The Vandals and Lumberjacks met for Idaho’s regular season finale. UI is 1-25 overall and 0-15 in the Big Sky. NAU is sitting at .500 with an overall record of 13-13 and 6-9 in the conference sit right on the cutline at eighth, the last spot in the tournament.
The opening set began with the Lumberjacks going up 6-0 before coach Romana called a timeout. NAU continued to dominate, landing forceful kills that the Vandals could not return. Despite UI scoring a few late in the set, it wasn’t enough as they fell 25-11.
NAU scored the first two of the middle set. Vandals then tied it up with a pair of their own and then took their first lead of the night. The start of the set had three ties and three lead changes before the Lumberjacks gained momentum. They had a 10-4 advantage before another timeout was called on the Vandal bench. NAU went on a roll, closing out the set on a 15-5 run going up two sets to none after winning 25-9.
The third set began with a trio of points by NAU before UI responded with a pair to get within one. After four consecutive points from the Lumberjacks including a point from a very long and intense rally. The Vandals called another timeout to regroup. More dominance from NAU had them up 13-4 before another pause in the action. The Lumberjacks led by as many as eight before UI crawled back to within five. From there, NAU pulled away and won the set 25-13 on a 9-2 run.
NAU has now beaten UI in five straight matchups and nine of the last 10. They swept the season series winning in straight sets. The Vandals ended their 2024 season, the first under Romana Redondo Kriskova as head coach and Ben Kasun as assistant coach. Idaho will lose five of their players as they graduate this year. The statistical leaders for UI this year are Taylor Brickey with 176 kills, Miya Carmichael with 329 assists, Madu Fontes with 17 aces, Ada Isik with 224 digs and Caren Sert with 42 blocks.
You can reach Jackson Hamelund at arg-sports@uidaho.edu