Memorial Gymnasium was at its peak, both teams on their feet and the crowd hanging on every point. It had come down to this: 25-24 Northern Colorado lead, set four and the match hung in the balance. The Vandals, who had battled back all set, had to fight back one more time. Unfortunately, the Bears won the set and defeated the Vandals 3-2, dropping Idaho to 4-14, 1-5 in Big Sky play.
From the time the ball was put into play, the Vandals fought. Even with the loss, head coach Romona Redondo Kriskova could not have been more proud of her team’s fight all the way until the final point hit the floor.
“We just played the defending champion at home. We were up two-zero for a reason,” Kriskova said. “We are gritty, we are resilient and we love to compete. Even though we lost the game, the other team out-hit us, out-blocked us. They were better in every single thing. The one thing that we did better was playing with our hearts. I think we were fighting in every single moment.”
The match began with electricity in the air as the starters were introduced and the crowd was ready for some volleyball in the historic Memorial Gym.
Idaho took the energy and got off to a hot start, opening the game on a 7-1 run and forcing Northern Colorado to burn a timeout. The Bears, who came in 7-11 (4-2 in the Big Sky), proved their championship ability and flipped the game around, outscoring the Vandals 9-3 and taking a 10-9 lead.
The game remained close until the end. With the Vandals leading 24-23, it was their chance to secure a win. Freshman outside hitter Kianna Greer struck a venomous kill onto the Bears’ side, and the Vandals took set one 25-23.
The second set picked up the intensity, and both teams went back and forth. However, Northern Colorado had taken a commanding 23-19 lead and looked to even the game.
Redshirt junior outside hitter Cayton White got sent back to serve for the Vandals, and she never left that spot. She helped serve six straight points, and the Vandals stole the set 25-23, taking a commanding 2-0 lead into the third set.
Kriskova praised her team for their energy and execution in the first two sets, which swung the momentum in favor of the Vandals.
“We believed, that was the most important thing, that we believed that we could beat them,” Kriskova said. “That’s exactly how we started warmup, how we started the game. We were following the game plan exactly to the dot. Obviously, we were very proud of it.”
The Bears did not go down without a fight and led most of the third set to take a 25-17 victory and force a fourth set. The Vandals struggled in the third set and had to regain the momentum.
In the fourth set, the teams could not be separated. Behind 12 ties and three lead changes, the teams battled, one looking to end the game and the other to stay alive.
The Vandals fought tooth and nail, but in the end, the Bears were too much. They took a hard-fought fourth set 26-24 to send the game to a fifth set.
The fight the Vandals showed in the first four sets died off in the fifth. The Bears cruised to a 14-1 lead before finishing the Vandals 15-2 and completing the comeback to break the Vandals’ hearts.
Kriskova spoke about the challenging fifth set.
“We were not able to find a way to get out of it. Northern Colorado served really well,” she said. “They were serving literally bullets at us the whole game. I didn’t think that they could serve it like that the entire game, but they did and got the win, so congrats to them.”
The Vandals were led again by the dynamic duo of Greer and White. Greer finished the game with 18 kills and nine digs, while White finished with 17 kills and ten digs. Kriskova had high praise for the duo and their impact so far this season.
“Both of them are our go-to hitters. They’re carrying the team. I mean, not saying we don’t have other players, but they are showing up game after game, so obviously, a lot of trust in them, and they’re stepping into the role,” Kriskova said.
The Vandals will need to flush this loss and get ready for their next opponent, Northern Arizona University, who will come into town and face the Vandals on Saturday, Oct. 18, at noon.
“We already played NAU this season. Even though we lost three to zero, that was not our best performance,” Kriskova said. “Volleyball is a mental game, so we just need to make sure that we’re preparing our heads. Even though this loss hurts right now NAU is in front of us.”
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at arg-s[email protected].