UNC hosts Portland State, Sacramento State this week

Thursday, September 29

Greeley, Colo.

6 p.m. MT

University of Northern Colorado

Portland State

Tickets

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

9/27/2022 11:58:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

ESPN+Tickets Live Stats UNC Match Notes (9/27/22)

By: By Jason Dormeyer

GREELEY, Colo.—The Bears continue Big Sky action at home this week when Portland State (Thursday, Sept. 29) and Sacramento State (Saturday, Oct. 1) arrive in Greeley. First serve is set for 6 p.m. for both matches inside the Bank of Colorado Arena.

HOME FESTIVITIES
The Sept. 29 match against Portland State will be '90s Night' at the Bank of Colorado Arena while the Oct. 1 home match against Sacramento State will be 'Power in Pink Night'.

TICKETS
Tickets for all regular-season volleyball matches are available via the UNC Athletics app, online at UNCBears.com/tickets or by calling (970) 351-4849. Tickets can also be purchased in person by visiting the Ticket Office in Campus Commons from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday

ABOUT PORTLAND STATE (7-6, 2-0 Big Sky)
The Vikings will arrive in Greeley after posting a pair of wins to open conference play last week... PSU swept Weber State and turned around to hold off Eastern Washington, 3-2, on Saturday... With 3-1 scores in both contests, UNC split both regular-season matches with PSU last season... The Bears also defeated the Vikings, 3-1, in last year's semifinals of the Big Sky Tourney.

ABOUT SACRAMENTO STATE (6-8, 2-0 Big Sky)
The Hornets enter the week at 6-8 and 2-0 in Big Sky play thanks to wins over the Idaho schools last week... The Hornets defeated Idaho, 3-1, before sweeping Idaho State at home... Playing in Sacramento, the Bears fell 3-0 to the Hornets in the lone matchup between the clubs a season ago.

LAST TIME OUT
UNC opened Big Sky play with a 3-2 loss at Idaho State and a 3-1 defeat at home against Montana State... The results represent the first 0-2 start to Big Sky play for UNC since the 2015 season

WHAT'S AHEAD
Beginning with a trip to Northern Arizona on Oct. 8, the Bears will hit the road for three straight matches with Montana State (Oct. 13) and Montana (Oct. 15) next on the docket.

BIG SKY'S TOP OFFENSE
Northern Colorado leads the Big Sky in several offensive categories, including: attack percentage (.263), kills per set, (13.37) assists per set (12.47). Individually, junior setter Syd Cole holds the top average in the conference with 10.67 assists per set.

REIGNING CHAMPS
Northern Colorado enters the 2022 season as the reigning Big Sky regular season and tournament champions. The Bears secured their sixth tournament title in program history in a thrilling five-set match against the Weber State Wildcats in Ogden, Utah. The victory also punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament where they faced Washington State.

2022 BIG SKY PRESEASON POLL
After picking up six of 10 first-place votes, Northern Colorado was picked to repeat as champions in 2022 by the Big Sky Coaches. The Bears received 78 points in the poll while Weber State (70 points) and Portland State (66 points) rounded out the top three. Weber State collected the two remaining first-place picks.

RETURNERS
UNC enters 2022 with nine key players from their championship season returning to the roster, including returning First Team All-Big Sky selections Rachel Hickman and Kailey Jo Ince. Last year's Big Sky Tournament MVP, Makenzie Harris, also returns for her senior season.

NEWCOMERS
Oates welcomed a total of six true freshman to the team in Greeley this season: two from Colorado, two from Minnesota, and one each from Utah and Ontario, Canada.

300 WINS
With a win against Montana on Oct. 30, 2021, UNC Head Coach Lyndsey Oates reached 300 career wins. As one of four coaches in program history, Oates is the second coach to reach the 300-win mark while Linda Delk owns the UNC record with 593 victories.

CHAMPIONSHIP QUALITY
Since joining the Big Sky conference in 2006, UNC has made it to the conference championship match seven times while winning on six occasions. All under the guidance of head coach Lyndsey Oates, Northern Colorado has made six appearances in the NCAA DI Tournament since joining the ranks in 2006.

1,000 KILL CLUB
Graduate Kailey Jo Ince entered the year with 1,071 career kills to rank No. 8 on UNC's all-time NCAA DI leaderboard. With 181 kills this season, Ince has already moved up five places to No. 2 all-time (1,252 kills). Kelly Arnold (2009-12) holds the UNC NCAA DI record with 1,566 career kills.

1,000 ASSISTS
Junior Syd Cole eclipsed 1,000 career assists during the UNC Classic this season. Cole is ranked No. 7 all-time in UNC's NCAA DI history with 1,193 career assists.

BATTLE OF THE UNC'S
Facing the 'other' UNC, Northern Colorado swept Northern Carolina 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-12) inside the Bank of Colorado Arena on August 27. The Bears outhit the visitors .419 to .109 in the match. The Tar Heels were placed just outside the top-25 in the AVCA Preseason Coaches' Poll.

2022 ALL-TOURNEY TEAMS
Junior setter Syd Cole and graduate outside hitter Kailey Jo Ince were selected to the All-Tournament team at USD Classic. Cole averaged 10.23 assists per set while Ince 4.15 kills per set over the three matches. Ince and Cece Huhn were named to the UNC All-Tourney squad after leading the Bears to a 2-1 record.

2021 REVIEW
The Bears compiled an overall record of 24-7 in 2021 with non-conference wins over Northwestern, Colorado State, and San Jose State. Buoyed by a six-match winning streak to end the regular season, UNC went on to post a 13-3 record in Big Sky play to share the crown with Weber State.