Ewu Women Sweep Idaho, Move To 13-2
It wasn’t until the seventh match point that the Eastern Washington University volleyball team defeated the University of Idaho.
But when Lynn Robison’s kill sailed high off the hands of Idaho’s Katie Kress, Eastern sealed its 15-5, 15-11, 15-7 non-conference win over the Vandals Tuesday night before 905 spectators at Reese Court.
It was the Eagles’ eighth straight win, coming on the day they received four votes in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 poll. They also improved to 13-2, the best start for the program that was established in 1968.
“That’s great,” Eastern coach Pamela Parks said about the four Top 25 votes. “When you look at teams we’ve beaten and teams other schools have beaten, it shows that we’re starting to be more and more legitimate.”
Against the Vandals (8-9), the Eagles were the real deal beginning with unstoppable play from middle blockers Kim Exner and Lora Botha. Exner, a 6-foot-1 junior, had 18 kills and hit .457. Botha, a 6-0 senior, landed 13 kills and hit .500. The team hit .385 to Idaho’s .203.
“Exner had a field day. We just couldn’t stop her,” Idaho coach Carl Ferriera said.
But Ferriera tried, moving 6-2 setter Anna Reznicek into the middle. Usually reliable middle blocker Jessica Moore was playing with a sore ankle. The other middles, Regan Butler and reserve Alli Nieman showed the inexperience of freshmen.
Nieman, however, landed 11 kills, second-best to Kyle Leonard’s 12. Nieman finished with a .769 attack average, the highest among Vandals this season.
“We had a good time. They really didn’t know what to do,” said Exner, who is leading the Big Sky Conference in kills per game (4.96).
The Vandals best shot at winning a game came in the second game when they led 10-9. The Eagles tied the game at 10 when Exner landed a kill between Beth Craig and Nieman. They took the lead on Toni Schwinn’s ace and never trailed after that.
In the final game, the Eagles sat on 14 points for seven servers, but the Vandals only scored two points during that stretch.
The Eagles, 6-0 in conference, return to Big Sky matches as hosts to Sacramento State (9-5, 3-2) Thursday and Idaho State (4- 10, 1-2) Saturday. The Vandals, 2-2 in conference, are hosts to the Big West’s New Mexico State (7-9, 3-1) Thursday and North Texas (5-14, 0-4) Saturday.
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