By MATT DEARMAN

mwd004@latech.edu

 

Tech’s volleyball team will travel to Idaho this week in hopes of avenging two home losses, the latest being a 3-0 sweep by the University of Idaho on Oct. 22.

The Techsters fell to 15-10 on the year, 2-7 in the conference, following the match with Idaho, while the Vandals improved to 11-10, 3-5 in the WAC.

“[Idaho] caught us on a day where we did not show up to play,” Tech head coach Heather Mazeitis said. “Our entire team was off. It’s tough to be competitive when you can’t execute on anything.”

In the first game, Tech played toe to toe with Idaho early, keeping the score tight before Techster errors opened the door for the Vandals to jump out front and take the game with a 30-24 score.

Idaho was able to carry their momentum into the second game, as they took an early eight-point advantage, which Tech was never able to recover from.

The final game of the night started off like the first, with Tech keeping the score close until the 18-point mark.

 Nine errors from the Techsters proved too much to overcome, as Idaho took the game and the match with a score of 30-22.

Tech recorded a low .077 hitting percentage in the match, recording 25 errors with just 33 kills, 11 of them coming from sophomore Shannon Phillips to spearhead the Techster offense.

Defensively, Tech was led by Meghan Haas and Anielle Da Silva with eight digs each, followed by Stacey Clark with six.

Prior to the match with Idaho, the Techsters faced off with Boise State on Oct. 20 in a five-game losing effort in Thomas Assembly Center.

“[Losing to Boise] was tough because we had definite chances to put the match away,” Mazeitis said.

“We’ve done well going five games so far this year, but it’s tough when you lose those matches in the conference.”

Boise State (5-10, 1-7 WAC) jumped on the Techsters early in the match, claiming the opening game with a commanding 30-18 score.

Tech answered back well, however, taking both games two and three to go up 2-1, just one game shy of winning the match.

Tech seemed to have the match locked up in the fourth, with a 25-20 advantage late in the game, but the Lady Broncos rallied back to go on top 30-27 and force a fifth game.

Boise State then carried the momentum early in the fifth; coming within one point of the win before the Techsters tied the match at 14, but a pair of attack errors would be all Boise would need, as the Broncos took the match with a 16-14 victory.

Junior Ambra Hayes led the Techsters offensively in the match with 22 kills, followed by Phillips and Clark with 15 apiece.

On defense, Haas tallied 25 digs, with Hayes adding 16 and Da Silva 13 to the effort.

Tech will continue conference play this week with a rematch at Boise State tonight at 7 p.m. before traveling to Moscow, Idaho, to take on the University of Idaho on Oct. 29.