Broncos Fall to Weber State at NIVC

Thursday, December 5

Laramie, Wyo.

4:00 P.M. MT

Boise State

18-11

Weber State

25-8

Boise State

Weber State

12/5/2019 9:22:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Final Box (pdf)

Lauren Ohlinger led Boise State with 12 kills followed by Shae Duffy with 10.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Boise State saw five Broncos record seven or more kills against the Wildcats, but the balanced offense was not enough as Boise State fell in four 25-17, 25-27, 25-19, 25-21 to Weber State in the opening round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) Thursday afternoon. The young Boise State squad battled Weber State to the end led by Lauren Ohlinger with a team-high 12 kills and nine digs, followed by Shae Duffy who recorded 10 kills.

Weber State defeats the Broncos in 4 taking set four 25-21. Ohlinger led with 12 kills, Duffy had 10, Donahue 9.

That concludes the 2019 campaign with the Broncos going 18-12 overall. #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/CcuJs5EffQ
— Boise State VB (@BroncoSportsVB) December 6, 2019

The loss ends Boise State's 2019 campaign at 18-12 overall. It marked the sixth-consecutive winning season for the Broncos who made their third postseason appearance in the last four years.

"I thought the team battled. I liked their effort, especially in the second, third and fourth sets," said Boise State head coach Shawn Garus. "But Weber State was a little sharper than we were offensively and in serving, that was the difference. I'm really excited that we got this opportunity and I think our younger players can learn from this and grow from it. I think it's a great experience away from home. It's what we want to be doing as a program at Boise State. I think we've got the right character kids in the program that will achieve more and more in the future because of this type of experience."

Boise State started the match slow dropping the opening set by eight points as the Wildcats out hit the Blue and Orange 32.4 percent to 10.9 percent in the period.

The Broncos came back and took the second set in extra points 27-25. Trailing 19-15, Boise State rallied with a 5-1 run to tie it at 20 all. The Blue and Orange had four set points before a Duffy kill and block assists from Jessica Donahue and Alyssa Wissinger clinched the win.

The last two sets were tight and played hard by both teams. Unfortunately, Weber State was able to close both out to claim the win over the Broncos in the UniWyo Sports Complex at Laramie, Wyo.

Boise State was led by a host of underclassmen with Ohlinger — the Mountain West Freshman of the Year — having the team-high in kills with 12 to go with two block assists. Wissinger — a redshirt-freshman — had a solid performance tallying eight kills and team-high nine blocks, tying the school's postseason record for blocks. Both Ohlinger and Wissinger finished the match with a team-high 13 points.

Three sophomores rounded out the Broncos' balanced offensive performance with Duffy adding one block solo and three block assists to her 10 kills to finish with 12.5 points. Donahue had nine kills, three digs and four block assists, good for 11 points. Meanwhile, Carly Moreno finished with seven kills, three digs and three block assists.

Defensively, Allison Casillas — a freshman libero — set the school record for digs in the postseason with a career-high 30 against the Wildcats. Casillas' classmate Jordi Holdaway also chipped in with 10 digs as the two freshmen combined for 40 of the team's 78 digs.

Danielle Boss tallied 43 assists versus Weber State Thursday, the fourth most in program history for a postseason contest. She added 13 digs to record her team-high 14th double-double of the season. Boss also had four block assists.

OTHER NOTABLES

Boise State is now 7-4 all-time in the NIVC and 29-17 versus Weber State.
Wissinger's nine blocks tied Kelly Baker's nine against Arkansas State during the 1989 NIVC.
Casillas' 30 digs broke the school's previous best mark of 27 set by Debbie Hansmann in the 1989 NIVC semifinal win over William & Mary.
Boss' 43 assists marked the 13th time this season she has tallied 40 or more in a match ... it also ranked fourth in the postseason assists list behind Alyssa Victor's school record 70 recorded against Wisconsin in the 1989 NIVC championship contest; Victor also had 61 against Northern Iowa at the 1990 NIVC and 46 against William & Mary in the 1989 NIVC semis.
Boss finished the year ranked 12th in school history for assists in a season with 1,113.
Donahue's four blocks against Weber State moved her into third-place on Boise State's single season list finishing with 163, six shy of tying for the record (169) set by Heather Malashak in 2004.
Boise State had 14 team blocks against Weber State giving it 328 on the year, which ranks sixth all-time for a season in program history.