Northern Colorado Clinches Share of Big Sky Title

Saturday, November 9

Greeley, Colo.

7 PM

University of Northern Colorado

19-7,13-1Big Sky

Idaho State

6-20,3-11Big Sky

Idaho St.

Northern Colo.

Photo by: Woody Myers

11/9/2019 11:11:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

UNC outlasted Idaho State at Bank of Colorado Arena

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

Northern Colorado volleyball clinched a share of the Big Sky Regular Season title on Saturday night after defeating Idaho State, 3-2 [28-26, 25-27, 25-12, 21-25, 15-11]. UNC (19-7, 13-1) faced a tougher test than expected from the Bengals, but pulled away late to grab the program's first regular season title since 2011.

UNC had a strong night at the service line, recording 13 aces for their second-highest total of the season. Taylor Els matched her career-high with four aces to lead UNC. Kyndall Feather and Taylor Muff each had three, while Daisy Schultz added two.

Schultz had a memorable night at Bank of Colorado Arena, posting a career-high 72 assists. Her previous mark was 63 in 2018. She added seven digs and three block assists.

The Bears offense benefited from Schultz's passing, scoring a season-best 77 kills on 188 total attacks. UNC hit .245 for the match.

Kailey Jo Ince posted a career-high, 29 kills, topping her previous best by four kills. Jadyn McCartney also cruised past her previous career-high with 20 kills, hitting an impressive .395.

Two other Bears were in double-digit kills, as Taylor Muff added 12 and Lauren Hinrichs had 11.

The first set showed the Bengals were not backing down from the Bears, as the score was tied nine times during the set. McCartney powered the Bears to the set win with eight kills and no errors. UNC outlasted Idaho St., 28-26 for the 1-0 lead.

The second set was a battle, as the score was tied 10 times and changed four times. UNC offense spurted, hitting .106 with 11 errors. The set seemed to be over, with the Bengals leading 21-5. UNC mounted a furious, 6-0 run to tie the set with McCartney scoring four straight kills. The Bears pulled ahead at 24-23 looking to complete the comeback. Despite the effort, Idaho State ended the set on a 4-1 run to win 27-25 and tie the match.

UNC stormed out of the gates in set three, building a 13-5 advantage over the Bengals. Ince was overpowering in the set with nine kills and no errors. Behind Ince, UNC cruised to a 25-12 set win. The Bears hit a stunning .543 during the set.

ISU was not going away quietly, as they won the fourth set 25-21. UNC could not put together enough points to overcome the deficit in the set against the Bengals.

Now in the fifth set, the Bears opened quickly with a 3-0 run, with two kills from Muff. The lead stretched to 5-1 with an ace from McCartney and another kill from Muff. The Bengals fought their way back into the set and closed within one at 10-9. UNC responded with a quick run on a kill from Ince and Maddy Bremer. The two combined for a block during the run as well. It was enough to separate from Idaho St. and the Bears won the set 15-11 and clinch the match 3-2.

UNC can now work towards claiming the Big Sky regular season crown outright on the road.

Coach's Thoughs

Game Notes

Daisy Schultz recorded her 3, 000-career assist in the third set of Saturday's match. Schultz now has 3,030 total in her career, placing her eighth on the all-time list. She is third on the Division I all-time assist list.
Taylor Els recorded her 102nd career ace, tying her for first on the all-time, DI list.
UNC surpassed 70 kills for second time this season, with the first coming against Montana St. when they posted 71. The 188 total attacks is the third most for the team in 2019.
Kailey Jo Ince and Jadyn McCartney became the first Bears to record 20+ kills in the same match since 2010, when Ashley Lichtenberg and Kelly Arnold posted 28 and 20 respectively.
Maddy Bremer set a new career high with six block assists. She had five block assists against Sacramento State earlier this season.

What's Next
Northern Colorado will take its final road trip of the regular season next weekend, traveling face Idaho on Nov. 15 and Eastern Washington on Nov. 16.