Cats Tame Bengals in Four

Saturday, October 19

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

9-8, 5-3Big Sky

Idaho State

6-14, 3-5Big Sky

Idaho St.

Montana State

Senior Evi Wilson

10/19/2019 10:32:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State senior Evi Wilson matched a season-high 19 kills and came up big in the fourth set with seven kills and a .538 attack mark to lift the Bobcats to a 23-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-14 victory over Idaho State, Saturday night in Shroyer Gym.

"That fourth set from Evi was something she needs to put in her memory bank and repeat," said MSU head coach Daniel Jones. "That performance is what she's capable of every night. The fun thing about this team is we have a lot of people that contribute.

"Lexi Goroski, Libby Christensen, Sydney Mathison, Kayce O'Dell and Hailey Merkes all made significant contributions coming off the bench," Jones added. "We are at our best when everyone is firing on all cylinders."

Montana State (9-8, 5-3) found itself down early in the opening set before getting on track and taking a 23-21 lead on a Wilson kill. Idaho State (6-14, 3-5) grabbed the momentum back and finished out the set on a 4-0 run.

MSU turned the table in the second frame and held a 23-21 lead before ISU tied the set at 23-all. With the game even at 24-all, the Bobcats received back-to-back kills from Hannah Scott and Kira Thomsen.

The Bobcats came out of intermission building a five-point cushion early and played side-out ball down the stretch before freshman Emma Pence put the Bobcats up 2-1 with a kill off the Bengal block.

Idaho State jumped out early in the fourth stanza taking an 8-4 lead. Goroski came in for the Bobcats and served seven consecutive points to give MSU an 11-8 advantage and a lead it wouldn't relinquish down the stretch as Wilson and the Bobcat block took control. Montana State won the match on Wilson's 19^th kill of the night.

"Our block kind of figured things out as the match went along," Jones said. "I thought we made some nice adjustments and our serving kept them under a lot of pressure.
"Our crowd also played a huge role in the win," Jones added. "We get incredible support and it's great to send them home with a win. They're die-hards and we're glad we could send them home with a smile on their faces."

Also recording double-figure kills for the Bobcats were Thomsen and Scott with 14 and ten kills, respectively. Thomsen finished with her second straight double-double chipping in a season-best 24 digs.
Allie Lynch just missed a triple-double posting 49 assists, ten digs and a career-high seven kills. The Bozeman native also added three blocks and an ace. Defensively, Allyssa Rizzo recorded a match-high 26 digs, while Pence and Scott registered seven and six blocks, respectively.

As a team, Montana State recorded a season-high 64 kills and 14 blocks.

Idaho State was paced by Taylor Meeks with ten kills and seven blocks.

Montana State will play at Portland State on Thursday night.