The University of Idaho volleyball team held its second home game of the season Saturday Oct. 26 against Weber State University after a recent loss to ISU two days prior.
Despite the loss, the Vandals came out with renewed energy ready to face the new opponent. Going into the game, the Vandals’ record was 9-4, with the Wildcats sitting at 7-4 after a recent loss to Eastern Washington University going 1-3.
At the outset of the game it was clear this was going to be a very close, and extremely competitive as the score went back and forth, neither team gaining more than a two point advantage until a four point run by the Vandals with three kills by sophomore Kiana Greer, and one by junior Sophie Danielson.
Still, with the Vandals only ahead by three to four points through the rest of the set, Weber State made a comeback near the end, pushing the score to 22-22, three points away from game point, and going back and forth to 25-25.
Fortunately for the Vandals, they took the set home 27-25 on an attack error by WSU and a block by Sophie Danielson, and sophomore Gabi Smith to close out the last point.
The second set started the same as the first, the score going back and forth until 10-10 where the Wildcats hit a four point run 14-10 bolstered by senior Maggie Larsen putting up two back to back kills, and holding the lead for the rest of the set.
The Vandals own errors aided in the Wildcats taking home this set, with five of the Vandals 10 service errors throughout the game found in the second set, playing a key role in contributing to their loss.
Entering 1-1 into set three the opening went back and forth until the score tied at 14-14 and the Vandals scored a six point run pulling ahead, showing their resilience and fighting for a comeback into the third.
Then, a six point run by the Wildcats with four attack errors by Idaho, contributed to the lead flipping and a new score of 23-22 in favor of the Wildcats. With Idaho calling a time out, senior Sarah Sullivan encouraged her team, noting that “They’re not doing anything special.” Coming out of the time out, Sophie Danielson scored a kill for Idaho, until finally, two kills put up by WSU senior Rose Moore closed out the set 25-23.
In the third set, the Vandals hitting percentage dropped from the previous set’s .242 to .059, with the drop in efficiency contributing to the set loss.
Set four played out the same way as the last three, but this time the back and forth points saw longer runs up to three points for each team. When the Wildcats picked up the pace hitting multiple three point runs, and scoring a total of 16 kills–their highest throughout the four sets– Idaho ultimately fell behind and the set ended 25-19, wrapping up the Vandals second home game, and their second loss in conference.
Throughout the game, it was evident that the Vandals could not get into an efficient offensive rhythm after the first set as their energy on the court continuously wavered after their loss in the second.
Regardless, the players still put up a tough mental game, not going out without a fight and playing well into the last points of each set, demonstrating both their grit and determination on the court, and their unwavering teamwork.
Despite the loss, a notable few players still had a great game, including outside hitter Kiana Greer, who reached 500 career kills halfway through the second set, with the achievement accumulated over 42 games.
Against Weber State, Greer hit 15 kills, with Sophie Danielson behind her putting up eight for the Idaho Vandals. Defensively, graduate student Anika Hudson and Gabi Smith both managed three blocks throughout the four sets while junior libero Kiera Kleidon held up the back row with 18 digs.
For Weber State, Rose Moore played a strong offense, scoring 17 kills for the Wildcats, while graduate student Stacia Barker led defensively at the net, putting up 5 blocks against the Vandals.
The Vandals are scheduled to play Weber State again on Nov. 18 in Ogden, UT. In the coming week, the Vandals hit the road for their first away conference games against the Montana State Bobcats (record 8-5) in Bozeman and the University of Montana Grizzlies (record 4-9) in Missoula.