Volleyball Stays in First Place with Win Over Idaho State

Friday, October 4

Pocatello, Idaho

7 PM

University of Northern Colorado

9-6,2-1Big Sky

Idaho State

4-12,3-1Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Northern Colo.	25	25	18	25	3
Idaho St.	19	21	25	12	1

Photo by: Marty Damrell

10/4/2019 9:23:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

UNC volleyball improved to 3-0 in the Big Sky with a 3-1 win at Idaho State

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

POCATELLO, Idaho – It was the Taylor Muff and Kailey Jo Ince show early and often for Northern Colorado on Friday night as they improved to 3-0 in the Big Sky with a 3-1 win over Idaho State (25-19, 25-21, 18-25, 25-12). Muff and Ince combined for 37 kills in the match.

Ince led the team with 20 kills, her fifth straight match with 12-plus kills. She hit an impressive .368 on the night and added in two blocks and a dig.

Muff was not far behind Ince with 17 kills and a .293 attack percentage. She picked up her fifth double-double of the season with a season-high 16 digs.

Trailing early in the first set the Bears went on a big 9-1 run to turn the tables on the Bengals and go up 23-15. Ince recorded seven kills in the set and hit an outstanding .875 in it. Muff added in 6 kills and the team hit .312 to win it 25-19.

In the second set, Muff repeated her first set performance with six more kills to help the team go up 2-0 at the break.

After the intermission ISU came out focused and committed just two attack errors to force the fourth set. As Idaho State placed most of its attention on Ince and Muff, Lauren Hinrichs recorded five kills in the third set.

Idaho State jumped out early in the fourth, but the Bears responded and used a 5-1 run mid-set to give them breathing room going up 15-8. Northern Colorado went into cruise control after that as they outhit ISU .394 to -.036 in the fourth.

What They Said
Head Coach Lyndsey Oates
"We were able to adjust tonight with a little bit of a different lineup. Makenzie (Harris) did a good job on the right side and Cece (Huhn) did a good job in the middle. We didn't miss a beat with it and that's a good sign of our depth. That turned into a good matchup for us tonight as the match went on which we took advantage of. We did a good job of staying composed throughout the match as well whenever Idaho State made a run or pushed it to a fourth set we responded each time. We also made some really good defensive stops when we needed them all night long."

Inside the Box Score
- Lauren Hinrichs and Makenzie Harris were keys late for UNC finishing the match with 10 and eight kills, respectively.
- Four Bears finished the night in double figure digs led by Taylor Els and her 18. Muff (16), Jadyn McCartney (13) and Kyndall Feather (10) joined Els.
- Northern Colorado had 10 service aces on the night with Muff, Feather, Els and Laura Katarzynski each had two.

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado makes the trip down I-15 to face Weber State on Saturday night. The Bears look to stay in first place in the Big Sky with first serve between the Bears and Wildcats is set for 7 pm MT. Watch the game on Pluto TV Ch. 535 and follow live stats by clicking here.

UNC's next home match comes on Friday, October 11 against Eastern Washington at noon. Tickets for that match and all Northern Colorado volleyball matches can be purchased at UNCBears.com/Tickets, by calling 970-352-4849 or visiting the UNC Box Office located inside the Campus Commons.

To stay up to date on all things UNC volleyball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNC_BearsVB.