Montana State Spikers Tame Bengals, Snap Streak

Friday, October 7

Pocatello, ID

7:00 PM

Montana State University

IDAHO STATE

Sophomore Sarah Horton

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

10/7/2011 10:01:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Two months of frustration came to end on Friday night as the Montana State volleyball team battled for a 25-18, 25-19, 19-25, 15-25, 16-14 win over Idaho State in Reed Gym.

By: Tom Schulz

BOXSCORE: Montana State 3, Idaho State 2 (pdf)

Two months of frustration came to end on Friday night as the Montana State volleyball team battled for a 25-18, 25-19, 19-25, 15-25, 16-14 win over Idaho State in Reed Gym.

Montana State (1-15, 1-5) snapped a wide array of streaks, including its 24-match overall skid and a 13-match Big Sky slide. In addition, MSU defeated Idaho State (8-8, 2-3) for the first time in 11 tries dating back to the 2005 season.

“We needed this win,” said fourth-year head coach Sara Schaub. “We have been doing such good things and it paid off.”

The Bobcat opened the match dominating the first two sets behind strong hitting and blocking. MSU hit .310 and .375, respectively in the first two stanzas.

ISU stormed back after intermission getting MSU out of its rhythm as the Bobcats hit below .100 in both games.

The fifth and deciding set featured eight ties and four lead changes. With the score knotted at 9-all, the Bobcats rattled off a 5-1 run to take a commanding 14-10 advantage and four set points.

The Bengals fought back with four straight points to tie the score at 14-all, but an ISU hitting error and a Rachelle Allen kill gave MSU its first win of the season.

“We played well and won sets and we had moments where we didn't play our best,” Schaub said. “But, we kept our composure and truly fought to earn the win.”

Sophomore Sarah Horton paced the Bobcats with 12 kills and nine digs, while Allen registered her team-leading sixth double-double of the fall with ten kills and 13 digs. Allen also added six blocks and two aces.

Also posting a double-double for the Bobcats was setter Jennifer Lundquist, who dished out 42 assists and added 14 digs.

MSU had a balanced offensive attack as Taylar Barney and Chelsea Oemcke added nine and eight kills, respectively.

Defensively, Montana State was guided by libero Nicole Baker with a team-high 24 digs.

For the match, MSU outhit ISU .168 to .146 and held a dominating 13-4 edge in blocking.

ISU was led in the loss by Breanne Van Every with 18 kills and 21 digs.

MSU will play at Weber State on Saturday night in Ogden, Utah.