Oct. 27, 2009

Match Notes: Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona

Pocatello, ID--Idaho State (9-13, BSC 3-7) returns home to host Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona after a tough road swing against the top-seeded teams of the Conference. The Bengals will host five of their next six contests at home beginning with Northern Colorado on Friday, October 30 at 7 p.m. Idaho State will also host its second-straight Halloween contest on Saturday, October 31 this time against Northern Arizona at 7 p.m. in Reed Gym.

Live stats and video broadcast are available for both matches. Live video broadcasts can be found via B2TV at www.bigskytv.org. Live stats can be found at www.isubengals.com. The Bengals are 9-13 for the season, just one win shy of matching their 2008 win total. ISU is 3-7 in conference play. The team posts a .180 attack percentage. Idaho State averages 1.43 blocks per set led by junior Sarah Carson. She averages 0.84 blocks per set. Senior Emily Waldron posts 3.11 kills per set followed by Jaclyn Hone and Haylee Thompson who average 2.84 and 2.64 respectively. Libero Paige Palmer leads the Bengals in digs averaging 4.55 followed by Hone with 3.32 per set.

Palmer is on her way to recording 1,000-career digs as she holds 985 currently. She needs just 15 more digs to reach the mark. She is on a 17-match double-figure dig streak, which is the longest streak in conference play and leads the Big Sky with 4.65 digs per set. Palmer recorded her career high of 27 digs at Northern Colorado last season.

Carson is about as consistent as they come averaging a .250 attack percentage in conference play. In ISU's contest at Eastern Washington the middle blocker posted six kills from 15 attempts with zero errors for a. 400 percentage game, her best effort in Big Sky games this season. Carson has posted two zero hitting error games in conference play and has made a maximum of three errors in one contest after posting six kills from 15 attacks for a .200 percentage.

Idaho State has competed in nine Halloween contests and will be hosting its second straight, this time against Northern Arizona. ISU holds a 6-3 all-time Halloween record having captured the last two contests. Idaho State defeated Seattle in five sets in 2008, and overcame Portland State on the road in four in 2003. ISU has won six of their last seven Halloween matches.

Northern Colorado posts a 7-2 record in Big Sky Conference having fallen to Montana and Eastern Washington in four sets. UNC leads the conference hitting percentage with .244 and second best in the league for kills per set with 13.38, both marks ranking in the top 60 of the NCAA. The Bears are led by Kenzie Shreeve who averages 3.73 kills with a .218 attack percentage. Four players average over two kills per set with Ashley Lichtenberg leading the team with a .331 percentage averaging 2.54 kills per set.

UNC leads the series 12-1 having fallen in four sets in the team's last match earlier in the season. ISU's only victory was a 2-1 contest on September 23, 1982. UNC is currently on nine-game match win streak against the Bengals.

Northern Arizona posts a 3-6 record in conference currently holding one spot above the Bengals for sixth place in the standings. NAU is coming off a two-match losing streak and will face Weber State before heading to Pocatello. They average a .178 attack percentage in Big Sky play led by Kelli Dallmann who posts 2.65 kills per set. Libero Anna Gott leads NAU with 4.16 digs and in service aces with 0.32 per set.

NAU leads Idaho State 28-27 in the series with ISU capturing the last meeting in four sets earlier this year. NAU defeated ISU twice last season to bring the series out of a tie. The Lumberjacks first overcame ISU at home in straight sets, and squeaked out a win on the road as they beat ISU 3-2 ending the Bengals chance of attending the Big Sky Conference Tournament in 2008. The last time ISU defeated NAU was a 3-2 finish at home in 2006.