Friday, November 26
Las Vegas, Nev.
2 p.m. MT
Boise State
24-10,10-8Mountain West
3
at
1
UNLV (Final)
23-9,12-6Mountain West
1
2
3
4
F
Boise St.
19
25
25
25
3
UNLV
25
21
23
15
1
Team Stats
Boise
UNLV
Kills
60
52
Errors
22
17
Attempts
164
149
Hitting %
.232
.235
Points
74
65
Assists
43
47
Aces
7
3
Blocks
7
10
Game Leaders
Kills
14
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
3
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
L
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
Setter
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
Photo by: C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos
Creation Date:
Broncos rally past UNLV to win MW Championship
11/26/2021 8:20:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Four Broncos make the all-tournament team with Ohlinger named MVP.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Boise State volleyball booked its ticket to next week's NCAA Championship with a four-set 19-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-15 victory over the UNLV Rebels in the Mountain West Conference championship match Friday afternoon at Las Vegas. Boise State struggled initially with the jitters to open the contest, but for the second straight day the Broncos rallied from a set down for the win.
"I am just excited how our team played all week here in Las Vegas," said head coach Shawn Garus. "After we dropped the opening set there was no panic, no stress, just leadership from our side. I'm so proud. So proud of the upperclassmen for building the confidence in this group.
I thought Alli O'Hara was amazing as a middle," said Garus. "She played so well at the net. I wasn't sure how much she had left in the tank, so I was talking to her saying your legs may not be there but your mind is sharp. You can still give a lot to the team and I thought she embraced that and found a way to contribute even if she wasn't at 100%. Overall, I'm just proud of what this team accomplished here in Las Vegas this week."
The Broncos are the lowest seed — sixth — to win the MW tournament title in history. The championship is also the first conference tournament title in program history. The victory improved the Broncos to 24-10 overall, tied for the third most all-time.
Four Broncos earned MW All-Tournament Team honors in Danielle Boss, Allison Casillas, Paige Bartsch and Lauren Ohlinger, who was also named the championship MVP.
The Blue and Orange did not hit the ball particularly well early finishing below 17 percent in both the first and second sets. Boise State improved in the last two periods hitting .294 and .346 percent, respectively, in the third and fourth sets. They finished the contest at .233 percent for 60 kills and held UNLV to .236 percent for 52 kills.
Bartsch — MW Freshman of the Year — led Boise State with team highs for points with 17 and kills with 14 — both career highs — to go with one service ace, one block solo and two block assists.
Alli O'Harra was next with 15.5 points on 11 kills, team-high three service aces, and three block assists. Ohlinger followed with 14.5 points on 12 kills, two block solos and one block assist. Ohlinger also recorded her 10th double-double of the season adding 11 digs to her kill total.
"Honestly, with all my heart, I love this game," said O'Harra. "I'm so stoked to be playing with such an amazing team. And I wanted to do everything I could to help them improve and win the tournament. I want to make sure that they have a great time and heck, I have a good time out there too. I loved my four years at Pepperdine, but I'm a Bronco now and I forever will be even if I'm only playing one year with this team because my eligibility runs out. I really wish it could be more because I love this team, I love this staff and I love the school. I'm really happy I made the decision to come here."
Alyssa Wissinger had 10 kills in the match to finish with 10 points. Jordan Miller tallied eight kills and one block solo.
Boss earned her third double-double of the championship tournament on 40 assists and 10 digs, she also added five kills and one service ace. Allison Casillas recorded a team-high 13 digs to lead the team on the back line, Bartsch had nine and Jolei Akima added seven.
Boise State struggled in the opening set, falling behind early and never leading. The Broncos were forced to chase the Rebels the entire way before falling by six points.
The Broncos regrouped heading into the second set. Trailing 3-2, Boise State rolled off a 7-0 run behind two kills and a solo block by Bartsch. Up 9-3, the Blue and Orange never trailed again in the period.
Set three was a battle featuring 17 ties and 10 lead changes with the largest advantage being two points. With the score tied at 22, Boise State finished it off with a 3-1 run capped by an Ohlinger kill to secure the set and a 2-1 Bronco advantage in the contest.
