Vandal volleyball goes on the road this weekend, traveling to San Jose State and No. 7 Hawaii as they look to keep their winning streak alive.
It’s the half-way point in the Vandals’ (11-9, 5-2 WAC) conference schedule as they start the second round of WAC play Friday against San Jose State. The Vandals are third in conference standings, trailing New Mexico State and Hawaii. So far all teams in the conference have held true to their ranking with no teams beating a team who is ranked above them.
The Vandals enter the weekend riding the momentum of a five-game winning streak and will look to keep it going against San Jose State (7-13, 2-5 WAC). The Vandals swept the Spartans in their first meeting this season at home. Last year Idaho was upset at San Jose State and will try not to make the same mistake. Assistant coach Steve Whitaker said it comes down to the Vandals playing their game.
“I don’t think it matters where we go. Whether we’re in Mem Gym or on the road, we have to play our game,” Whitaker said. “We have to serve and pass and I think if we can do those two things, we’re going to set ourselves up for the least amount of failure.”
Idaho will have a tough task Sunday when the team travels to the Hawaiian islands to take on No. 7 Hawaii (19-1, 7-0 WAC). Redshirt freshman Alyssa Schultz said it’s a game the Vandals look forward to.
“It’s more exciting than anything, plus they have a huge fan base, so it’s a lot of fun to go and feed off their energy,” Schultz said. “It’s a good challenge for us.”
The Vandals opened up their conference schedule Sept. 22 at home against Hawaii where they fell in four sets. Whitaker said solid control will lead to Idaho’s success.
“We have to take care of the things we can control. Going to Hawaii — it’s special,” Whitaker said. “They’re a very good team. They’re a very good ball-control team. We know we have a big battle to fight and we just have to take it one step at a time.”
Schultz said her team has to get everyone involved if they’re going to have any success.
“We’re definitely going to have to get all our hitters involved, not just our outsides,” Schultz said. “We’re going to have to balance off our offense and try to get them out of system rather than just rely on one hitter.”
Idaho’s win streak is an improvement from last season when the team failed to win more than two in a row. Whitaker said this team has shown some of the greatest improvement he has seen since coming to Idaho.
“Out of the three years I’ve been here, this has been the biggest progression,” Whitaker said. “We’re getting better every day, and I think it shows. I think we’re focusing on the right things to get better.”