The Vandals wasted no time trying to justify their lofty preseason rankings.
Idaho swept Eastern Washington on Tuesday, 25-21, 26-24, 25-13. It was the Vandals’ third sweep of the year and fifth consecutive win for Idaho when opening Big Sky play.
The match opened with even performances from both teams, but Idaho’s defense made the difference.
The Vandals (7-6, 1-0) recorded six of their 11 blocks in the first set, stifling the Eagles’ momentum and making a serious impact on their hitting efficiency. Eastern Washington finished the match hitting only .070 to Idaho’s .330.
The second set was closer, with Idaho having to play extra points to take the victory. The Eagles continuously answered Idaho’s runs at the start of the third set. Head coach Debbie Buchanan called a timeout in an attempt to stifle a 4-0 run for Eastern Washington, and the move turned out to be exactly what Idaho needed. The Vandals went on a 10-2 run two points later to go up 20-12 before finishing out the match.
Three different Vandals finished with double-digit kills. Senior outside hitters Kaela Straw, Reece Carman and Sarah Sharp led the way with 16, 12 and 10 kills respectively. Carman also led all players with five blocks.
Redshirt freshman setter Donee Janzen showed out in her second match of the season, tallying 17 assists in only two sets of work.
With the sweep, Idaho has now opened Big Sky Conference play in such a manner two years in a row. The team has not lost a conference opener since moving from the Western Athletic Conference to the Big Sky after the 2013 season.
Idaho continues to progress through its road game stretch, heading to Greeley, Colorado, to face Northern Colorado (4-5, BSC 0-0).
The Bears will open up conference play with the Vandals, after their final non-con- ference game was canceled. Northern Colo- rado and Idaho did not face a common op- ponent in non-conference. Idaho took the victory in both of the meetings last season.
The Vandals will take on Northern Colorado 6 p.m. Sept. 20 in Greeley.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jonahpbaker