Conwell hits peak

Sarah Conwell has had a busy year, emerging as the University of Idaho volleyball team’s go-to outside hitter, finishing up her degree and making plans for her upcoming marriage to former Vandals football player Eddie Williams.

Conwell has put together a season that will likely end with All-WAC honors. She leads the Vandals with 424 kills and leads the conference with 15 double-doubles. To get there, she had to settle into a new role, which opened up with the graduation of Haley Larsen, UI’s all-time kills leader and a four-year All-WAC selection. Larsen took the majority of the swings, including many in pressure situations.

“I feel like last year was my first year where I started to peak,” said Conwell, who joins seniors Debbie Pederson, Anna McKinney and Meredith Rice for their last home match when Boise State visits Memorial Gym tonight at 7. “Although I knew (Larsen) was ahead of me, I still tried to beat her out the whole year.

“It was a hard transition for me at the beginning of this season. I felt a little more pressure from the whole team to do my job, but after a few preseason matches it started to become more natural.”

Conwell ranks 50th nationally in points per set and 64th in kills. She’s second on the team in digs and fourth in blocks. Her stats are fairly comparable to Larsen’s senior year. The two are close friends. Conwell was in Larsen’s wedding and Larsen will return the favor in February when Conwell marries Williams, who is on the Washington Redskins’ active roster but hasn’t played in a game yet.

“She’ll call me after a lot of our games and talk to me about how to be the go-to player and how to stay mentally strong,” Conwell said of Larsen, a first-year assistant coach at Austin Peay University. “In the first Boise State match I didn’t play too well and she called me and told me she only had two kills against New Mexico State, but no one will remember if I pick it up and keep going.”

Conwell has undergone a physical transformation at Idaho.

“The last two years I’ve put a huge emphasis on what I eat, drink and what time I go to bed,” said Conwell, of Kent, Wash. “I weigh almost the same as when I came in, but I’m a lot stronger and I touch over 10 feet now. I definitely wasn’t close to that before.”

Sister act

The younger sister earned bragging rights. Freshman Rachel Todorovich had 13 kills in Washington State’s win Tuesday over Eastern Washington and older sister Sara, a junior middle blocker, had seven kills.

“It means a lot to me personally as well as my family,” WSU’s Todorovich said. “My parents had a dilemma on what to do with the shirts, so one of our faces is on one side and the other on the other.”

WSU visits No. 4 Washington on Saturday. EWU can secure the second seed in the Big Sky tournament with a road win against Sacramento State on Saturday. The Eagles will host the four-team conference tournament Nov. 27-28 at Reese Court.

Notes

Gonzaga (10-16, 5-7 WCC) closes the season at conference champion Saint Mary’s tonight and San Diego on Saturday. The Bulldogs have already won two more WCC matches than last season. … Community Colleges of Spokane (28-12) opens the NWAACC championships against Linn-Benton (13-18) at 9 this morning in Gresham, Ore. Spokane was second in the East Division; Linn-Benton tied for third in the South. Mt. Hood is hosting the event. … Idaho leads the nation in blocks per set (3.21), paced by Pederson (1.49) and McKinney (1.46). Both are on pace to break UI’s single-season blocks record. “We have some pretty physical kids,” said coach Debbie Buchanan, who has eight players who can touch 10 feet or higher. “When our right-side (Kelsey Taylor) and middle (McKinney) are blocking together, that’s 10-41/2 and 10-21/2.” … The Vandals (14-14, 10-5 WAC) will be the third seed in next week’s conference tournament in Las Vegas.