After a short respite at home, the Vandals will return to the road to take on Montana State and Montana in more Big Sky action.
Both teams will be looking for revenge after recent dominance by Idaho. The Vandals finished a combined 4-0 against the Bobcats and Grizzlies in 2017 and are 15-1 against the Montana teams dating back to 2014.
Montana State will play the Vandals on Thursday. The Bobcats are 2-4 through conference play thus far, and it could be a struggle for them to pick up another win against Idaho. The Vandals have won 21 consecutive matchups against Montana State, with Thursday’s match being an excellent opportunity to lengthen that streak.
The Bobcats will be returning home after a four-game road trip that resulted in a1-3 stretch. Upon returning to Bozeman, Montana State could struggle to match up with Idaho’s strengths. The Vandals lead the Big Sky in blocks, aver- aging 2.68 per set. In stark contrast, the Bobcats tally only 1.85 blocks per set and they do not have any players averaging more than one block per set.
Senior outside hitter Reece Carman hits the ball against Sacramento State Thurday in Memorial Gym.
Regardless, Idaho will have to look out for some serious offensive threats in outside hitters Hannah Scott and Evi Wilson. Both players are averaging 2.74 kills per set and have tallied 170 and 167 kills, respectively. Outside hitter Natalie Passeck also caught fire recently, bringing her kills per set up to 2.92 over the course of conference play.
To complete the Montana trip, the Vandals will travel to Missoula Saturday to take on the Grizzlies. Montana sur- vived a grueling preseason schedule to finish 3-9 before Big Sky play, but they have since righted the ship with a 4-2 start to conference play. The Grizzlies display many of the same statistical patterns as their in-state rivals. They rank no higher than sixth in any of the major statistical categories, but they are not the absolute worst in anything either.
Outside hitter Mykaela Hammer anchors Montana’s team, leading all players in kills per set with 2.84 and coming in second on the team with 0.73 blocks per set.
Against both teams, the Vandals will need to keep controlling the net and stifling their opponents’ attacks. With fewer standouts to worry about on both Montana teams, Idaho should be more effective in shutting down threats and probing for weak spots in the Montana and Montana State defenses.
Idaho will travel to Bozeman to play Montana State 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11. The team will then travel to the Univer- sity of Montana 2 p.m. Saturday Oct. 13 in Missoula.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jonahpbaker