Vandal volleyball may be longing for the Memorial Gym, but the team will have to make trips to Weber State and Idaho State first.
Idaho (8-6, 2-0 BSC) is coming off a three-match winning streak that includes two sweeps over Big Sky teams in the past week. The Vandals dominated at Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado to begin their pursuit of the Big Sky championship and will now travel south to finish a long road trip.
Weber State (6-5, 1-1 BSC) has traveled much less than Idaho up to this point in the season. The Wildcats played in two invitational tournaments with varying levels of competition to start the season before returning home to play in-state rivals Utah Valley, Utah State and Brigham Young. Weber State lost its only home matchup so far against BYU, who was the No. 1 team in the nation coming into the match.
The Wildcats started Big Sky play with a win against Southern Utah and a loss to Northern Arizona. The matchup against Idaho will be their conference home opener.
Senior setter Haylee Mathis sets the ball during Friday’s game against Santa Clara University in Memorial Gym.
Senior outside hitter Andrea Hale and junior outside hitter Megan Gneiting lead Weber State’s attack, accounting for more
than half of the Wildcats’ total kills this season with 285 between them. Hale is also a force at the serve, leading the team with 12 aces so far this season.
Idaho would do well to attack Weber State early, as the Wildcats only get better as the match progresses. Weber State is a combined 5-2 in four and five-set matches, but they hold only a 1-3 record in three-set matches.
Idaho State (8-7, 2-0 BSC) is currently riding a three-game winning streak and plays Eastern Washington Thursday. The Bengals may not have faced as high a caliber of teams coming into their matchup with Idaho, but they do have undeniable momentum to go along with what could be a packed house.
The Bengals are led by senior outside hitter Abby Garrity, who leads the team with 3.91 kills per set and has already recorded four double-doubles on the season. The Vandals will also have to deal with a strong presence in the middle with redshirt junior middle blocker Brooke Pehrson. Pehrson leads the Bengals in blocks per set with 1.35 to go along with a .301 hitting percentage, and she is second on the team with 17 service aces so far this season.
Idaho will play Weber State 6 p.m. Thursday in Ogden, Utah. The team will then travel to play Idaho State 6 p.m. Saturday in Pocatello.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jonahpbaker