At the beginning of the season, every Big Sky Conference volleyball team’s goal was to qualify for the Big Sky Tournament and then win the conference championship.
Idaho faced a familiar foe to start the tournament Thursday.
After North Dakota swept Idaho last Thursday, the Vandals got revenge. Idaho junior defensive specialist Terra Varney’s ace sent North Dakota packing Thursday in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Varney’s third ace sealed the win for the second-seeded Vandals as they defeated seventh-seeded North Dakota 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 27-25, 20-25, 15-9) to start the Big Sky Tournament.
Varney led Idaho in digs with 22.
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said facing North Dakota for the third time this season was going to come down to execution.
“We knew the chance of North Dakota beating us three times was pretty slim,” Buchanan said. “It was going to come down to the team that executed the best and not give up plays throughout the match. I thought we did that.”
The Vandals started the final set with a 4-1 run as North Dakota was unable to capitalize from its win in the fourth set.
However, the Fighting Hawks kept the match close until consecutive kills by Idaho redshirt freshmen outside hitters Kaela Straw and Sarah Sharp helped the Vandals pull away from North Dakota and win their fourth five-set match this season.
Buchanan said Idaho’s team chemistry was a factor in the fifth set.
“We had the fourth,” Buchanan said. “That huge lead can almost hurt you. The team really came out in game five. We had been in that situation numerous times this year. I thought we had a lot of energy and stuck with the game plan.”
Despite committing more errors and being out hit by North Dakota, Idaho had 10 more kills (73) than North Dakota and defeated the Fighting Hawks 8-2 in aces.
Four Vandal players reached 10 or more kills with Straw leading Idaho with a career-high 18 and had a .433 hitting percentage.
Straw said Idaho’s valiant effort kept the match exciting for the Vandals.
“It was a lot of fun out there (today),” Straw said. “It might be the most fun I have had on the court in a while. We talked (entering the fifth set) about swinging high and hard. I think we did that well in the end.”
Idaho senior outside hitter Katelyn Peterson, who earned a second-team all-conference selection Wednesday, had 15 kills and is now four kills away from reaching 1,000 career kills.
Peterson also had 20 digs to extend her career double-double matches to 20. Peterson came up clutch in the fifth set with four kills.
Setters Meredith Coba and Sami Parris earned a combined 55 out of Idaho’s 70 assists.
The Vandals continue their bid for the Big Sky title against third-seeded Idaho State at 3:30 p.m. Friday in Flagstaff. The Bengals swept the Vandals Oct. 24 in Pocatello, Idaho.
“It’s going to take all of us,” Buchanan said. “It’s really been that point for our team where we’re using a lot of bodies and that’s going to benefit us going into the tournament because I think we can stay a little bit fresher.”
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @TheLTFiles