In a complete turnaround of events, the Idaho volleyball team swept Nevada in three sets Friday after being swept by the host team, Washington State on Thursday.
“I think we played a little steadier (against Nevada),” Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. “Obviously the two teams are very different in what they run … I just thought we were a little bit more controlled and played more of our style of volleyball today.”
The Vandals beat the Wolf Pack 25-21, 25-17 and 25-23 to round out play at the Cougar Invitational and head into WAC play with momentum.
After falling behind for most of the first set, a diving save by sophomore Jenna Ellis set the Vandals up to tie at 19 points apiece.
Two points later, sophomore setter Meredith Coba sent the ball straight over the net rather than setting up her hitters, taking the Nevada defense off guard. The Vandals didn’t look back from there winning the set by four points and scoring seven of the last nine points. Coba finished with 30 assists and led the team with eight digs.
Idaho controlled the second set leading by four or more points for most of the set after pulling away from a 7-5 score early.
Courtesy Spencer Farrin
Idaho senior Taylor Wilkinson goes up for a spike in Idaho’s three set victory over Nevada. The Vandals begin WAC play Thursday against Utah Valley at home.
The third set started how the second set ended — with a Wolf Pack error. Nevada struggled with errors all match with 20 on the day — more than twice as many as Idaho.
The Vandals’ momentum continued in the third set until Nevada’s Dana Holt gave Nevada the lead at 16-15 on her only kill of the match. From there, the set stayed close until sophomore outside hitter Katelyn Peterson sealed the 25-23 set and victory for Idaho with the final point of the match.
“The kids never gave up,” Buchanan said. “That’s one of the things I thought we did last night. Today I thought we played all the way through the whole match.”
Peterson lead the Vandals with 13 kills and only two errors while posting a .407 hitting percentage.
Senior middle blocker Alyssa Schultz also had a solid match for Idaho with 10 kills and a .381 hitting percentage.
“I struggled last night so I’m glad I came out today with a little more confidence and a little more fire,” Schultz said. “We each have to trust each other in what we’re doing and keep it a team effort. Our passing was great today, our digging was great, it was just a better all-around performance.”
With the victory over Nevada, Idaho heads into WAC play with a 7-5 record. The Vandals open conference play at home Thursday against Utah Valley.
“We still have some things to work on if we want to win a championship in our conference,” Buchanan said. “Luckily the girls want to go back and they’ve been good at going back to work and working things out.”
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]