University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Friday, November 15
Moscow, Idaho
7 PM
University of Northern Colorado
20-7,14-1Big Sky
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at
0
Idaho
13-15,9-7Big Sky
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3
F
Northern Colo.
25
25
25
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Idaho
22
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Photo by: Robert Dunlap
Bears Claim Big Sky Title Outright
11/15/2019 10:06:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Northern Colorado swept Idaho on Friday night
MOSCOW, ID – Northern Colorado volleyball won the Big Sky regular season championship outright on Friday night after sweeping Idaho [25-22, 25-23, 25-22]. UNC secured the No. 1 seed in the Big Sky Tournament with a balanced offensive performance against the Vandals.
"Our offensive numbers tonight were excellent," head coach Lyndsey Oates said. "We were siding-out at a really high percentage. But we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot with service errors. Other than that, I thought we played at a high level."
The Bears hit an impressive .365 on Friday night, with three players scoring double-digit kills. Jadyn McCartney led UNC with match-high, 14 kills on a .429 percentage. Kailey Jo Ince added 12 kills on a .423 hitting percentage. Taylor Muff was the third Bear in double-figures, recording 11 kills and a .276 attack percentage.
Lauren Hinrichs nearly made it four Bears, after scoring nine kills and hitting .412 in the match. Daisy Schultz's setting was again crisp, finishing with 45 assists.
UNC set the tone in the first set, posting a .361 attack percentage and 17 kills. The defense for the Bears was equally strong out of the gate, limiting the Vandals to a .133 attack percentage and forcing six errors. The set remained close, but UNC pulled ahead of Idaho at 20-18. The Bears kept their advantage and won 25-22 to go up 1-0 in the match.
In the second set, UNC was even sharper on offense, recording 17 kills and a single error for a .432 hitting percentage. However, Idaho had the lead over UNC at 16-13, looking to tie the match up. The Bears fought back with a 5-1 run to take the lead. The Vandals retook the lead at 23-22, but UNC would close out the set on a 3-0 run. With the 25-23 set two win, the Bears were up 2-0 in the match.
Moving to the third set, the two teams traded points early on, tying four times. Idaho would race ahead and build a 13-8 lead over the Bears. Despite the deficit, UNC clawed its way back into the set, looking for the sweep. Muff and McCartney traded off on kills to keep the Bears close to the Vandals. With UNC trailing 19-17, Ince poured in three kills to tie the set at 20. Muff delivered down the stretch for UNC, scoring three kills and combining with Hinrichs on a block to complete the sweep of Idaho, 25-22.
"I really liked how we played at the end of sets," Oates explained. "We made some clutch plays when it mattered. It will be important down the stretch when teams give us their best and we are going to have to make plays at the end of games. CeCe got her first start and did a good job getting us balanced and Jadyn leading us in kills was a great spark."
With the win, UNC improved to 14-1 in the Big Sky and 20-7 overall. The Bears clinched the regular season crown after holding a four game lead over Northern Arizona with three games left.
Game Notes
Northern Colorado will be back on the court tomorrow night to close out its road schedule against Eastern Washington, with first server at 5 p.m.(MT
"Our offensive numbers tonight were excellent," head coach Lyndsey Oates said. "We were siding-out at a really high percentage. But we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot with service errors. Other than that, I thought we played at a high level."
The Bears hit an impressive .365 on Friday night, with three players scoring double-digit kills. Jadyn McCartney led UNC with match-high, 14 kills on a .429 percentage. Kailey Jo Ince added 12 kills on a .423 hitting percentage. Taylor Muff was the third Bear in double-figures, recording 11 kills and a .276 attack percentage.
Lauren Hinrichs nearly made it four Bears, after scoring nine kills and hitting .412 in the match. Daisy Schultz's setting was again crisp, finishing with 45 assists.
UNC set the tone in the first set, posting a .361 attack percentage and 17 kills. The defense for the Bears was equally strong out of the gate, limiting the Vandals to a .133 attack percentage and forcing six errors. The set remained close, but UNC pulled ahead of Idaho at 20-18. The Bears kept their advantage and won 25-22 to go up 1-0 in the match.
In the second set, UNC was even sharper on offense, recording 17 kills and a single error for a .432 hitting percentage. However, Idaho had the lead over UNC at 16-13, looking to tie the match up. The Bears fought back with a 5-1 run to take the lead. The Vandals retook the lead at 23-22, but UNC would close out the set on a 3-0 run. With the 25-23 set two win, the Bears were up 2-0 in the match.
Moving to the third set, the two teams traded points early on, tying four times. Idaho would race ahead and build a 13-8 lead over the Bears. Despite the deficit, UNC clawed its way back into the set, looking for the sweep. Muff and McCartney traded off on kills to keep the Bears close to the Vandals. With UNC trailing 19-17, Ince poured in three kills to tie the set at 20. Muff delivered down the stretch for UNC, scoring three kills and combining with Hinrichs on a block to complete the sweep of Idaho, 25-22.
"I really liked how we played at the end of sets," Oates explained. "We made some clutch plays when it mattered. It will be important down the stretch when teams give us their best and we are going to have to make plays at the end of games. CeCe got her first start and did a good job getting us balanced and Jadyn leading us in kills was a great spark."
With the win, UNC improved to 14-1 in the Big Sky and 20-7 overall. The Bears clinched the regular season crown after holding a four game lead over Northern Arizona with three games left.
Game Notes
- Northern Colorado won the battle at the net on Friday, out-blocking Idaho seven to two. UNC had six solo blocks, with Taylor Muff and Kailey Jo Ince each recording two each.
- Muff nearly had her 11th double-double against the Vandals with 11 kills and nine digs.
- CeCe Huhn made her first career start against Idaho, recording five kills and one solo block. Huhn had a .250 attack percentage with 12 total attacks.
- Jadyn McCartney recorded her second game this season with 10+ kills and a .400 attack percentage. McCartney also recorded her fifth double-double of the season, adding 10 digs to her 14 kills.
- UNC's .365 attack percentage was the team's second highest percentage of the season. The Bears hit .398 against Buffalo in early September.
- The Bears did struggle at the service line, committing 13 service errors and only one ace.
Northern Colorado will be back on the court tomorrow night to close out its road schedule against Eastern Washington, with first server at 5 p.m.(MT
Team Stats
UNC
UI
Kills
52
37
Errors
10
16
Attempts
115
107
Hitting %
.365
.196
Points
60
40
Assists
48
33
Aces
1
1
Blocks
7
2
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
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