By Matt Dearman

mwd004@latech.edu

 

Tech’s volleyball team returns home tonight after a two-match road trip to Idaho, where they suffered losses to Boise State University on Oct. 27 and the University of Idaho on Oct. 29. The Techsters fell to 15-12, 2-9 in the conference following the trip.

Against Idaho, Tech struggled to put any offense together, as the Vandals swept the Techsters in three games.

“Idaho has impressed me this year,”  head coach Heather Mazeitis said,

“They have played really well, and we made to many errors to stay in the game with a team like that.”

In the match opener, Tech recorded a low .128 hitting percentage with seven errors, while Idaho committed just one error with a .500 hitting percentage to win the game 30-18.

The Vandals kept the momentum through the second game, jumping out to a six-point lead at the midway mark and then coasting to a 30-16 win to go ahead 2-0 on the night.

In the final game Tech’s offense collapsed, as the Techsters recorded just nine kills with 14 errors in a 30-18 losing effort to give Idaho the match in three games.

On offense, Tech had no players record more than eight kills in the match. Freshman Meghan Haas led the Tech defense with just 11 digs.

Prior to facing off with Idaho, the Techsters visited Boise State, where they fell to the Broncos in a five-game contest.

At Boise State (6-11, 2-8 WAC), Tech put up solid numbers offensively, but were unable to play with consistency, giving the Broncos the opportunity to capitalize on Tech errors and take the match after a series of momentum swings.

“We played well against Boise,” Mazeitis said.

“We just made errors at crucial times.”

Boise State came out strong in the match, recording 19 kills in the opening game, which they claimed 30-25 to give the Broncos a one-game advantage.

The Techsters answered back in the second game, putting up 17 kills with just five errors for a .400 hitting percentage on their way to a 30-27 win to even the match at one.

The flame quickly faded, however, as the Techsters recorded a low .128 hitting percentage in the third game.

Boise State was able to capitalize on Tech's lack of execution, as the Broncos won 30-19 in the third to pull within one game of walking away with the win.

The momentum shifted once again in the fourth game.

The Techster offense came back to life, tallying 17 more kills to even the match with a 30-24 score and force a fifth game.

In the night's final game, errors proved to be the deciding factor, as the Broncos committed just one to the Techster's four en route to a 15-9 score to claim the game and the match for Boise State.

Leading Tech offensively in the match was junior Ambra Hayes with 20 kills.

Also contributing to the effort were sophomore Shannon Phillips and junior Anielle Da Silva with 16  and 14 kills, respectively.

Sophomore Jillann Walker came in at the setter position during the first game and contributed 49 assists to the offensive effort.

Defensively, Tech was led by Haas with 17 digs.

“I was pleased with some of the progress I saw in the match,” Mazeitis said.

“Jill Walker played the best I’ve seen her play, and Deidre Doggett played well. There have been definite improvements.”

Tech resumes action on the court tonight when they host San Jose State at 7 p.m. in the Thomas Assembly Center.