It looked bad for the Vandals — real bad. The Idaho volleyball team was down 2-1 on the road at Utah State Saturday night and trailed 18-9.
But it wasn’t over. The Vandals went on a run, pushing the Aggies to the limit and eventually took the set 27-25. Idaho rode that momentum into the fifth set, taking it 15-8 to clinch the match.
With the win, the Vandals (14-11, 8-4 WAC) completed their season sweep over the defending WAC champion Aggies and remained in contention for second place. Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said it was a big win for the Vandals and she is happy with the way they fought through adversity.
“We were down 24-23 in game four, and we made a big play to tie it up, then we made another big play,” Buchanan said. “We were making a push at the end of that game — we had the momentum, we were getting points — and the fifth game for sure we had the momentum the whole time.”
While Hawaii is still atop the WAC, the Vandals are nipping at the heels of New Mexico State for second. The Aggies still have Hawaii on their schedule and if Idaho wins the rest of its games and New Mexico State loses to Hawaii the Vandals would overtake second. Finishing in the top two earns a first round bye in the conference tournament.
Senior Alicia Milo had a career-high 28 kills, and Buchanan said her serves kept the Aggies “out of system,” while sophomore Allison Walker racked up 23 kills. Setter Jenny Feicht had 60 assists and senior libero Cassie Hamilton had 23 digs. Buchanan said she was impressed by her outside hitters in general.
Idaho’s serving was instrumental to victory. Milo and Feicht had three aces each while Janelle Chow and Amy Westberg each pitched in with one. Buchanan said the team’s ability to serve took Utah State out of their game and made the difference in the match.
“It was a huge win,” Buchanan said. “We did it from the service line. We just kept them out of system. That was a big part of the game — the pressure we put on them from the service line.”
After struggling on the road this year, Buchanan said her team needed to find a way to play well away from home. Idaho will wrap-up its regular season this week with two matches on the road. The Vandals will be at Fresno State Thursday and Nevada Saturday. The WAC tournament begins Nov. 21 in Las Vegas.