The Idaho volleyball team dominated the two Montana Big Sky schools this season with the latest win coming over Montana in three sets (25-10, 25-21, 25-16) Saturday in Missoula. Idaho played Montana and Montana State each twice this season and didn’t lose a set, going 12-0 against the two border teams.
“I thought we did a great job of staying mentally focused tonight,” Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. “We were ready to go from the start. Offensively, we were able to mix in some things that we have been working on. I was super happy with the way we played tonight and glad to get the win in three.”
The Big Sky Tournament is less than three weeks away and Idaho (13-11 overall, 9-3 Big Sky) has four matches left. The team plays Big Sky Conference opponent Southern Utah (13-11, 5-7) 6 p.m. Thursday in Cedar City, Utah, before playing its final three matches in Memorial Gym.
Idaho and North Dakota are tied atop the Big Sky North standings. The two teams will play each other Nov. 13.
Senior outside hitter Jessica Hastriter led the Vandals in kills, with 11 on Saturday night.
The ball was spread around to other players as well. Sophomore outside hitter Ali Forde contributed nine kills, hitting .444, senior middle blocker Stephanie Hagins added eight kills, hitting .400 and senior middle blocker Alyssa Schultz had seven kills, hitting .462.
Junior setter Meredith Coba led both teams with 37 assists.
Montana (6-18, 6-6) came into the match against Idaho on a three-match winning streak.
In the first set, Montana scored the first three points, but Idaho was quick to erase the Grizzlies’ lead and take a lead of its own. Once Idaho gained a 17-10 lead, it never let up, as it scored the next eight points to win 25-10.
Montana kept the game close in the second set. The Grizzlies led 21-20, but the Vandals closed the match on a 5-0 run to win 25-21.
In the third set, the Grizzlies stayed with the Vandals early, but Idaho separated itself from Montana toward the middle and end of the set. Idaho led 10-9 and ended the set on a 15-7 run to win 25-16.
Idaho committed eight attack errors in the match while Montana had 18. The Vandals also had eight total team blocks compared to the Grizzlies’ four.
“I thought we played fairly steady,” Buchanan said. “We got five aces and finished with eight team blocks. Overall, I thought we just played a nice steady game. Our ball control could have been a little better at times, but I think for the most part they (Montana) had to work a lot harder than we did to earn points.”
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]