University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Monday, February 15
Portland, Ore.
8 p.m. MT
University of Northern Colorado
6-1,6-1Big Sky
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Portland State
1-6,0-5Big Sky
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Northern Colo.
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Portland St.
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Aggressive serving helps Bears topple Vikings
2/15/2021 10:43:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
PORTLAND, Ore. – Plains, trains, automobiles and five sets. Northern Colorado Volleyball's day featured just about everything.
The Bears began with a 2 a.m. bus trip to the airport and by day's end, capped off its sixth victory of the season in five-set fashion, 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-10).
Lyndsey Oates' Bears began the night aggressive and had no intention to differentiate the game plan.
UNC dialed up four aces in the first set alone and would finish the match with a season-high 13.
It was back to business offensively for the Bears in the third. Daisy Schultz kept PSU guessing as UNC hit .326 in the set, grabbed three more aces and took control of the match.
An 8-3 run from Portland State to open the fourth proved too deep a hole to climb out of for UNC, ensuring the Vikings would play in its sixth five-set match of the year.
The Bears didn't travel all that way to go away quietly in the fifth set. Rachel Hickman collected three of her 12 kills in the final set as well as a block to help UNC race out to the early lead.
Head Coach, Lyndsey Oates
"We just weren't very sharp tonight. I don't know if that's the long travel day or what. We don't have any excuses. It's going to have to be much better tomorrow.
"In the serving and pass game, we were too high-error. Even though we're aggressive, we just have to limit the number of points that we're giving away at the service line.
"Then, we were streaky with our offense. At times, we would get a little high-error. We just have to be a little more consistent on that end.
"The biggest factor was that we couldn't stop their left side. We couldn't get a good block lined up and then we weren't defending well behind it. We've got to do a better job defending their left-side hitters tomorrow night.
"Overall, we'll take the win. We did a great job resetting in the fifth set with good energy and made some plays that we weren't making earlier in the match. That was a good turnaround to show that we could pull it out, and a mature win."
GAME NOTES
Northern Colorado doesn't have to wait long this time for another match against Portland State. The two programs will go toe-to-toe once more tomorrow at Viking Pavilion at 8 p.m. MT.
To stay up to date on all things UNC volleyball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The Bears began with a 2 a.m. bus trip to the airport and by day's end, capped off its sixth victory of the season in five-set fashion, 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-10).
Lyndsey Oates' Bears began the night aggressive and had no intention to differentiate the game plan.
UNC dialed up four aces in the first set alone and would finish the match with a season-high 13.
Kailey Jo Ince and the outside hitters were hot from the start as well. Ince tallied five kills in the opening set and would boast a .270 hitting percentage on the night. The junior also finished with a season-high 18 kills.Set 1 | Another ACE!! This time @daisy_schultz #BearsStrong #BigSkyVB pic.twitter.com/moaNIFIc7c
— UNC Bears Volleyball (@UNC_BearsVB) February 16, 2021
Portland State would benefit from the Bears' aggressiveness in the second set, capitalizing on a few errors and narrowly edging out UNC to tie the match at one set apiece. The win also snapped Northern Colorado's nine-set win streak.Set 1 | @KaileyInce21 with three kills and we have a 4-point lead!!#BearsStrong #BigSkyVB pic.twitter.com/NfUWt1TWVq
— UNC Bears Volleyball (@UNC_BearsVB) February 16, 2021
It was back to business offensively for the Bears in the third. Daisy Schultz kept PSU guessing as UNC hit .326 in the set, grabbed three more aces and took control of the match.
Schultz piled up a season-high 53 assists, helping three bears reach double-figure kill totals (Ince, Muff and Hickman) and was one dig shy of a double-double.Set 3 | Oh what hustle !! Bears win the longest rally of the match!!#BearsStrong #BigSkyVB pic.twitter.com/8gl8c5T6UH
— UNC Bears Volleyball (@UNC_BearsVB) February 16, 2021
An 8-3 run from Portland State to open the fourth proved too deep a hole to climb out of for UNC, ensuring the Vikings would play in its sixth five-set match of the year.
The Bears didn't travel all that way to go away quietly in the fifth set. Rachel Hickman collected three of her 12 kills in the final set as well as a block to help UNC race out to the early lead.
The rest proved inevitable as Taylor Muff, who was also one dig shy of a double-double (16 kills, nine digs), capped off a 4-0 run in fitting style with an ace to close out the match.Set 5 | Big block from Hickman and Hinrichs to start the set!#BearsStrong #BigSkyVB pic.twitter.com/Abl9khgvv8
— UNC Bears Volleyball (@UNC_BearsVB) February 16, 2021
POST-MATCH THOUGHTSSet 5 | Who else?? @taymuff finishes off the match with an ace!!#BearsStrong #BigSkyVB pic.twitter.com/MSbubB33rd
— UNC Bears Volleyball (@UNC_BearsVB) February 16, 2021
Head Coach, Lyndsey Oates
"We just weren't very sharp tonight. I don't know if that's the long travel day or what. We don't have any excuses. It's going to have to be much better tomorrow.
"In the serving and pass game, we were too high-error. Even though we're aggressive, we just have to limit the number of points that we're giving away at the service line.
"Then, we were streaky with our offense. At times, we would get a little high-error. We just have to be a little more consistent on that end.
"The biggest factor was that we couldn't stop their left side. We couldn't get a good block lined up and then we weren't defending well behind it. We've got to do a better job defending their left-side hitters tomorrow night.
"Overall, we'll take the win. We did a great job resetting in the fifth set with good energy and made some plays that we weren't making earlier in the match. That was a good turnaround to show that we could pull it out, and a mature win."
GAME NOTES
- Sixty-eight kills is the most for UNC this season.
- Daisy Schultz and Kailey Jo Ince all recorded season-highs on Monday. Schultz had 53 assists with Ince 18 kills.
- Thirteen aces is another season-high for UNC at the service line.
- The Bears are now 2-0 in five-set matches this season and have won four straight dating back to 2019. Its last five-set loss came against Cal Poly on September 20, 2019.
Northern Colorado doesn't have to wait long this time for another match against Portland State. The two programs will go toe-to-toe once more tomorrow at Viking Pavilion at 8 p.m. MT.
To stay up to date on all things UNC volleyball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Team Stats
UNC
PSU
Kills
68
62
Errors
22
18
Attempts
166
152
Hitting %
.277
.289
Points
87
75
Assists
62
60
Aces
13
5
Blocks
6
8
Game Leaders
Kills
18
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
16
Aces
3
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's VolleyballCoaches Show Episode 3
Tuesday, November 04
Lyndsey Oates Press Conference vs Montana
Sunday, November 02
Lyndsey Oates Press Conference vs Montana State
Friday, October 31
Lyndsey Oates Press Conference vs Colorado
Wednesday, October 29
