@UNCBearsVB Upsets Wildcats, Advances to Semi-Finals on Friday

Thursday, November 22

Greeley, Colo.

7 pm

University of Northern Colorado

15-12

Weber State

18-10

Northern Colorado

Weber State

11/22/2018 10:57:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

No. 6 Northern Colorado defeated No. 3 Weber State and now prepares for No. 2 Idaho

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

Home court advantage payed off on Thursday night as Northern Colorado upset Weber State in straight sets [25-13, 26-24, 25-17]. The sixth-seeded Bears knocked off the third-seeded Wildcats at Bank of Colorado behind tough serving and a balanced offensive attack.

"I thought the biggest thing was our serving," head coach Lyndsey Oates said. "We talked about in scouting that we would need to serve tough this whole tournament. We were pretty low error for how tough we were serving, which took them out of rhythm to slow down their offense. That's what we had a hard time stopping the first two matches against them since they are a balanced offense. They have four players who can bring it at us. We liked that we could match up with Weber after the first two matches. When we saw we were matched up with [Weber], our girls were excited to have that team and be able to finish against them."

The Bears served aggressive, scoring five aces, while having four errors. Kortney Lockey matched her season-high with three aces. Taylor Muff and Kayla Uyemura added one apiece.

UNC had three players with nine kills and recorded 42 kills to only 12 attack errors. Muff, Jadyn McCartney, and Brittany Lawrence all scored nine kills against the Wildcats. Lockey tallied eight kills and Lauren Hinrichs added six.

Daisy Schultz helped run the offense, recording 40 assists and adding one kill.

"That's going to be one of our greatest strengths if we can keep advancing is our balance," Oates explained. "All five of our hitters can be a threat at any moment. I thought Jadyn brought some power tonight which isn't always her game. Brittany just keeps getting better in the last month, which is a great match-up for us against a lot of different opponents. Lauren on the slide; that is her set and she makes it difficult to block. You can't commit block because she is going to be a threat on one pin and our left sides are going to be a threat on the other."

It was a dominate first set for UNC, as the team hit a scorching .426 with 14 kills and only one error. The defense for UNC held Weber State to a .138 attack percentage. Lawrence led the way with five kills and the Bears cruised to a 25-13 set win and a 1-0 lead in the match.

In the second set, Weber State came out swinging and jumped on the Bears with a 3-0 lead. The Wildcats extended the lead to as much as 10-6, but UNC did not panic. The Bears would tie and take the lead on three straight kills from Hinrichs. The three kills were part of an 8-0 run with Lockey serving, and Muff adding two kills. A 5-0 run from Weber St. would shrink the UNC lead down to one. The Wildcats would knot the set up at 24, but a pair of errors would give the set win to the Bears 26-24 and a 2-0 lead in the match.

UNC's defense clamped down in the third set, holding Weber St. to a -.025 attack percentage, with 10 errors and only nine kills. The Bears recorded three total blocks in the set, with two block assists from Hinrichs and impressive solo block from Lawrence.The Bears hit .212 in the set, with four kills from McCartney to win the set 25-17 and sweep Weber State.

The Bears recorded a .275 attack percentage, while holding the Wildcats to a .109 figure.

Sophomore Trio Talks About the Win

Game Notes

UNC defeated Weber State for the first time this season after dropping both regular season matches in five sets.
Northern Colorado picked up its first win in the Big Sky Tournament since 2014, when the won the championship without dropping a set.
Jadyn McCartney finished with a .600 attack percentage in 15 total attempts, while Brittany Lawrence had a .571 percentage on 17 attempts.
UNC out-blocked Weber State five to three, with Lawrence, Lauren Hinrichs, and Daisy Schultz each recording two total blocks.
Taylor Els tallied 21 digs for her 51^st match with double-digit digs and her seventh consecutive match with 20+ digs.

Next Up
Northern Colorado advances to the Big Sky Tournament Semi-Finals and will take on the No. 2 seed, Idaho, tomorrow at Bank of Colorado Arena, with first serve at 7 pm(MT). Purchase tickets to the match by clicking the link here.