Broncos Open Season with Sweep Over Saint Mary’s

Friday, August 26

Boise, Idaho

5 p.m. MT

Boise State

1-0,0-0Mountain West

Saint Mary's

0-1,0-0WCC

Saint Mary's (CA)

Boise St.

8/26/2022 8:22:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Boise State dominated the Gaels on Friday night trailing only once in three sets.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho – Boise State volleyball opened the season with an impressive sweep over the Saint Mary's Gaels on Friday night in Bronco Gym.

By the time it was over Boise State had trailed just once in the entire match as the Broncos dominated every statistical category. The Blue and Orange ran out to sizable leads in the first two sets, then were challenged down the stretch in the third.

In the match, the Blue and Orange outhit the Gaels .233 percent to .018 percent and had 35 kills on 32 assists with four service aces, 49 digs and 13 blocks. Saint Mary's finished with 28 kills, 28 assists, three aces, 38 digs and five blocks.

Quotable

"I think that for the first match of the season for us to come out with good energy, especially coming from senior leadership with Allison Casillas and Lauren Ohlinger, was great," said Boise State Head Coach Shawn Garus. "I think they came out and had a lot of confidence, so if there were a lot of freshmen on the court with them, they could have some modeling out there. So, I give Allie and Lauren credit for the fast start.
Garus was asked about a potential let-up on Saturday in the rematch with the Gaels, "I think we'll talk in the locker room shortly that I think Saint Mary's found a little success as the third set went on tonight. Luckily, we had a little bit of a lead, so we were able to close them out. But I feel like Saint Mary's is probably talking about, you know, we're gonna be better off tomorrow. So, I need to ensure we don't have a little bit of that letdown and make sure we come out strong tomorrow."

Top Broncos

Lauren Ohlinger led Boise State with a team-high eight kills to go with one service ace and three blocks to finish with 11.5 points.
Chey Day was solid as well finishing with six kills while hitting .462 percent; she also added a team and career-high eight blocks to tie Ohlinger for the team-high in points with 11.5.
Jordan Miller matched Day's kill total with six and added two blocks.
Ashley Hayden recorded her first start at setter for the Broncos finishing with a team-best 28 assists, three kills, one ace, and four blocks.
Allison Casillas tallied a team-high 13 digs, while Dana Branavets followed with 11.

Notables

Chey Day had played nearly every position at Boise State heading into the 2022 campaign. Tonight, the traditional outside hitter started for the first time at middle blocker where she recorded her career high for blocks.
Lauren Ohlinger needs just one kill tomorrow against the Gaels to reach the 1,000 career-kills milestone. She will be the 16th Bronco all-time to hit that mark.
The Broncos finished the 2021 campaign ranked second nationally for total blocks. Tonight, they picked up where they left off with 13, a solid start to a new season.
Boise State is now 4-2 all-time versus Saint Mary's and recorded their first-ever win at home against the Gaels (1-1).

Next Up

Boise State and Saint Mary's wrap up the season-opening weekend with a rematch at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bronco Gym. The Broncos sold 1,012 tickets to Friday's match. Tickets can be purchased for Saturday at BroncoSports.com.