Nov. 3, 2009

Match Notes: Sacramento State

Pocatello, ID--Idaho State (10-14, BSC 4-8) will compete in its final road game of the season when Sacramento State hosts the Bengals on Saturday, November 7 at 8 p.m. on Colberg Court. A live video broadcast can be found via B2TV at www.bigskytv.org while live stats can be found at www.hornetsports.com.

The Bengals are 10-14 for the season and 4-8 in the Big Sky for a seventh place ranking. Idaho State averages a .198 attack percentage for the season while averaging 12.64 kills per set. Idaho State serves tough as they have recorded 125 aces averaging 1.42 per set. The block has been a struggle for the Bengals this season as they average 1.45 blocks per set, but ISU has come out strong in its last two contests posting seven blocks in each match.

Senior Emily Waldron leads the Bengals averaging 3.30 kills per set hitting a .248 percentage. She also posts the second most digs on the team averaging 2.82 per set. Libero Paige Palmer leads the Bengals in digs with 4.44 per set. Junior Britta Bartschi-Rhodehouse leads the Bengals in service aces averaging 0.33 per set closely followed by Waldron with 0.30 per set. Junior Sarah Carson leads the Bengals blocking effort averaging 0.84 per set.

Waldron posted a double-double with 20 kills and 20 digs in ISU's 3-1 home win over Northern Arizona. It was her second double-double of the week and her 11th on the season. She is one of only two players in the Big Sky to have posted double-doubles of 20 plus kills, and 20 plus digs. She has recorded 11 double-doubles this season.

Idaho State comes off a home split as they fell in a tight five set contest with number two seed Northern Colorado, but service errors got the better of the Bengals as they made seven aces, but 14 errors. Against Northern Arizona the Bengals cleaned up their act posting eight service aces and three errors. Idaho State overcame NAU in four sets for the sweep over the Lumberjacks. For the first time under Chad Teichert the Bengals have lost a match when hitting above a .250 attack percentage. Idaho State matched Northern Colorado with a .276 attack percentage, but lost in five sets, showing that ISU's service aces really were a factor in their loss. The Bengals are 7-1 under Teichert when hitting above a .250 percentage, and 6-1 this season, which means the Bengals have improve significantly on the attack as they only posted one match above the sited percentage.

Idaho State has only seen two matches with four Bengals posting double-figures in kills. The first time was ISU's second match of the season against Rutgers, the second against Northern Arizona at Reed Gym. The Bengals have begun to redistribute the attacks among the entire front line pushing their opponents as far as following on the block and picking up the attack. Another positive of this development is that several Bengals have been able to step up in their play and the kills do not need to be counted on by a few players. In ISU's last match the Bengals had Waldron, Bartschi-Rhodehouse, Thompson and Carson post double-figures in kills. Thompson also recorded five block assists while Carson notched four.

Sacramento State holds fifth place in the Big Sky rankings with a 5-5 record, the team posts a 15-11 overall record. The Hornets have won six of their last eight matches. Sacramento State had an easy time last week hosting just one non-conference victory over Pacific. Sacramento State will host Weber State on Friday, then host the Bengals on Sunday. The Hornets have posted two four-match win streaks. SAC is led by Desiree Hoyum who averages 3.57 kills per set and Janelle Currey who posts 3.14, however both hit under a .200 percentage. The Hornets average 2.03 blocks per set and are led by Kelsey Elston who posts 0.93 per set.

The Hornets lead the series 25-3 having overcome the Bengals in three sets at Reed Gym earlier this season. ISU last defeated the Hornets in five sets last year on November 7 in Reed Gym to end an eight-match win streak by Sacramento State that began on November 11, 2004. SAC had their longest win streak from 1997-03 for a 15-match streak. ISU defeated SAC in the team's second meeting in 1996 (3 sets), their first meeting of 2004 (4 sets) and their last meeting in 2008 (5 sets) all of which were home contests. The Bengals are 3-12 at home against the Hornets.