One streak ended for Idaho last week, but they ended the regular season hoping to start another winning streak going into the Big Sky Tournament.
The Vandals lost to fellow conference front-runners Northern Arizona Thursday before returning to their winning ways at home for senior night against Southern Utah.
The Vandals traveled down to Flagstaff for a heavyweight matchup with the Lumberjacks on Thursday. Riding a 12-match winning streak, Idaho failed to keep pace with Northern Arizona. It was Idaho’s first loss in more than a month and a half.
The Lumberjacks won three sets to none, but the underlying numbers indicated a much closer match. Two of the three sets were decided in extra points and the Vandals kept pace with Northern Arizona in most statistical categories.
Neither team built a lead larger than four points in the first set, and senior outside hitter Kaela Straw finished one of her team-high 11 kills to push the Lumberjacks to the brink at 25-24. The Vandals could not finish things off, committing three consecutive attack errors to give the game to the Lumberjacks.
Senior outside hitter Sarah Sharp hits the ball against University of Montana in Memorial Gym.
The second set was more of the same, with Idaho alternating between brilliant play and unforced errors. A service ace pushed the second set to 24-23 in favor of Northern Arizona, but a kill from Haylee Mathis again forced the teams into extra points. NAU was issued a rare yellow card following the point, but once again they finished the Vandals before anymore drama could follow.
NAU continued its dominance at the service line, putting up seven aces to Idaho’s one. The Vandals continuously stumbled on offense throughout the night, recording 22 attack errors in only three games.
Senior outside hitter Sarah Sharp was the only other Vandal in double digits with 11 kills and three different Vandals recorded at least three blocks. The 12-match win streak was Idaho’s longest since 1995.
Idaho bounced back on senior night against Southern Utah. Unlike the matchup with Northern Arizona, the Vandals secured a comfortable lead in each game and rode out early success to the end. Each game was decided by at least seven points as Idaho cruised to a three-match sweep.
Even with the shorter match, each of Idaho’s seniors filled the stat sheet in their final home match. Sharp and Straw each finished with double-digit kills and senior middle blocker Reece Carman added 11 kills and four blocks. Senior middle blocker DeVonne Ryter contributed from all sides with six kills and six blocks. Senior libero Alycia Wodke led all players with 25 digs and Mathis remained steady with 38 assists to set up her teammates. Wodke was also named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts.
The Vandals finished the season with a share of the Big Sky regular season title and earned the second seed in the Big Sky tournament.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jonahpbaker