FULLERTON, Calif. – The College of Idaho opened up the 2021 volleyball season with a split of matches at the HIU SummerSlam inside Darling Pavilion.
The Yotes (1-1) nearly stunned No. 9 ranked Westmont in today's opener, dropping a 5-set marathon, before rolling to a 3-set sweep of St. Katherine in the evening contest.
MATCH 1 – WESTMONT 3, COLLEGE OF IDAHO 2 (18-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-15, 15-10)
C of I hit at a .438 clip over the first two sets, but the ninth-ranked Warriors took advantage of 16 Coyote service errors and 11 aces to rally for the win.
The Coyotes dominated the first two periods – blitzing the defending Golden State Athletic Conference champs.
Danielle Neuman and
Leyah de Souza had a pair of kills in a 11-3 run to open Set 1, with three
Emily Vandenberg kills paced a 11-4 spurt to start Set 2.
Phoebe Minch led the WU (1-1) rally – rattling off 8-straight points on her serve to erase a 13-11 C of I Set 3 lead, with the Warriors jumping out to a 9-2 lead in Set 4.
C of I never led in Set 5 – but pulled even on a WU hitting error at 8-8 – before back to back Patty Kermack kills started a 7-2 run to end the match.
Neuman had 14 kills and three blocks and de Souza had 10 kills to lead the C of I offense. Vandenberg finished with eight kills and 11 digs,
Sidney Frith posted 24 assists, with
Isabelle Combs recording 25 digs.
Minch finished the match with nine kills, 17 digs and eight aces.
MATCH 2 – COLLEGE OF IDAHO 3, ST. KATHERINE 0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-18)
The Coyotes defense set the tone against the Firebirds (1-1) – limiting the squad to a .000 hitting percentage in the win.
Austyn Mauzy posted three kills in a 10-3 C of I surge that broke a 7-7 stalemate in a Set 1 win. Set 2 saw USK take a 16-13 lead before 3-straight Coyote points pulled the visitors even. After 12 consecutive side-outs, a Mauzy kill, a Firebirds hitting error and a Mauzy ace ended the set.
Vandenberg rattled off a pair of key kills in Set 2 to break a 13-13 tie, as C of I pulled away to close out the win.
Vandenberg and de Souza each had eight kills to lead C of I, with
Cameron Wallace adding seven kills and a team-high four blocks. Mauzy had six kills, eight digs and four aces, Frith had 18 assists and six digs, with Combs recording 18 digs.
The Yotes close out tournament play tomorrow – meeting host Hope International at 10:30 a.m. (PT) and Benedictine Mesa at 6 p.m. (PT)
