Bears move to Big Sky Semis with ISU rout

Wednesday, November 23

Ogden, Utah

10 a.m.

University of Northern Colorado

20-8,13-3Big Sky

#8 Idaho State

13-17,5-11Big Sky

Idaho St.

Northern Colo.

11/23/2022 11:50:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Big Sky Tournament Page

UNC Athletics · VB Postgame vs Idaho State (Big Sky Quarterfinals): Lyndsey Oates

OGDEN, Utah—Using a balanced attack and a stout defense, top-seeded Northern Colorado defeated No. 8-seed Idaho State, 3-0 (25-9, 25-21, 25-9) to advance to the Big Sky Championship semifinals.

With the win, Northern Colorado (20-8) extends its winning streak to 12 matches while reaching the conference semifinals for the fifth straight season. The Bears will face the winner of this afternoon's quarterfinal battle between No. 4 Sacramento State and No. 5 Montana.

Holding Idaho State to a negative attack percentage (-0.067) in the first set, the Bears sailed to a win in the opener.

UNC trailed by as many as four points (10-6) in the second before unleashing the league's best offense for the comeback win. Makenzie Harris, the returning Big Sky Tournament MVP, connected on one of her dozen kills to tie the second set at 15-15 while a combo block by Cece Huhn and Syd Cole gave the Bears a lead it would not relinquish.

Hitting .565 without being charged a single attacking error in the third, the Bears closed out the match with another dominating effort to post the team's 12th sweep of the season.

Also recording 12 kills in the contest, Kailey Jo Ince shared match-high honors with Harris while Rachel Hickman provided nine kills. Cole, the recently anointed Big Sky MVP, tallied 35 assists, three aces, and nine digs.

Five different Bears served up an ace in the match as the team finished one shy of its season high of 10 set versus CSU Bakersfield.

The 12-match winning streak equals the longest unblemished run in Head Coach Lyndsey Oates' 18-year career with the Bears. The team also won 12 straight late in the 2019 campaign where it captured the Big Sky Tournament crown.