The city of San Jose continued to be unkind to the Vandal volleyball team when Idaho lost to the Spartans 3-0 Thursday night.
It’s the third straight time the Vandals (3-10, 1-2 WAC) have lost at San Jose State (5-7, 1-2 WAC). After losing to New Mexico State last Saturday Idaho was hoping to get back on track but errors prevented them from doing so.
Next up for Idaho will be a trip to Utah State. The Vandals swept the season series against the Aggies last season, but they are looking solid so far this year with a 3-0 conference record.
The Vandals had too many errors in the match and it cost them. They had 19 attack errors and seven service errors, while hitting.113.
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said the Spartans simply played better than Idaho.
“San Jose came out and played great, they came after us,” Buchanan said. “Our kids were a little timid. At times we play not to lose instead of playing to win. We get tight and we just have to compete and right now for whatever reason we’re a little off. We’re a little hesitant to compete.”
From the start, the Vandals looked outmatched. San Jose State cruised in the first two sets, winning 25-15 and 25-14. The Vandals looked better in the third and pushed the Spartans to the end, but weren’t able to push the issue any further, losing 28-26.
The Spartans had a solid night offensively. San Jose State hit .337 as a team and had a balanced attack with four players posting 10 kills or more.
Buchanan said her team didn’t come ready to play.
“The other team passed well and ran a quick system,” Buchanan said. “The first game I think we were just shocked. We just were really tentative. San Jose definitively out-played us tonight. We’re making too many errors.”
Junior Allison (Walker) Baker was the only Vandal to reach double figures in kills. The only other Vandals that got above five was junior Ashley Christman with seven.
It’s still early in conference play, but Idaho will need to get things figured out quickly if they’re going to finish near the top of the conference. The Vandals came into this season with high expectations, but haven’t been living up to them so far and are quickly losing ground in conference.
Idaho’s next home matches will be next Thursday and Saturday when they face Texas State and Texas-San Antonio.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]