Nov. 3, 2008

Complete Match Notes: Montana Western and Sacramento State

Quickly
Idaho State went undefeated over the weekend for a two-match winning streak after defeating Big Sky conference rival Weber State and Seattle at home. The victory over the Wildcats gave the Bengals its third conference victory, one more than last season. Head coach Chad Teichert has given the Bengals confidence as they improve to a 3-8 Big Sky record (.273) with five matches left before the conference tournament. Of those five matches three will be home court advantages where the Bengals have a winning record of 4-3 at Reed Gym.

About Idaho State
The Bengals post a 7-17 overall record and a 3-8 Big Sky mark. In the Big Sky the Bengals have hit a .149 percentage. Together they record 11.73 kills per set. Leading the defense is redshirt junior Paige Palmer and freshman Jaclyn Hone who record 4.70 and 3.57 digs per set, respectively, in conference play. Junior Ashlyn McDowell and sophomore Sarah Carson lead the front row defense as they both post 30 total blocks, with McDowell recording six solo blocks to lead the team. Senior Blakely Peppinger leads the assists with 245 in the conference season with 6.62 assists per set.

Bengals on the Attack
Junior Emily Waldron led the attack over the weekend of wins as she recorded 32 kills in a .247 attack percentage. She also had solid service with four aces. Waldron recorded 3.56 kills per set and was a force on the defense posting 2.89 digs per set. Waldron has been consistent throughout conference play as she has held a .203 attack percentage and recorded 10 service aces. She is also the second leader in digs with 109 (for 2.95 per set). Senior Brenda Cooper also had a good weekend as she amassed 25.5 points for the Bengals from 20 kills , two service aces, and seven block assists.

About Montana Western
Montana Western comes of a 3-0 loss to Montana Tech on the road (25-22, 26-24, 25-17). The loss marks their 15 consecutive loss since they defeated Whitman on September 5, in straight sets. Montana Western is 0-12 in the Frontier conference holding eighth place. Overall the Bulldogs are 2-19 for the season gaining victories over Whitman and Dickinson State. Montana Western has yet to defend their home court post a 0-6 home record and are 1-6 away. They have three more matches before their season ends as Montana Western travels to Idaho State, then returns home to compete against the Univ. of Great Falls and Montana State-Northern.

The Bulldogs post a .139 attack percentage, but allow their opponents to record a .220 percentage. Montana Western has a difficult time on serve receive as they have been aced 111 times, but have aced their opponents 84 times. Their most consistent hitter is Elise Davis who posts a .233 attack percentage from 139 kills. Though Theresa Bennett has recorded 210 kills she posts a .186 attack percentage. Defensively, the Bulldogs are led by Kiley Myers and Bennett who record 3.43 and 2.65 digs per set respectively. Courtney Nichols and Davis lead the front line defense with 46 and 44 total blocks for the season.

Montana Western Bulldog Series
Idaho State leads the series undefeated at 7-0 under head coach Mike Welch since 2001. Montana Western has only one a single set in 22 total sets. UMW took the Bengals to four sets in their second meeting in 2002. The Bulldogs started off strong capturing the first set, but couldn't hold on as they fell (26-30, 30-25, 30-28, 30-26).

Bulldogs at Idaho State: Last Meeting
The last meeting between Montana Western and Idaho State the Bengals were victorious when they shutout the Bulldogs 3-0 (30-18, 30-17, 30-25). The Bengals were connecting on all sides of the net, to post a .500 attack percentage with 42 kills with only six errors on 72 attacks after the first two games of the match. The team finished the match with a .412 hitting percentage the seventh-best team hitting percentage ever in a single match. The last time the Bengals connected on a .400 hitting mark or better dates back to the 1999 season when the team connected on a .400 mark against Portland State.

Key performers that will compete against Montana Western on Thursday include Emily Waldron, Ashlyn McDowell, Sarah Carson and Blakely Peppinger. Waldron recorded 12 kills on 27 attacks with only one error for a .407 mark, as well as 11 digs. McDowell registered eight kills, while Carson collected five. Peppinger had 18 assists. Graduate Assistant coach Katie Edgson competed as a team member to record 10 digs.

About Sacramento State
Sacramento State posts an 8-17 overall record and are 6-4 in conference play to hold fourth place. The Hornets come off a 3-1 victory over Northern Arizona where the Lumberjacks took the first set (22-25, 29-27, 26-24, 25-20). Before NAU, Sacramento State posted a two match losing streak against Eastern Washington and conference leader Northern Colorado. September was a terrible month for Sacramento State as they dropped every match that month for a 12 match losing streak beginning with Cal State Northridge on September 5, and ending with Northern Colorado on September 27. Idaho State gave the Hornets their first victory to end their losing streak.

Sacramento State has been nearly even with its conference opponents posting a .193 attack percentage and allowing only .194. Sacramento State does not rely on its service game or return of service as it has been aced 55 times and returned the favor only 37 times in conference play. Defensively, the Hornets are strong recording 738 digs to their opponents 699. Sacramento State also records 13 solo blocks and records 1.95 blocks per set. Their longest conference winning record is five beginning October 3 against ISU and ending at Portland State in a 3-2 victory on October 17. Sacramento State is 0-12 in the month of September and post a 5-2 October record.

Leading the attack is Desiree Hoyum who posts 3.46 kills per set in conference play. She has an attack percentage of .147 and posts the second most digs in conference play of her team with 139. Ery Kirby is also a threat in the front lines as she records a .175 attack percentage for 2.72 kills per set. The offense is set around Rose Burke the Hornets lone setter who has recorded 10.80 assists per set in conference.

Hornets Series
Sacramento State leads the series 24-2 capturing their last victory over the Bengals on October 3, 2008. The last time the Bengals defeated Sacramento State was on October 16, 2004 under head coach Mike Welch in a 3-1 victory (32-30, 30-24, 27-30, 30-26); it was their first meeting of the season. The only other defeat of Sacramento State was on November 2, 1996 under head coach Bill MacLachlan in straight sets (16-14, 15-9, 15-9).

ISU at Hornets Nest: Last Meeting
The last meeting between the Hornets and the Bengals resulted in a 3-0 match in favor of Sacramento State with a home court advantage on October 3. The victory ended Sacramento States 12 game losing streak that lasted the entire month of September. Idaho State fell to Sacramento State in straight sets 25-20, 28-26, 25-14 as the Bengals could not overcome. Sacramento State captured its first home victory and Big Sky win.

Junior Emily Waldron lead the Bengals with eight kills posting only two errors from 26 attempts for a .231 percentage. Waldron also posted eight digs as well as one service ace. Sophomore Sarah Carson recorded six kills with only one effort from 17 attacks for a .294 percentage, the team-high. Carson also posted two block assists.

In the first set the Bengals posted 10 kills with five errors from 40 attacks for a .125 percentage. They came on strong in the second but couldn't overcome the Hornets as they took them to a 28-26 set filled with 16 kills and only four errors from 49 attempts for a .245 percentage to out hit Sacramento State who posted 20 kills with eight errors for a .240 percentage. The Hornets blocking helped push the team to the second set victory. Sacramento State posted five team blocks with Maddison Thivierge recording the match-high three block assists, while ISU only posted three team blocks.

In the third set the Bengals ran out of gas as the Hornets quickly gained momentum and did not relent until they had taken the match. Sacramento State posted 15 kills with just four errors from 36 attacks for a .306 percentage. Freshman Emily Beardmore showed that she could shine through perseverance as she recorded all four of her kills in the third set.