After their first three wins of the season at the University of Wyoming tournament last week, the Vandals came into conference play against the 4-8 Sacramento State Hornets.
The Vandals used their home advantage, coming out hot to win the first set 25-18, taking a 1-0 set lead.
The momentum was with the Vandals and they were cruising in the second set. The set went back and forth with both teams taking shots at each other, but the Hornets edged the Vandals 25-23 to take set two and tie the game 1-1.
The third set was a must win to not fall behind, however Idaho could not really find their footing, losing the set 25-14 and pushing the Hornets lead 2-1.
Idaho came out and was once again swinging shot after shot with Sac State, leading to a Hornets timeout. Idaho came back multiple times in the fourth set, battling to the end, but came up short as the Hornets won the set 25-21 to close the game out with the 3-1 win. The Vandals now stand 3-10 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Idaho volleyball is an extremely young team with a lot of talented freshmen. They have 12 total, and one of them made her mark on Thursday. Freshman outside hitter Olivia Gloeckner was amazing as she posted a stat line of 12 kills, seven digs, three service aces and four blocks. It was Gloeckner’s third consecutive matches with double-digit kills.
The Vandals were young and unexperienced, and they let the momentum slip away. However still have a long season ahead with time for the young team to grow. Their next game is against the University of Montana today at 5:30 p.m. in Missoula.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10