SIOUX CITY, Iowa – A magical season for the College of Idaho ended in the quarterfinals of the NAIA Volleyball National Championships, as No. 13 ranked Missouri Baptist outlasted the Yotes in five sets 25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 15-25, 15-12.
The Lady Yotes (28-7) finished the season with their third-highest win total in program history and their most wins since the 2006 season. The 2017 squad joins the 2011 Yotes in advancing to the national quarterfinals.
Blocking was the key against the Spartans (33-8), as senior
Alaina Slater recorded a career-high 10 blocks, with C of I setting a rally-scoring school record with 19.5 team blocks on the night.
Trailing two sets to one, the Yotes recorded six blocks in Set 4 alone, as C of I used an 8-2 run midway through the frame to build a 22-14 lead – forcing the final set.
MBU pushed the first five points of Set 5, riding the arm of Caterina Cigarini, who had four kills in the run. The Yotes closed to 9-8 on a combo-block from
Brenna Meehan and
Jackie van Vliet, but three consecutive C of I hitting errors gave the Spartans a four-point lead, with the teams trading side-outs the rest of the way.
Cigarini had 17 kills, with Marion Couraud leading the Spartans with 19 kills and 16 digs.
Taylor Alexander led the Yotes with 14 kills and six blocks,
Ashley Pagan had 12 kills and 10 digs – her seventh-straight double-double to end the season. Slater finished with her first career double-double, recording 11 kills and 10 blocks, while setter
Marija Djonovic had 52 assists and 12 digs – establishing a new 25-point rally scoring school record for assists in a season.
Senior
Brenna Meehan closed her career with seven kills and 18 digs – recording double-digit digs in her final six matches of the season.
Kilee Lopez had 14 digs on the night – finishing the season with 629 digs and her career with 2,254 digs, second-most in program history.
