LEWISTON, Idaho - The College of Idaho fought off two match points in the fifth set and beat Lewis-Clark State 18-25, 25-22, 17-25, 25-16, 17-15 on Friday night at the P1FCU Activity Center.

The Warriors controlled the first set after a 9-9 tie, scoring five straight and later four more to pull away 18-11. The Yotes answered in a second set that was tied 10 times. From 14-14, CI scored three in a row, and Abigail Flerchinger closed it with kills on the final two points for a 25-22 win.

Lewis-Clark State took the third set behind a four-point run from 10-11 to 10-14, holding CI to 17 points for the second time. The Yotes fell behind 3-0 and 4-1 to open the fourth before scoring five straight. Leading 12-10, they ran off seven more with Whitney Pierzga serving, a stretch that included three Alexa Wheeler kills, two Wheeler blocks and a Pierzga ace. CI won the set 25-16 as Lewis-Clark State hit .027.

The fifth set had 10 ties and five lead changes. The Warriors led 5-2 and twice held match point, at 14-13 and 15-14, both times on Mikale Roy kills. A Lewis-Clark State service error tied it 15-15. With Liza Montalbo serving, a bad set gave the Yotes the lead, and Wheeler and Cora Young stuffed Roy to end the match.

Wheeler led CI with 15 kills on .565 hitting and nine blocks. Kelsy Stanger and Young each added 10 kills, with Young recording seven blocks. Flerchinger had eight kills and five blocks, and Cierra Bohrn hit .429 with six kills. Shaynee McWilliams handed out 22 assists, Pierzga 17 and Emma Krogh 14. Avery Lewis led all players with 18 digs, and Keylee Wilson added 14. The Yotes out-blocked the Warriors 14-7.

Roy finished with 22 kills for Lewis-Clark State but committed 10 attack errors, three in the fifth set. Taylor Boyce added 18 kills on .390 hitting, and Hadyn Smith had 11 kills and six blocks. Teagan Scott had 27 assists.

CI improved to 24-2 overall and 17-2 in conference play. Lewis-Clark State fell to 18-7 and 12-7.