The Vandal volleyball team has three matches left in the regular season and every one is on the road, beginning with Utah State Saturday.
The Vandals (13-11, 7-4 WAC) have had a strong season at home, going 6-1 with a senior night victory over No. 2 (WAC) New Mexico State to cap it off. The Vandals are in a good position for the WAC tournament that looms on the horizon, but will have to get it done on the road to keep their high seeding. Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said it’s all about the team playing its game, regardless of venue.
“We know what we have to do as far as our goals for the WAC tournament,” Buchanan said. “We have to take one match at a time and not overlook a single opponent. We have to make sure we’re ready to go compete on the road, because we have three tough road matches and we do that by executing our game.”
The Vandals enter the weekend having won seven of their last nine matches. Buchanan said her team seems to be peaking at the right time and said it’s not a surprise to her.
“We knew that we could, it was just a matter of when everything was going to come together,” Buchanan said. “We knew we had the personnel to do that. I thought we were going to be a little bit better early on, especially in preseason and have a few more wins than we did, but that’s part of it.”
The season is almost over and the Vandals still have players battling for play time, especially at the setter position. Buchanan said depth is a good problem to have.
“It’s a good position to be in,” Buchanan said. “All the kids want to play, and we know that.”
The Vandals are No. 3 in the conference and nipping on the heels of New Mexico State for second. Hawaii still sits atop the WAC with a perfect 12-0 conference record.
The Vandals will face defending WAC champion Utah State Saturday to begin the final stretch. Idaho swept Utah State at home earlier in the year, but Buchanan said she expects the Aggies to put up a harder fight this time around, especially since they are playing at home.
“They’re going to be a little bit more dynamic than they were last time,” Buchanan said. “From early on until now — teams are better, players are better and we will face a completely different team than what we faced here.”