on our goal of one game at a time and I think we’ll be in good position.”
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected]