The last time the Idaho volleyball team started the season undefeated, Usher ruled the music charts and President George W. Bush was in office.
After three hard fought matches, the Vandals swept the New Mexico Tournament, defeating New Mexico in five sets (25-27, 25-22, 25-22, 14-25, 15-11) at the Johnson Gymnasium in Albuquerque Saturday. It was Idaho’s best start since beginning 5-0 in 2004.
Idaho head coach Debbie Buchanan said the tournament was a learning experience for the young team.
“I thought this tournament was huge for the growth of our team,” Buchanan said in a press release. “For us to get that win and for the girls not to give up was amazing considering how young we are as a team.”
The Vandals have 11 underclassmen on their roster this fall.
After trailing 5-3 in the final set, the Vandals found a spark and took a 7-0 run to take the lead.
New Mexico’s Julia Warren committed a service error, helping Idaho with the third win.
Idaho committed no errors and a match-high 0.64 hitting percentage.
Buchanan said playing aggressive helped the Vandals find some daylight in the final set.
“For us to come out and hit 0.64 in game five with zero errors was huge.” Buchanan said. “Overall, I thought we made some good aggressive plays to win that match. We did not back down at all. Things just kept going our way. I could not be more proud of them.”
Senior defensive specialist Terra Varney led the defensive battle with a career-high 25 digs. Outside hitters junior Torri Crawford and sophomore DeVonne Ryter totaled a combined 11 blocks in Saturday’s win.
The tournament began with Idaho defeating Fairfield 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 22-25, 25-21) Friday despite ending the match with a 0.16 hitting percentage.
Buchanan said despite the number of errors, the team played well in the season opener.
“We did some really good things,” Buchanan said. “They errors we made were really just in scramble plays and going too fast. In game two we did a great job. That was our best game. We only had four errors and that was the difference.”
Sophomore setter Haylee Mathis and freshman setter Megan Ramseyer combined for 33 of Idaho’s 42 assists with Ramseyer earning 21.
Hours later, a solid Vandal offense was too much for Abilene Christian, falling 3-1 (25-12, 25-19, 23-25, 25-14).
Crawford’s 0.54 attack percentage was a team high. Mathis led the team with 26 assists.
Buchanan said team fatigue didn’t dampen the team’s confidence level.
“It has not always been the prettiest but I think that is what the preseason is for,” Buchanan said. “You could see that we got a little tired in the end of that match. This is the most volleyball we have played—eight sets in one day.”
Throughout the tournament, outside hitters sophomore Sarah Sharp and sophomore Kaela Straw carried the offensive tempo for the Vandals.
In Idaho’s five set victory over the Lobos, Sharp totaled 16 kills and five blocks.
Sharp and Straw were voted to the UNM Invitaional All-Tournament Team.
Straw started off the tournament with eight kills against Fairfield before earning 13 in both matches against Abilene Christian and New Mexico.
The Vandals will travel to Seattle Friday to partake in the Seattle U Tournament. They play 1 p.m. Friday, facing Pac-12 juggernaut Washington. Idaho will also play Seattle U at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the tournament against Villanova 1 p.m. Saturday.
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @TheLTFiles