Ciciley Fox earned All-Tournament Team honors in Salt Lake
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - A marathon day saw The College of Idaho volleyball team go 2-1 at the Tournament of Champions, presented by the Salt Lake City Marriott, falling in the championship game to Azusa Pacific.
The Lady Yotes (2-3) opened the day, finishing round-robin action with a 27-25, 25-18, 25-23 victory over Daemen College, then knocked off host Westminster 21-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-21 in the semifinals of the tournament. Unfortunately, The C of I ran out of steam, falling 26-24, 25-21, 25-22 in the title match against the No. 9 ranked Cougars.
Against Daemen (2-5), the Yotes fell behind 14-9 in the opening set, before Ciciley Fox and Danielle Montalbo each had two spikes and Sarah Harris added three more, in a 10-3 push that got the Purple and Gold the lead, with a Harris kill sealing the set win.
Set 2 saw the Coyote break a 16-16 tie with a 6-0 run, forcing the Cougars into five hitting errors, grabbing the win. The finale saw the Yotes erase a 21-19 DC lead, as Fox slammed three kills late to secure the win.
Harris had 14 kills and Fox added 12 for the Coyotes, with Madie Machurek recording 18 assists and eight digs.
Match 2 saw the Lady Yotes rally from an opening set loss to Westminster to rally for the win. The C of I forced the Griffins (2-2) into nine hitting errors in Set 2 to tie the match up. In Set 3, the Yotes got a kill from Liz Myers to start a 3-0 run that put the set away. In Set 4, Westminster grabbed a 13-12 lead, but a pair of Whitney Owen aces jumpstarted the Yotes to the win.
Harris had 13 kills, with Madison Curtis adding ten. Myers and Fox each had eight kills, with Naomi Reimer had eight kills and 26 assists. Owen led the way with 19 digs.
Against APU, the Yotes had a set point in the opening frame at 24-23, but the Cougars (8-0) scored the final three points to steal the set. Another 5-0 run in Set 2 gave Azusa the lead for good in the period, while in Set 3, the Coyotes grabbed an 18-16 lead on a pair of hitting errors, only to see APU rattle off four straight points to complete the sweep.
Harris had 16 kills and four blocks, with Fox logging 13 kills and three blocks in the loss, while Machurek recording 21 assists and 11 assists.
The Coyotes had two members on the All-Tournament Team – Harris and Fox, with Whittany Radcliffe of Azusa Pacific, earning MVP honors.
The C of I returns to action next weekend, opening Cascade Conference play at home vs. Northwest Christian and Corban.