Lady Yotes Split on Day 2 at Big Sky Challenge

BUTTE, Mont. – Capping a successful trip to the Big Sky Challenge, the College of Idaho rebounded from a four-set morning loss to Vanguard University by defeating Montana State-Northern inside Butte Civic Center.
 
The Lady Yotes (5-3) finished the tournament with a 3-1 record after a 25-22, 24-26, 25-18, 25-22 loss to the unbeaten Lions, before dispatching the Skylights 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 25-15 – improving to 4-0 this season against the Frontier Conference.
 
C of I swung at a season-low .079 percent on the day against VU (8-0), as the Lions broke a 21-21 tie in Set 1 with consecutive combo-blocks to secure the opening victory.  The Yotes battled back in Set 2, erasing a 24-21 deficit by scoring the final five points – including two Jackie van Vliet blocks – to even the match.
 
VU dominated Set 3, scoring the first six points to pull away, while in Set 4, the Lions used a six-point push late to erase a 20-17 C of I lead, to complete the victory.
 
The Yotes were led by van Vliet, who had 14 kills, with Ashley Pagan contributing 10 kills and 15 digs, with Marija Djonovic adding 40 assists, 11 digs, five blocks and five aces.
 
Two hours later, four Coyotes recorded double-digit kills in the win over MSUN (0-4).
 
C of I looked to have control of Set 1 after an early 10-1 run, but the Skylights whittled the margin to 21-20, before four attack errors by the Montana bunch sealed the Yote win. Set 2 was similar, as a 20-20 tie turned into a C of I win after kills by Mali Sawyer and Taylor Alexander were coupled by three MSUN errors.
 
The Yotes had a 19-16 edge in Set 3, but Shania Neubauer collected consecutive kills, starting an 8-2 run to forced a fourth set. C of I never trailed in the final frame, rolling to an 11-4 lead and didn't look back.
 
Pagan had 15 kills and 13 digs to lead the Yotes, with Sawyer recording a career-high 13 kills and four blocks and van Vliet finishing with 12 kills and six blocks. Djonovic had 29 assists with reserve setter Margie Beeler adding 17 assists and six digs.
 
C of I returns home next weekend to open conference play vs. Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon.