After almost a month-long wait, the Vandals returned to the Memorial Gym to play against the University of Montana Grizzlies. The Grizzlies came into the match 9-3, coming off a win against Sacramento State, while the Idaho Vandals looked for their first conference win since 2022. However, the drought for the Vandals continued as the Vandals lost to the Grizzlies in straight sets.
The first set started tight as, by the halfway point in the set, it was tied 13-13, with freshmen Kiana Greer and Cayton White getting three kills each in that span. The teams traded points until the 18-18 point, when Montana pulled off a 7-2 run to take the set 25-20. This included a long rally by Montana at 23-19 to force a set point. White led the Vandals in kills for the set with five. White also had an ace in this set.
The second set started similarly, with the score being 9-9 before Montana would break away with a 5-2 run to get a 14-11 lead. The Grizzlies extended this to a six-point lead late in the set. Despite three late kills from Greer in the final stretch of the set, Idaho were unable to complete the comeback, with the Grizzlies winning the set 25-21. Greer led the Vandals with five kills throughout the set, bringing her total for the day to eight kills.
In the third set, the Vandals looked to avoid the sweep. The Vandals grabbed the first point of the set with a kill from Greer but quickly lost the lead. The Vandals were looking at a seven-point deficit early in the set. Despite the early struggle, the Vandals rallied back with a 10-3 run to tie the set 15-15. This run had five kills from Idaho, with all five from Greer.
Kyriah Trefren was also able to get an ace in this run. After tying the set, Idaho struggled on the attack, allowing three attacking errors and a bad set, all of which happened consecutively to give Montana a 20-15 lead. Idaho was able to get back to scoring but the gap was too big to surmount as Montana took the set, and the sweep, 25-20.
Greer was the only Vandal to get double digit kills, getting 15 throughout the match. Defensively, Trefren was the only Vandal to get double digit digs with 10 total. The Vandals next match will be Oct. 3 against Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington. The match will be at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Bart Jacquinet can be reached at [email protected].