After a weekend in Southern California, Idaho will head out to an even more desirable location for its next tournament.
The Vandals will compete in the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge at the University of Hawaii. The team will have matches against Hawaii, San Diego State and Portland.
Each team poses a unique challenge for the Vandals, who have started the season with 2-1 records in the Idaho Volleyball Classic and the Pepperdine/CSUN Challenge.
Hawaii has had the good fortune to start the season on a long homestand, going 2-2 so far. The Rainbow Wahine boast immense pressure on offense, putting together 14.5 assists per set and 15 kills per set. The former is good for second in NCAA Divison I and the latter is sixth in the nation.
Hawaii’s senior outside hitter McKenna Granato and junior setter/outside hitter Norene Iosia will be players to look out for throughout the weekend. Granato leads Hawaii in kills with 54 overall and 4.5 per set in addition to 38 digs.
Iosia is a force to be reckoned with from any point on the court, near the top with Hawaii’s statistical leaders in hitting percentage, assists, service aces and digs.
She has also recorded a double-double in each of Hawaii’s games so far this season.
Idaho and Hawaii are former conference rivals, back when both teams played in the Western Athletic Conference. Hawaii owns a 20-0 record against the Vandals and last beat them to open the season in 2015.
San Diego State has not been as successful to start the season, but tit is no less dangerous of a team when firing on all cylinders.
The Aztecs have started 1-5 in tournaments at home and at the University of Arizona, and they will be looking from big performances from junior outside hitter Ashlynn Dunbar and senior middle blocker Deja Harris. The pair combine for 7.9 points per set, and their respective individual figures of 3.96 and 3.94 points per set are good for second and third in the Mountain West Conference so far this season.
Idaho is 1-3 against SDSU all-time and 0-2 in the last 10 years.
Portland comes into the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge with a red-hot start to the season, going 6-0 between the Aztec Invi- tational and the North Portland Marriott Invite. First year head coach Jeff Baxter has been able to push all the right buttons so far heading to Hawaii.
The Pilots have a well-rounded team that can have a handful of players swing the match in their favor. Senior outside hitter Reghan Pukis leads Portland with 82 kills and 3.73 kills per set. Redshirt junior middle blocker Katie Barker leads the Pilots with 28 blocks and 1.27 per set in addition to 50 kills on the young season. Sophomore Liz Reich added 55 kills and 23 blocks. Pukis also won tournament MVP for the North Portland Marriott Invite.
The Vandals come into Hawaii on a two- match winning streak, including a sweep of North Texas. Idaho went 2-1 in the Pepperdine/CSUN Classic, in large part thanks to strong performances from senior outside hitter Kaela Straw and senior middle blocker DeVonne Ryter. Both were named to the All- Tournament team, and Ryter earned Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors to round out a successful weekend for the Vandals.
All matches for the Outrigger Volleyball Classic will be played in Honolulu, and the time difference will present a unique challenge for Vandal fans.
Idaho will play Hawaii 10 p.m. Sept. 6. The Vandals will take on SDSU 7:45 p.m. Sept. 7 and they will finish out the tournament against Portland 6 p.m. Sept. 8.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected]