No. 8 Yotes Sweep No. 15 Eagles
KIRKLAND, Wash. – No. 8 ranked College of Idaho improved to 12-1 with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-15) straight set sweep of No. 25 Northwest University tonight in the NU Pavilion.
The Yotes came out strong in the first set as they bolted to a 16-9 lead after a kill by Taylor Alexander and service ace by Marijal Djonovic. After an NU timeout, the Eagles would get no closer than 5 points as Djonovic would close out the set with a kill.
Northwest U would rebound in set two with a stronger effort and tie the score at 10-10 and take a 12-10 lead on two straight kills by Audrey Saelens. The teams would battle back and forth through four ties until the final tie at 22-22, when the Yotes would score the final three points on two kills by Ashley Pagan and one by Taylor Alexander.
The College of Idaho would lead almost the entire third set after an early 4-4 tie to go on to post their 12th win of the season and improve to 4-1 in Cascade Conference play. Northwest U drops to 3-2.
Northwest U (9-4, 3-2 CCC) was led by Mattie Jo Johnson and Amanda Waterman who finished with 8 kills each with Waterman adding 8 digs. Morgan Pilon had 16 digs while teammate Courteney Carr had 13 assists for the Eagles. Alysanne Van Dyke had a team high 16 digs.
Alexander Taylor and Ashley Pagan led the way for the College of Idaho (12-1, 4-1 CCC) with 13 kills apiece. Marija Djonovic had a match high 35 assists while Klee Lopez totaled 13 digs. C of I hit .315 for the match while limiting NBU to a .173 hitting average.
Said NU coach Steven Bain, “All the credit goes to Idaho in tonight's match. I was very impressed with their execution in the serve, serve-receive part of the game and most of our issues were a result of the pressure they applied. Overall, tonight's match was also a great reminder of the physical and mental effort it takes to compete against a high caliber opponent and I am confident that our team will take the lessons learned tonight and apply them the next time we take the court.”
Next up: Northwest U hosts Eastern Oregon tomorrow night a 7 p.m. while the College of Idaho travels to Olympia, Wash., to play the Evergreen State College.