The University of Idaho volleyball team opened its season with back-to-back matches at Portland State University, losing Sunday’s season opener 2-3, before bouncing back on Monday 3-2 for the first win of the season.
UI Vandals (1-1, 0-0 BSC)
On Sunday, Idaho began its season opener lagging behind, allowing Portland State to take the first set, 25-21, with the defense overrun by the Vikings’ relentless offense.
The Vandals had a total of 49 kills on Sunday and 45 on Monday. Junior middle blocker Kennedy Warren led the Vandals offense in both matches with 26 total kills, followed close by senior outside hitter Avery Housley with 22 total kills.
The offense was pretty similar, statistically speaking, between the two matches. The big difference for the Vandals on Monday came with the elevated play of the defense.
Idaho totaled 11 blocks on Sunday, seven of which were made by redshirt freshman Bea Whitling, but the Vandals bumped that number up to 19 on Monday. Redshirt junior middle blocker Nikki Ball, who only had three blocks on Sunday, came through with 10 block assists and one solo block in Monday’s win.
The biggest jump, however, came from the Vandals keeping the ball off the floor, jumping from 62 digs on Sunday to 82 in Monday’s win.
Whether the swing in defensive momentum was due to the change of libero from sophomore Alaina Lacey to junior Becca Owen or a change in the game plan is unclear, but Monday’s was the key determining factor in the win.
PSU Vikings (1-1, 0-0 BSC)
Portland State jumped right out of the gate with a strong offense in Sunday’s match, along with an active defense that gave Idaho headaches through the weekend.
The Vikings’ defense remained steady through opening weekend, with 82 digs for Sunday and 90 on Monday. Sophomore libero Ellie Snook led with 52 digs over both matches.
However, Monday’s assist total spoke to how much the tides turned because of the Vandals’ defense.
On Sunday, Portland State had 70 assists, but with the Idaho defense leading the way, the assists fell to just 54 on Monday.
The same can be said for the Vikings’ kills. They started the weekend by smashing down 73 total kills, with freshman outside hitter Gabby Hollins finishing with 23 kills in Sunday’s win.
Portland State’s offense in the second match wasn’t so successful, thanks in part to Idaho’s defense on the net and floor, being held to 54 kills.
The Vikings’ defense was solid throughout but their offense was just unable to finish the weekend out and pick up the sweep at home.
The Vandals return to Moscow for their home opener in Memorial Gym against Southern Utah on Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. and on Feb. 1 at 6 p.m.