Bears Match Big Sky Wins Record After Beating Hornets

Saturday, November 23

Greeley, Colo.

7 PM

University of Northern Colorado

23-7,17-1Big Sky

Sacramento State

14-17,9-9Big Sky

Sacramento St.

Northern Colo.

Photo by: Ryan Pfeifer

11/23/2019 10:37:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Northern Colorado finished its regular season with a 3-1 win over Sacramento State

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

Northern Colorado volleyball ended the regular season with a 3-1 win over Sacramento State [22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-23]. UNC improved to 17-1, tying the record for conference wins in Big Sky history.

After dropping the first set, UNC ripped off three-straight wins to defeat the Hornets for the second time this season. The Bears' offense was clicking, recording 64 kills on 155 total attacks, with a .258 attack percentage.

Kailey Jo Ince was a force once again, finishing with 20 kills and a .385 hitting percentage. Taylor Muff added 15 kills and a service ace. Makenzie Harris gave UNC a third scorer, as the true freshman finished with 11 kills, second most for her this season and had a .364 hitting percentage.

Daisy Schultz turned in another effective setting night, recording 51 assists. Schultz was opportunistic on offense, scoring five kills on nine total attacks.

Sac. St. looked to get payback after UNC defeated the Hornets on their home court earlier this season. They showed their determination in the first set, holding UNC to a .068 attack percentage and forcing 13 errors. The Hornets pulled ahead midway through the set with a 6-0 run to lead 13-7. The Bears organized a comeback with a 5-0 run late in the set to pull close at 23-21. Despite the effort, the Hornets held on for the 25-22 set win led the match 1-0.

UNC put on a clinic in the second set, hitting a staggering .464 with 15 kills. Ince had five kills in the set on 10 swings. Five other players recorded two kills to give the Bears a balanced offensive attack against the Hornets. UNC cruised to a 25-18 win and evened the match at one.

The match moved to the pivotal third set and both teams' intensity increased as it went on. The lead would change five times in the set and the score was tied 10 times. UNC's hitters cooled off slightly, hitting a modest .381. The Bears built a 16-13 lead, giving the team a cushion for the rest of the set. UNC went on to win 25-20 and went ahead 2-1 on Sac. St. in the match. Muff was the motor for UNC in the third set, scoring seven kills with no errors. Harris provided key kills for the Bears, recording four of her 11 in the third.

With the lead, UNC looked to close out Sac St in the fourth set. The Hornets came out swinging, jumping ahead 9-3 on the Bears. Sac. St. stretch the lead to 16-6 and the match seemed to be headed to a fifth set. UNC had a different idea as Laura Katarzynski came into serve and sparked the Bears with an ace. Ince then poured in five kills to help drive a 9-0 run for UNC. Now within striking distance, the Bears tied the match at 17, 18, 19, and 20 points. The set would be knotted up again at 21, when Ince went to work. She fired in three more kills to give UNC a 24-21 lead. After two quick points, the Hornets committed a service error and the Bears won the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.

Ince had nine kills on 17 total attacks in the final set, with one error.

Thoughts from Coach Oates

Game Notes

Northern Colorado is the fourth team in Big Sky history to record 17 conference wins. Portland State had 17 wins in 2012 and 2013, with North Dakota matching the record in '13 as well.
Taylor Muff recorded her 11^th double-double of the season with 14 digs to go along with her 15 kills.
Kailey Jo Ince recorded her sixth match this season with 20+ kills. Ince now has 434 total in 2019, 21 away from tying the Division I program record for a single season.
Daisy Schultz now has eight matches this season with 50+ assists and has recorded 1294 total. Schultz is 90 assists away from tying the Division I program record for a single season.
Taylor Els dug 17 balls on Saturday night, giving her 1733 for her career. She is two digs shy of tying Amanda Arterburn for fourth on the all-time list.
Lauren Hinrichs posted eight kills and a .353 attack percentage.
Cece Huhn has now recorded multiple blocks in three straight matches, adding three block assists tonight.

What's Next
Northern Colorado will head to Sacramento, Calif. as the No. 1 seed in next week's Big Sky Volleyball Tournament. The tournament takes place from Thursday, Nov. 28 to Saturday, Nov. 30. The Bears will play the eighth seed, Montana, in the first round of the tournament, on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.(MT).