The decisive fourth set turnout to be all Broncos. With the score tied at 10, Boise State broke the period open on a 12-3 run and cruised to a 10-point set victory and the MW championship. The Broncos had 12 kills, four service aces and four blocks in the dominating final period.
Notables
"I am just excited how our team played all week here in Las Vegas," said head coach Shawn Garus. "After we dropped the opening set there was no panic, no stress, just leadership from our side. I'm so proud. So proud of the upperclassmen for building the confidence in this group.
I thought Alli O'Hara was amazing as a middle," said Garus. "She played so well at the net. I wasn't sure how much she had left in the tank, so I was talking to her saying your legs may not be there but your mind is sharp. You can still give a lot to the team and I thought she embraced that and found a way to contribute even if she wasn't at 100%. Overall, I'm just proud of what this team accomplished here in Las Vegas this week."
The Broncos are the lowest seed — sixth — to win the MW tournament title in history. The championship is also the first conference tournament title in program history. The victory improved the Broncos to 24-10 overall, tied for the third most all-time.
Four Broncos earned MW All-Tournament Team honors in Danielle Boss, Allison Casillas, Paige Bartsch and Lauren Ohlinger, who was also named the championship MVP.
The Blue and Orange did not hit the ball particularly well early finishing below 17 percent in both the first and second sets. Boise State improved in the last two periods hitting .294 and .346 percent, respectively, in the third and fourth sets. They finished the contest at .233 percent for 60 kills and held UNLV to .236 percent for 52 kills.
Bartsch — MW Freshman of the Year — led Boise State with team highs for points with 17 and kills with 14 — both career highs — to go with one service ace, one block solo and two block assists.
Alli O'Harra was next with 15.5 points on 11 kills, team-high three service aces, and three block assists. Ohlinger followed with 14.5 points on 12 kills, two block solos and one block assist. Ohlinger also recorded her 10th double-double of the season adding 11 digs to her kill total.
"Honestly, with all my heart, I love this game," said O'Harra. "I'm so stoked to be playing with such an amazing team. And I wanted to do everything I could to help them improve and win the tournament. I want to make sure that they have a great time and heck, I have a good time out there too. I loved my four years at Pepperdine, but I'm a Bronco now and I forever will be even if I'm only playing one year with this team because my eligibility runs out. I really wish it could be more because I love this team, I love this staff and I love the school. I'm really happy I made the decision to come here."
Alyssa Wissinger had 10 kills in the match to finish with 10 points. Jordan Miller tallied eight kills and one block solo.
Boss earned her third double-double of the championship tournament on 40 assists and 10 digs, she also added five kills and one service ace. Allison Casillas recorded a team-high 13 digs to lead the team on the back line, Bartsch had nine and Jolei Akima added seven.
Boise State struggled in the opening set, falling behind early and never leading. The Broncos were forced to chase the Rebels the entire way before falling by six points.
The Broncos regrouped heading into the second set. Trailing 3-2, Boise State rolled off a 7-0 run behind two kills and a solo block by Bartsch. Up 9-3, the Blue and Orange never trailed again in the period.
Set three was a battle featuring 17 ties and 10 lead changes with the largest advantage being two points. With the score tied at 22, Boise State finished it off with a 3-1 run capped by an Ohlinger kill to secure the set and a 2-1 Bronco advantage in the contest.
The decisive fourth set turnout to be all Broncos. With the score tied at 10, Boise State broke the period open on a 12-3 run and cruised to a 10-point set victory and the MW championship. The Broncos had 12 kills, four service aces and four blocks in the dominating final period.
Notables
- Boise State's win over UNLV completed a 3-0 season sweep of the Rebels and increased its lead in the all-time series to 15-10.
- The conference tournament championship is the first in program history.
- The berth into next week's NCAA Championship will be the second all-time, the first was 2016 after winning the MW regular-season title.
- Lauren Ohlinger is the first Bronco to be named a conference tournament MVP.
- Ohlinger's double-double was the 10th of the season and 22nd of her career.
- Ohlinger's 12 kills gives her 27 matches this season with double-digit kills.
- Danielle Boss' double-double was the third of the tournament, 16th of the season and 40th of her career.
- Boss' 40 assists gives her 3,296 in her career, sixth all-time.
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
