FULLERTON, Calif. –
Brenna Meehan combined for 47 kills and 23 digs, leading the College of Idaho to a pair of victories against Golden State Athletic Conference powers on Day 1 of the HIU Summer Slam, inside Darling Pavilion.
Meehan had 20 kills and 15 digs in a four-set upset of No. 7 ranked Westmont, then followed with a career-high 27 kills and eight digs in a come-from-behind five set marathon over Vanguard that finished after 11 p.m. local time.
It marked the second time in seven trips to the tournament that the Lady Yotes (2-0) won their first two matches – joining the 2011 team (who went 3-1 at the tournament) that opened the year, 21-1.
#25 COLLEGE OF IDAHO 3, #7 WESTMONT 1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-20)
For the second-straight season, C of I stunned a Top-10 opponent in the opening match of the tourney – rallying from an early deficit to sweep the final three sets.
The Yotes were within 12-11 in Set 1, before two Brooklyn Cheney aces keyed a 6-1 Warriors (1-1) run to take the set win.
Set 2 featured five ties/lead changes before C of I got late kills from
Jackie van Vliet and
Taylor Alexander to even the match. The Yotes used a 10-4 surge in Set 3, helped from consecutive blocks from van Vliet and
Marija Djonovic, to erase a 5-1 Westmont lead and pushed three late points to grab the win.
The two teams see-sawed in Set 4, with the Yotes clinging to a 19-18 lead, before a four-point push, helped by an
Alaina Slater kill and block, put the match away.
Slater had a career-high 14 kills, Alexander had nine kills,
Ashley Pagan had eight kills and a career-high 20 digs and van Vliet logged six kills and seven blocks. Djonovic recorded 50 assists and five blocks, with
Kilee Lopez leading all players with 22 digs. Taylor Beckman led WC with 12 kills.
#25 COLLEGE OF IDAHO 3, VANGUARD 2 (25-16, 20-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-7)
Meehan became just the eighth player in program history to record 27 or more kills in a match in leading C of I to the victory.
The Yotes used two 7-1 runs in Set 1 to build a 22-12 lead and were never headed – but couldn't keep the momentum. The Lions (0-2) broke a 15-15 tie in Set 2 with an 8-1 run to even the match and used three straight kills in Set 3 to pull away from a 19-19 stalemate to take the match lead.
Meehan sent the match to a fifth set by driving home seven kills in Set 4, as the Yotes erased a 12-10 VU lead. C of I kept the momentum in the clincher, closing the match on a 9-1 run, including a Pagan kill and ace.
Slater had 11 kills, Alexander had nine kills and five blocks and van Vliet had seven kills and six blocks for the Yotes. Djonovic had 47 assists and seven digs, with Lopez adding 22 more digs. Kamelah Noel led VU with 17 kills.
C of I returns to action tomorrow with matches against Morningside (Iowa) and Lewis-Clark State.
