Yotes Split Season Opening Matches in Montana
BUTTE, Mont. – Opening their 2019 season at the Big Sky Volleyball Challenge, the College of Idaho split a pair of matches – outlasting Carroll College in five sets, before dropping a tight three-set contest to host Montana Tech.
The Yotes (1-1) rallied from a set down to top the Saints 25-20, 13-25, 25-27, 25-15, 15-12, before the Orediggers using 14 blocks to earn a 25-23, 25-23, 25-20 win.
Ashley Pagan had a combined 25 kills and 22 digs in the two matches, with freshman Jordan Boswell finishing with 22 kills and seven blocks.
In the afternoon match, the Saints (1-2) forced a combined 20 C of I hitting errors in Set 2 and Set 3 to erase an early Coyote lead. C of I never trailed in the opening set, as Pagan and Mackenzie Keating each had four kills, but CC used an 11-1 run to control Set 2 and rallied from a 20-15 deficit to steal Set 3.
C of I battled back in Set 4, using a 10-2 surge to force the tiebreaking frame, with the Coyotes pushing five-straight points to erase a 10-8 Saints lead – as Boswell recorded five kills, without an error, in the deciding period.
Pagan had 17 kills and 11 digs, with Boswell recording 14 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Fellow freshman, Jade Warren had nine kills and five blocks, with Abigail Guinn notching 46 assists and 10 digs.
Hannah Dean led the Saints with 13 kills and six blocks, with Ayda Carpenter leading all players with 23 digs.
Later in the day, the Orediggers (6-1) used a stout defense to force 28 C of I hitting errors in the win, which snapped a 14-match win streak by the Yotes in the tournament.
Set 1 featured 13 ties and seven lead changes, with Tech breaking a 23-all stalemate with a Maureen Jessop kill and a C of I ball handling error, to take the win. The Diggers used big runs in the final two frames – an 8-2 run midway through Set 2 to grab the lead for good, while using a 9-1 run, forcing the Yotes into seven hitting errors, to erase a 14-11 C of I lead in Set 3.
Keating had nine kills and three blocks for the Yotes – who lost despite recording 13.5 blocks. Pagan had eight kills and 11 digs, Boswell had eight kills and four blocks, Kaydre Thompson had seven blocks and Guinn led the team with 18 assists.
Jessop had a match-high 14 kills to lead Tech.
C of I returns to action tomorrow, closing tournament play with matches against Olivet Nazarene and Rocky Mountain.