The chances of taking first place in the conference might be beyond the Vandals’ reach but a win against Texas-Pan American on Saturday reassured a competitive race to the finish as the volleyball season winds down.
“It’s going to come down to the conference tournament and I think anybody can win that sucker now,” Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said.
Tony Marcolina | Argonaut
Meredith Coba sets for Taylor Wilkinson during Saturday’s match against Texas-Pan American at Memorial Gym. The Vandals finished with a 3-1 win against the Broncs.
The Vandals took Saturday’s match 3-1 against the Broncs. Coming back with a win on Dads’ Weekend against UTPA after a tough loss on Halloween against the New Mexico State Aggies was almost essential to keep the fifth-place Vandals alive for postseason play.
The Vandals fell behind early against Texas-Pan American losing the first set 25-22. The Vandals hit well in the beginning of the game at .308 but the Broncs hit a little bit better with a .395 average.
The second and third sets were the Vandals’ time to shine with a 25-18 set win followed by the best set for the Vandals of the match with a 25-9 victory to force the Broncs to try to make something happen in the fourth. They failed to do so.
“We just really needed this one to get a spot into the WAC Championship so we just really wanted to win,” senior outside hitter Ashley Christman said.
Christman led with not only aggressive hitting at the net but her powerful signature jump serve that nailed four aces on the night.
“You saw them making subs just to try to have the right kids back there to make that jump serve,” Buchanan said.
Christman’s confidence and energy was definitely there despite a serving style that is draining and difficult to control.
“It’s just nice to have my coaches behind me and have the confidence to do it. It’s just all about the confidence with that jump serve because you toss the ball so high and you really have to time it really well. My coaches told me don’t even think about getting it over, just hit it as hard as you can,” Christman said. “I’ve done it since I was little. It is a little bit more tiring than other serves because I’m jumping as high as I can every time but I don’t know anything different so I wouldn’t say it tires me out.”
The Vandals closed it off in the fourth set eventually but it was close after a a 15-6 lead turned into a 21-18 lead.
“That’s the whole reason you get five (sets). I mean, I thought we came off a little slow, we can’t take a team for granted … it doesn’t matter if you take on the top team or the bottom team you have to come out and you have to come ready to play,” Buchanan said.
A kill by Christman and a couple errors by the Broncs led to a 25-19 fourth-set victory for the Vandals to end the game.
“Every time we win we always feel better about ourselves and confidence is key especially with volleyball because it’s all about momentum, so if you’re a confident team you go out swinging every single time,” Christman said.
Other highlights of the match included freshman Ali Forde, who came off the bench to hit .538 on the night with seven kills. The blocking team was an integral part of the Vandal offense as usual with Alyssa Schultz hitting .600 with 9 kills and Taylor Wilkinson hitting .333 with 7 kills. Jenna Ellis led the back row with 18 digs on the night.
The Vandals will play their final home match of the season in Memorial Gym Friday against Seattle U. The Vandals are hoping to have better luck at home against the Redhawks than they did on the road.
Aaron Wolfe can be reached at [email protected]