Saturday, October 16
Boise, Idaho
12 p.m. MT
Boise State
15-5,4-4Mountain West
3
vs
2
UNLV
14-5,5-3Mountain West
1
2
3
4
5
F
UNLV
17
25
18
25
10
2
Boise St.
25
23
25
19
15
3
Team Stats
UNLV
Boise
Kills
65
54
Errors
24
17
Attempts
165
149
Hitting %
.248
.248
Points
79
73
Assists
64
50
Aces
6
7
Blocks
8
12
Game Leaders
Kills
14
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
2
Blocks
3
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Kills
7
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
OPP
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
Boise State downs UNLV in five
10/16/2021 5:18:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Ohlinger and Donahue combined for 26 kills to lead the Broncos past Rebels
BOISE, Idaho - Lauren Ohlinger and Jessica Donahue combined for 26 of Boise State's 54 kills on the day to lead the Broncos to a five-set victory over UNLV Saturday afternoon in Bronco Gym. The match was close throughout as the two teams traded sets with the Blue and Orange winning the first, third and fifth periods to hand the defending Mountain West Conference champions their third league loss this season.
The win snapped a two-match losing streak for Boise State who improved to 15-5 overall and 4-4 in conference play, while UNLV moved to 14-5 on the year and 5-3 in MW action.
Coach Shawn Garus was happy with the result coming in off Thursday's loss, "It was a good win for us against a solid team. I think we've had a tough week. We've been dealing with a lot of distractions and the loss Thursday. We had a talk with the group at practice Friday about everything and they completely agreed, it doesn't matter what else is going on, we just need to find a way to compete."
The first and third sets saw Boise State lead the entire way in both as the Broncos hit .312 and .438 percent, respectively, in both compared to UNLV's .200 and .258 percent, respectively.Â
The second set was the tightest of the five with seven ties and three lead changes. Down 19-15, Boise State rallied to tie it up at 19. The Broncos then took the lead at 21-20, only to watch the Rebels rally, edging Boise State out down the stretch for a 25-23 win.
Garus is concerned about the up and down in focus and intensity that the team is struggling with, "Sadly, we've been talking about that too much. We've discussed what we need to do in those situations and what it comes down to is not being needy, but instead being competitive and finding ways to push through challenging situations. Maybe overall, it comes down to us finding a way to get comfortable in close games, instead of being stressed about not winning easily."
With the Broncos leading 2-1 after winning the third set 25-18, UNLV regrouped and opened the must-win fourth set on a 5-1 run. The Rebels never relinquished their lead as they hit .538 percent to Boise State's .167 percent to hold off the Broncos for a 6-point victory that evened the match at two sets apiece and forced a decisive fifth.
The fifth set was close until midway through the frame. Tied at 6-6, Boise State rolled off a big 5-0 run — which included a block solo and block assist by Danielle Boss — to go up 11-6 over the visitors from Las Vegas. The Broncos then extended their advantage out to an insurmountable 13-7 lead before settling for a 15-10 set victory, claiming the match 25-17, 23-25, 25-18, 19-25, 15-10.  Â
Ohlinger finished the contest with her seventh double-double of the season on a team-high 14 kills to go with 14 digs. She added two assists, one service ace, one block solo and one assist to finish with a team-best 16.5 points.
Jessica Donahue was not far behind hitting a team-high .600 percent on 12 kills and no errors on 20 attacks. The senior added two assists, three digs and three block assists for 15.5 points.Â
Donahue on heading into the fifth set, "I think that once we reached the fifth set we were like, it's go time. I know at the beginning of the fifth, I turned to my other middle (blocker, Alyssa Wissinger) and I said, it's us against the world right now let's hit it. Then after that first point, we were thinking this is our set."Â
Donahue on how the team bounced back following Thursday's loss, "I know in the locker room afterwards we looked at each other and we're like, we have a mental shift that we need to get done, it's a mental game. It has nothing to do with our skill, obviously, we're really talented on this team, we're big, we're physical, but it's the mental aspect of the game we struggle with. We just didn't have that competitive drive Thursday. We knew we needed to get competitive, we needed to push back when they pushed back on us."
Alyssa Wissinger was another force for the Blue and Orange as she hit .333 percent for seven kills to go with a team-high seven blocks — one solo — to finish with 11 points.Â
Makayla Hansen and Paige Bartsch followed that trio up offensively. Hansen finished with six kills, eight digs and one block assist, while Bartsch hit .500 percent for seven kills with two service aces.Â
Boss notched her eight double-double of the year on a team-high 42 assists with 11 digs. She added three kills, one service ace and six blocks — one solo.Â
Allison Casillas led the team defensively with a team-high 17 digs.Â
Both teams finished the contest hitting .248 percent. Two big areas that helped Boise State to the win were serving and blocking. The Broncos recorded seven service aces, while UNLV struggled, committing 15 service errors. Secondly, Boise State's blocking was back in force today as the team tallied 12 blocks against the Rebels. The Broncos — ranked in the top-10 nationally — had not reached double-digit blocks in the previous two matches. Â
Boise State will be back in action on Tuesday as the Broncos close a three-match homestand against Utah State at 7 p.m. in Bronco Gym.Â
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The win snapped a two-match losing streak for Boise State who improved to 15-5 overall and 4-4 in conference play, while UNLV moved to 14-5 on the year and 5-3 in MW action.
