The Weber State University volleyball team defeated Idaho State University 3–1 on Oct. 3. The Wildcats were left stunned after falling short in an extended first set against the Bengals.
The Wildcats got within a point of clinching the first set twice, 24–23 and 26–25, but couldn’t close it out. The Bengals took the early advantage off of two kills and a Weber service error, winning 28–26.
Losing the first set was not a good sign for the Wildcats, considering their last three matches ended in sweeps (two losses and one win).
However, the Wildcats ended that trend by bouncing back with a cleaner win, 25–19, headlined by a four-point set-clinching rally to even the match 1–1.
Head Coach Jeremiah Larsen was complimentary of how Idaho State played, while recognizing that one set doesn’t end a game.
“We just didn’t make a big deal out of it. Idaho State was playing really well. They played a great match,” Larsen said. “We could have freaked out and instead we just kept doing the things in which we know. It was so tough to pass well and take quality swings. At the end of the day, that’s all we can do.”
Right-side hitter Rose Moore saw the back-and-forth loss as an issue with the home Wildcats playing poorly.
“We knew we weren’t playing great and that it was ugly,” Moore said. ”But we just kept telling each other in our little huddles between each point, ‘Keep grinding this, we’re competing well, we’re going hard, effectively, physically and emotionally. The outcomes are just not working right now, but if we keep going hard, then it’ll all come together.’”
From there, Weber never looked back, winning 25–23 and 25–19 for their 10th win of the season.
Coach Larsen was proud of his team for weathering the storm and coming out with a win over the now four win, 11 loss Bengals team, “It wasn’t a clean game. We had a lot of weird things, like ebbs and flows with certain players … I like how we just grinded it. Normally, when players are up and then they crash, our whole team crashes. So I thought we did a nice job of grinding. It’s something we haven’t done a lot of, so I’m happy with that.”
Weber State will continue their three-game home stand with games against Eastern Washington University on Oct. 9 and the University of Idaho on Oct. 11.
