MONTANA STATE AND EASTERN WASHINGTON ADVANCE TO THE BIG SKY VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Eastern Washington defeated Weber State, 3-1, and Montana State knocked off Idaho State, 3-2, as both the Eagles and Bobcats advanced to the Big Sky Conference Volleyball Tournament semifinals. Weber State and Idaho State were each eliminated from the tournament with the loss.In tomorrow’s semifinal round (Friday, Nov. 18), No. 2 seed Portland State will take on No. 3 Eastern Washington at 5 p.m., and No. 4 Montana State will face No. 1 seed and tournament host Sacramento State at 7:30 p.m. All matches will take place at the Hornets Nest on the Sacramento State campus.
Both Sacramento State and Portland State received first round byes by virtue of finishing first and second, respectively, in the Big Sky’s regular season standings. Sacramento State will take on Montana State for the fifth time in the last six years in the semifinals of the tournament. The Hornets have won each of those meetings.
In the first quarterfinal match of the day, Lizzy Mellor (22), Ashley Jensen (20) and Kerri Beck (15) each posted double figures in kills to lead Eastern Washington to a 3-1 (29-31, 30-25, 30-27, 30-15) victory over Weber State. The Eagles hit .326 as a team and led Weber State in virtually every statistical category, including kills (76-59), hitting percentage (.326-.233), assists (70-54) and team blocks (7.0-5.0).
After hitting .395 to win the first game, Weber State hit .184, .204 and .161, respectively, in games two through four. The Eagles’ Andrea Verdoljak led all players with 27 digs, and Mellor added 10 digs and three aces to go along with her match-high 22 kills. Chelsea Bair led Weber State with 17 kills and 12 digs while Leah Burmeister added 13 kills and a team-best 24 digs for the Wildcats.
In the second quarterfinal match, behind 22 kills from Laura Viren, Montana State defeated Idaho State, 3-2 (30-22, 25-30, 28-30, 30-28, 15-10). The Bobcats had four players finish in double-figure kills, comprised of Viren, Kim Stonehouse (15 kills, 16 digs), Meggie Malyurek (13 kills, 15 digs) and Megan Zanto (14 kills and a match-high nine blocks).
Montana State posted 17.0 team blocks, including six from Angela Wiebe and eight from Viren. In fact, Viren was two blocks shy of a triple-double with 22 kills, 23 digs and eight blocks. Idaho State, which was limited to a .180 hitting percentage, was led by Felice Yocopis’ 22 kills and 20 digs. Nikki Havens also chipeed in 16 kills, 19 digs and three blocks.
