BOX SCORE: Idaho State-Northern Colorado
QUOTES: Benson, Shreeve, Williams

GREELEY, Colo. - Needing a victory to keep its Big Sky Conference title hopes alive, the Northern Colorado volleyball team defeated Idaho State in four games, 25-22, 25-17, 22-25, 25-23 to improve to 16-7 overall and 10-4 in league action. The Bengals fall to 9-18 on the year and 4-9 in conference play.

Neither team hit the ball extremely well with the Bears hitting at a .173 clip, which included a .318 in the fourth set, while Idaho State hit .081 for the night. Both teams did play well defensively with the Bears garnering 83 digs behind 26 by junior libero Breanna VanDerMost, while the Bengals had 79 led by their libero Paige Palmer with 27.

"Idaho State was playing for a tournament spot," said head coach Lyndsey Benson. "This was a huge match for them. It looked like they were playing for their season and we were just playing. Their intensity versus ours took us out of our rhythm. I guess it's a sign of a good team when we can win without that rhythm. We've taken a big step up in that regard this year - we can battle through it and get the win."

VanDerMost's total of 26 digs was just one off her career high of 27 from two different matches this season.

Offensively, junior outside hitter Kenzie Shreeve was the star with 21 kills and a .236 hitting percentage. She also had three of the team's four service aces. Tonight marked the fifth time this season Shreeve has tallied more than 20 kills in a match. Junior middle blocker Allison Raguse added 13 kills and junior middle blocker Taylor Smith led the club with five blocks.

Senior setter Lauren Carter tallied her fifth double-double of the year with 50 assists and 13 digs, while defensive specialists Jaclyn Bruns and Amanda Arterburn chipped in 12 and 10 digs, respectively.

Idaho State was paced by Jaclyn Hone and Britta Bartschi with 13 kills each, while Bartschi and Sarah Carson each had seven blocks.

In the first set, Shreeve tallied seven of the Bears 14 kills, hitting at a .400 clip, while VanDerMost kept the defense going with seven digs. NC trailed 13-10 before Shreeve notched a kill and the Bengals had four errors in five points to give the lead back to the Bears, 15-14. The score was tied at 15, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21 before Shreeve had two kills and Smith added one for the 25-22 victory.

Idaho State led 3-2 in the second set and it was the last they would see a lead before the long break as the Bears used a 6-1 run to take the 8-4 lead. Shreeve had one kill and one ace serve in the run, while Idaho State had four errors.  NC built the lead to eight at 15-7 and led again by seven at 19-12. The Bengals used a small rally to close within four, 19-15, but the Bears closed out the set winning 25-17.

Each team started the third set with a monster block but the Bears again built an 8-4 advantage. Idaho State fought back to knot the score at 12-12 and again at every point from 15 to 17 before rattling off four straight for the 21-17 lead. Carter used the whole team to close within one at 22-23, but ISU closed with a pair of points for the win.

In the fourth stanza, the Bears scored the first three points behind the tough serving of Arterburn. The Bengals answered with a three-point run of their own and the teams traded points until 9-9. NC again went on a three-point run. Raguse won the end of a really long rally for the team's 11^th point and then Shreeve got her 19^th kill of the night for the 12-9 advantage. Idaho State again battled back, knotting the score at 14. Trading points to 19-19, an error at the service line by ISU and a big block by Smith and sophomore right side hitter Ashley Lichtenberg put the Bears ahead 21-19, where they remained winning 25-23.

Northern Colorado will host Weber State and Northern Arizona in the final two regular season matches of the season. The Wildcats visit Butler-Hancock this Saturday at 7:00 p.m., while the Lumberjacks come to town the following Saturday.