Boise State 3, Louisiana Tech 1
Keeping the spark alive in Bronco Gym, the Boise State volleyball team produced its fourth straight win at home on Saturday night, downing the Louisiana Tech 3-1. The win is the Broncos' fourth-straight at home as well as fourth win in five matches over WAC opponents.
The Broncos (5-18, 5-6 WAC) were able to come out of a first-set loss to win three straight, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22 to defeat LA Tech (14-14, 4-8 WAC). With the win, the Broncos hold a solid advantage over the Lady Techsters in the WAC standings.
After sneaking past a win in the first set, LA Tech was not able to hold off a strong Bronco effort in the second and third sets with only two lead changes and four tied scores in the second and third set combined. The fourth set was the biggest battle between the two WAC opponents, going through two lead changes and five ties, including one as late as 22-22.
Junior Sadie Maughan led the team on two front's Saturday night, leading the match in kills (16) as well as blocks (6). The junior also produced a solid .324 hitting percentage. Sophomore Elizabeth Griffin earned the top award for hitting percentage in the match with .381 on ten kills. Junior Alisha Young also contributed a respectable 13 kills on the night.
Three Broncos racked up double-digits in the defense department, with sophomore Amanda Remy and senior Jeanene Rose leading the match with 17 digs apiece. Sophomore Breann Nesselhuf added 13 digs to the Bronco efforts as well as 52 assists. Remy led the match with two service aces.
On the LA Tech side of the match, Kara Jones and Kassia Pinto led the team with 13 kills each. Pinto recorded a team-high of .379 hitting percentage. As well as adding 14 digs and a team-leading two ace serves. KC Clayton led the team's defense at the net with six blocks (one solo) while Nataliya Panova had a team-high of 15 digs.
The Broncos led in kills 63-50 over LA Tech as well as .201 to .154 in hitting percentage. Defensively Boise State led 76-54 in digs while Louisiana Tech led 17-16 in individual blocks. The Lady Techsters also held the upper hand in team blocks nine to eight, but it wasn't enough to stop the Broncos.
Fresno State 3, San Jose State 1
Kelli Parker had a career-high 17 kills as the `Dogs defeated San Jose State in Western Athletic Conference volleyball action 3-1 at the Save Mart Center on Saturday night. Set scores were 27-29, 25-21, 25-20 and 25-19.
It was the first win for Fresno State over San Jose State since 2005 and the first four-set win over the Spartans since Nov. 3, 2004. The `Dogs also move back above .500 on the season to 12-11 and at 5-6 in WAC play are tied for fourth place.
The Bulldogs were down early in set one to San Jose State but three-straight service aces and aces in four out of five serves by the sophomore Parker put the `Dogs on top 11-8.
The `Dogs went up by as many six at 23-17, but the Spartans rallied to tie the set at 24 and went on to take set one 29-27.
Parker and Brianna Clarke each had four kills in set one.
Parker added another five kills in set two which included eight ties and four lead changes as the `Dogs took the set and tied the match at 1-1.
With the set tied at 15-15, the `Dogs took the lead and never were up by less then three. The `Dogs held San Jose State to a negative hitting percentage in the set.
In sets three and four the `Dogs held the lead the entire way and had only five hitting errors in each set, a match-low for them. The `Dogs hit .250 in the third set and a match-high .343 in the fourth.
Clarke (12) and Lacey Gera (10) also contributed double-digit kills in the match. Allanah Munson led the way with 29 assists and Kelly Mason had 21 digs.
The `Dogs as a team hit .163 and led San Jose State in every offensive category, including an impressive 11 service aces.
Hawai'i 3, Nevada 0
The third-ranked University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team swept Nevada 25-16, 25-20, 25-17 on Saturday night in Reno, Nev. the second leg of its three-match road trip.
The Rainbow Wahine improve to 20-2 overall and 10-0 in WAC play, including a 16-match win streak. UH concludes its three-match road trip Monday night against San Jose State at 7 p.m.
Offensively Saturday night, UH was led by Kanani Danielson, who had a match-high 15 kills, hitting .306. Danielson also added four blocks and five digs.
Senior Aneli Cubi-Otineru had 11 kills and hit .533 in the match and Amber Kaufman had 10 kills and hit .643. Overall as a team, UH hit .394 and had seven team blocks. Dani Mafua set the offense with 39 assists and Brittany Hewitt had five kills and six blocks. Stephanie Ferrell had five kills and two blocks.
In the first set, UH pulled away from Nevada early and went on to win 25-16. The Rainbow Wahine hit .480 as a team in the set, with Mafua spreading out the offense with 13 assists. Kaufman and Danielson each had four kills, Ferrell had three kills and Cubi-Otineru added two kills.
The Rainbow Wahine and Wolf Pack played closer in the second set, but UH pulled away at the end to win 25-20. Danielson had six kills in the set, while Cubi-Otineru had five kills. Kaufman added three kills and Mafua had 11 assists. Defensively UH had five team blocks and held Nevada to a .114 hitting percentage.
In the third set, UH and Nevada once again went back-and-forth early, but UH went on a late run to win 25-17. Danielson had five kills in the set, while Cubi-Otineru added four kills. As a team, UH hit .517 in the set.
New Mexico State 3, Utah State 0
The New Mexico State volleyball team swept (31-29, 25-16, 25-21) Utah State in the Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah, Saturday, Oct. 31.
Junior Kayleigh Giddens led the way for the Aggies as the team goes to14-8 on the season and 9-3 in Western Athletic Conference play. Giddens marked a match-high 17 kills, while also tallying seven digs and two blocks. Fellow junior Whitney Woods put down nine kills on the evening and had five total blocks which included a solo block.
Sophomore Jennah DeVries tallied a match-high 43 assists while adding two kills and three digs. The team put together 10 total team blocks with senior Erin Birmingham posting five on the night. Sophomore Kelsi Phillips posted a season-high 21 digs in the match.
The first set was tight all the way through but the Aggies followed the lead of Giddens and won 31-29. Giddens posted eight kills on 16 attacks and added five digs. NM State fought off five set points and finished the set with two kills from Giddens and an error by USU.
NM State showed signs of dominance in set two winning 25-16 while hitting .333 compared to USU hitting .028. The Aggies marked 16 kills on 39 attacks and committed only three errors. Woods and Giddens led the way with six kills each, while Phillips was outstanding as she marked nine digs. The Aggies started off with a 2-0 lead and extended its lead to six on a 5-0 run that was topped off with a Phillips ace. A kill from Woods that took the score to 14-7 forced USU to call a timeout but that didn't help as she picked up two more kills on the way to taking the score to 18-9. Woods got her sixth kill of the set to take the score to 24-16 before USU committed its eighth error of the set to wrap it 25-16.
The third set saw six ties and three lead changes but the NM State stayed focused and won 25-21. Sophomore Kelsey Brennan (Monroe, Wash.) marked one of her six kills to take the score to 7-6 in favor of the NM State. Woods picked up a solo-block putting the southern Aggies up by four at 15-11. NM State kept the pressure on and took another four point lead when Phillips aced the UtAgs. Two straight blocks put NM State up 24-19 before Woods wrapped up the match 25-21.