This year’s volleyball season had almost everything. An abundance of talent made the 2018 volleyball season a breeding ground for high expectations and the Vandals appeared ready to conquer every challenge in their way.
However, one important expectation will go unrealized in an otherwise historic season — the Vandals could not quite capture the elusive Big Sky Tournament title, but there are plenty of other positives to take away from the best season in recent memory.
It all started with sky-high expectations stemming from the preseason polls. The Vandals received nine out of 11 first-place votes in recognition of the overwhelming senior presence on Idaho’s roster. Three returners made a 2017 All-Conference team and the steady direction of head coach Debbie Buchanan seemed to ensure a smooth season.
Idaho’s non-conference slate included a menagerie of long trips and tournaments against unfamiliar competition and the results were similarly up-and-down. The Vandals entered conference play only 6-6, their biggest highlights coming in the Idaho Volleyball Classic. Outside hitter Kaela Straw and middle blocker DeVonne Ryter won back-to-back Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week awards to kick off the season, riding strong performances in Moscow and at the Pepperdine/CSUN Challenge.
The Vandals hit a low early on in conference play, dropping matchups against Weber State and Idaho State in which they committed a combined 53 attack errors in only eight sets. It would be an understatement to say adjustments would be made, as Idaho was about to go on its best run this century.
The 2018 volleyball season will hopefully be remembered as the year that the Vandals won 12 matches in a row. For more than a month, Idaho was the epitome of consistency, with only one match going more than five sets. On their way to proving themselves to be a championship team, the Vandals overcame adversity after going down two sets to none at Sacramento State. The Vandals returned from the brink to win three-straight and keep the streak alive.
Senior outside hitter Sarah Sharp hits the ball against University of Montana in Memorial Gym.
The bounce-back was punctuated by four more Vandals garnering Big Sky honors, as senior outside hitter Sarah Sharp and senior middle blocker Reece Carman won Offensive Player of the Week awards in consecutive weeks and freshman middle blocker Nikki Ball and senior libero Alycia Wodke won Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Idaho’s fortunes ran out at the end of the Big Sky Tournament, losing to the eventual conference champion Northern Arizona for a third consecutive year.
In spite of the ending, Idaho’s heralded senior class met or exceeded many of the lofty expectations set before the season. The Vandals finished first or second in five of the seven main statistical categories as a team and each of the seniors appeared on the in- dividual leaderboards.
Sharp and Straw will be dearly missed next season, but they anchored Idaho’s attack with the fifth and sixth best kills-per-set ratios in the conference. Carman cracked the top 10 in hitting percentage and blocks and Wodke finished with 5.15 digs per set, fourth-best in the Big Sky. Ryter contributed all over the floor, with the third best hitting percentage in the conference and as one of only seven players in the Big Sky with more than a full block per set. Senior setter Haylee Mathis topped 1,000 sets for a second season in a row and finished fourth in the conference with 10.51 assists per set.
Buchanan finished with the highest win total of her 19-year tenure in Moscow with 23. In spite of the way the season ended, the 2018 volleyball season was truly a run to remember and there is plenty of hope for the future.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jonahpbaker