Boise State Holds Off Milwaukee in Five, Win Streak Grows to Three

Friday, August 31

Pocatello, Idaho

Noon

Boise State

3-0

Milwaukee

0-5

Milwaukee

Boise State

Photo by: Boise State Photo Services

Boise State Holds Off Milwaukee in Five, Win Streak Grows to Three

8/31/2018 5:07:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

The Broncos have opened the season with a 3-0 win streak, the longest since 2004.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

POCATELLO, Idaho (8/31/2018) - Boise State opened the Idaho State Invitational Friday afternoon fast by jumping out to a 2-0 match lead, then held off Milwaukee's rally down the stretch to defeat the Panthers in five 25-21, 26-24, 22-25, 20-25, 16-14. Senior Sabryn Roberts led the Broncos for the third-straight match with a double-double on 21 kills and 13 digs to go with one service ace and two blocks. The win gives the Blue and Orange its third-straight win to open the season, the longest streak since the Broncos started 5-0 in 2004.

"I thought overall it was a competitive up and down match, both teams struggled with consistency," said Boise State head coach Shawn Garus. "Our veteran players were key for us today. I thought our seniors did a good job, Morgan (Hughes) was great from the service line and Sabryn (Roberts) had a good match offensively for us. But there were a lot of inconsistencies that we are going to have to work on and get better at. Tonight we have to get a lot of rest and get ready for two big matches tomorrow against a good UC Riverside team and Idaho State, which always plays us tough."

In an up and down match that was tightly contested throughout with 15 lead changes and the score being tied 32 times, the second set saw 15 ties and seven lead changes alone. Boise State opened by taking the first two sets by a combined six points, the second went to extra points. Milwaukee rallied taking the third and fourth sets by a total of seven points to force the decisive fifth.

The Broncos raced out to a 7-1 lead in the final period, then held on to win the set 16-14 to claim the match 3-2. Milwaukee actually took the lead late and had a match point at 14-13 before the Broncos came back following a timeout. Both teams hit the ball well in the fifth with the Panthers hitting 37.5 percent compared to the Broncos' match-high 32 percent. Roberts was a force for Boise State recording four kills and a service ace in the frame, while Kiley Lewis added three kills and a block to help clinched the fifth set win.

Neither team hit the ball well during the match as both struggled with consistency, the Broncos finished hitting 15.5 percent for 64 kills with 35 errors on 187 attacks, Milwaukee hit 19.2 percent for 53 kills with 21 errors on 167 attacks.

Backing up Roberts statistically on the day were Lewis who finished with 10 kills, seven digs and five blocks, while freshman Jessica Donahue contributed 11 kills and seven blocks, her third-straight match with double-digit kills and six or more blocks. Senior middle blocker Morgan Hughes was also a big impact recording nine kills, a team-high five service aces, eight digs and six blocks, two were solos.

Freshman Danielle Boss dished out 34 assists from the setter position and added 13 digs to record her first career double-double. In addition, Boss had three kills, two services aces and three blocks. Cassedi Simon also saw time on the floor dishing out a second-best 15 assists to go with one ace and one block. Defensively, freshman Jessie Brigham tallied a team-high 19 digs.

Boise State will be back in action Saturday at the Idaho State Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho, when the Broncos face UC Riverside at 10 a.m., followed by the night cap against Idaho State at 7 p.m., both matches will be played in Reed Gym.