With Homecoming week hitting the Palouse, Idaho aims to protect homecourt this weekend.
The University of Idaho celebrates homecoming with two home volleyball games against Northern Arizona University and Southern Utah University.
Big Sky Recap: Idaho has been a dominating force on the court during conference thus far, sitting tied for second place. Idaho lost its last match against undefeated Northern Colorado after taking the firstset comfortably and pushing the last two sets 23-25. Idaho is in contention for the Big Sky Championship as they have shown they can play with the best in the conference.
The Vandals have been playing their fast-paced game, sporting a spread out offense using both pins and middles to throw off their opponents. Idaho has been succeeding in scoring and hitting through and past blocks with the best hitting percentage in the conference at .232.
Idaho has also been doing well defensively, taking control of the net and holding down the most blocks in the conference with 193.5 and share the second highest blocks per set at 2.65.
Northern Arizona University: The NAU Lumberjacks (3-3) are led by senior middle blocker Abby Akin. Akin is a 6-foot-3-inch force to be reckoned with, racking up 254 points so far
this season with a .420 hitting percentage. Akin also dominates the net defensively with 91 season blocks.
The Lumberjacks offense is middle heavy, which Idaho hasn’t seen as they have played primarily pin heavy offense. Freshman middle blocker Kyra Palmbush will have her work cut out for her to try and control Akin.
Idaho has faced off against many of the same teams as NAU and has beat two teams that have overtaken the Lumberjacks.
The Vandals should have a good matchup ending in a statistical win before going into their match up on Friday, which might be a bit more challenging.
Southern Utah University: The SUU Thunderbirds (4-2) offense is led by two outside hitters, senior Shannon Webb, and junior Stacey Hone, who
both have racked up over 200 points this season, with Webb reaching 279. SUU is primarily pin-heavy team this season, with only four big scorers, three of which are outside or opposite hitters.
The Thunderbird’s defense at the net is lacking, which Idaho can take advantage of. With a small average of 1.94 blocks per set, the Vandals strong and fast paced offense should be able to rip the Thunderbirds apart.
The Thunderbirds have an identical record to the Vandals and should be a strong matchup for this year’s team. SUU has lost to teams Idaho beat and vice versa, so these two competitors should make for a great match.
When/Where: Vandal fans can catch the NAU game Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Gym and the SUU game Friday at 5 p.m. also in Memorial Gym.
Connor Swersey can be reached at [email protected]