The Broncos take down the UNLV Rebels in 5 sets! 💪💥#BleedBlue | #WhatsNext pic.twitter.com/FTtdfcc3NF
— Boise State VB (@BroncoSportsVB) October 16, 2021
Coach Shawn Garus was happy with the result coming in off Thursday's loss, "It was a good win for us against a solid team. I think we've had a tough week. We've been dealing with a lot of distractions and the loss Thursday. We had a talk with the group at practice Friday about everything and they completely agreed, it doesn't matter what else is going on, we just need to find a way to compete."
The first and third sets saw Boise State lead the entire way in both as the Broncos hit .312 and .438 percent, respectively, in both compared to UNLV's .200 and .258 percent, respectively.Â
The second set was the tightest of the five with seven ties and three lead changes. Down 19-15, Boise State rallied to tie it up at 19. The Broncos then took the lead at 21-20, only to watch the Rebels rally, edging Boise State out down the stretch for a 25-23 win.
Garus is concerned about the up and down in focus and intensity that the team is struggling with, "Sadly, we've been talking about that too much. We've discussed what we need to do in those situations and what it comes down to is not being needy, but instead being competitive and finding ways to push through challenging situations. Maybe overall, it comes down to us finding a way to get comfortable in close games, instead of being stressed about not winning easily."
With the Broncos leading 2-1 after winning the third set 25-18, UNLV regrouped and opened the must-win fourth set on a 5-1 run. The Rebels never relinquished their lead as they hit .538 percent to Boise State's .167 percent to hold off the Broncos for a 6-point victory that evened the match at two sets apiece and forced a decisive fifth.
The fifth set was close until midway through the frame. Tied at 6-6, Boise State rolled off a big 5-0 run — which included a block solo and block assist by Danielle Boss — to go up 11-6 over the visitors from Las Vegas. The Broncos then extended their advantage out to an insurmountable 13-7 lead before settling for a 15-10 set victory, claiming the match 25-17, 23-25, 25-18, 19-25, 15-10.  Â
Ohlinger finished the contest with her seventh double-double of the season on a team-high 14 kills to go with 14 digs. She added two assists, one service ace, one block solo and one assist to finish with a team-best 16.5 points.
Jessica Donahue was not far behind hitting a team-high .600 percent on 12 kills and no errors on 20 attacks. The senior added two assists, three digs and three block assists for 15.5 points.Â
Donahue on heading into the fifth set, "I think that once we reached the fifth set we were like, it's go time. I know at the beginning of the fifth, I turned to my other middle (blocker, Alyssa Wissinger) and I said, it's us against the world right now let's hit it. Then after that first point, we were thinking this is our set."Â
Donahue on how the team bounced back following Thursday's loss, "I know in the locker room afterwards we looked at each other and we're like, we have a mental shift that we need to get done, it's a mental game. It has nothing to do with our skill, obviously, we're really talented on this team, we're big, we're physical, but it's the mental aspect of the game we struggle with. We just didn't have that competitive drive Thursday. We knew we needed to get competitive, we needed to push back when they pushed back on us."
Alyssa Wissinger was another force for the Blue and Orange as she hit .333 percent for seven kills to go with a team-high seven blocks — one solo — to finish with 11 points.Â
Makayla Hansen and Paige Bartsch followed that trio up offensively. Hansen finished with six kills, eight digs and one block assist, while Bartsch hit .500 percent for seven kills with two service aces.Â
Boss notched her eight double-double of the year on a team-high 42 assists with 11 digs. She added three kills, one service ace and six blocks — one solo.Â
Allison Casillas led the team defensively with a team-high 17 digs.Â
Both teams finished the contest hitting .248 percent. Two big areas that helped Boise State to the win were serving and blocking. The Broncos recorded seven service aces, while UNLV struggled, committing 15 service errors. Secondly, Boise State's blocking was back in force today as the team tallied 12 blocks against the Rebels. The Broncos — ranked in the top-10 nationally — had not reached double-digit blocks in the previous two matches. Â
Boise State will be back in action on Tuesday as the Broncos close a three-match homestand against Utah State at 7 p.m. in Bronco Gym.Â
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WBB | Highlights vs Nevada
Monday, March 10
Volleyball Preview: The Outside Hitters
Friday, August 23
Volleyball Preview: The Middle Blockers
Thursday, August 22
Volleyball Preview: The Liberos & Defensive Specialists
Wednesday, August 21
