Broncos Hold Off North Texas in Four

Friday, September 16

Bozeman, Mont.

3 p.m. MT

Boise State

8-2,0-0Mountain West

North Texas

-59,00 CUSA

North Texas

Boise St.

9/16/2022 6:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Lauren Ohlinger tallied team highs for kills and points with 18 and 21.5, respectively, to lead Boise State to the victory.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Lauren Ohlinger recorded team highs for kills and points with 18 and 21.5, respectively, to lead Boise State volleyball past the North Texas Eagles 3-1 (26-24, 25-27, 25-21, 25-22) on the second day of the Bobcat Invitational at Bozeman Friday afternoon. Boise State improved to 8-2 overall with the win.

All four sets were tightly contested with the Broncos taking the first, third and fourth periods. Boise State was forced to rally from six points down in both the first and fourth sets on its way to the win. Boise State finished the match hitting .281 percent for 60 kills while holding UNT to .217 percent and 55 kills.

Set one saw the blue and orange rally from a 21-15 deficit by outscoring the Eagles 10-4 down the stretch. Dana Branavets recorded back-to-back kills to tie the set at 24 and then gave the Broncos set point up 25-24 as they won 26-24.

After North Texas rallied to take the second frame, Boise State regrouped to win the final two sets. Tied at 11 in the third, Boise State pulled away with a 5-1 run – sparked by back-to-back block assists by Chey Day (2), Ohlinger and Paige Bartsch – that put it up for good. The Broncos then held off a UNT rally attempt to take it by for points at 25-21.

Boise State started the fourth slow and found itself in a hole early, down six at 7-1. The Broncos slowly battled back behind Annie Kaminski with four kills and two block assists and Kiersten Van Kirk's three kills and three block assists.

The Blue and Orange rallied to tie set four up at 13, which was followed by the two teams trading points. Tied at 19, The Broncos surged out to a two-point lead behind block assists by Van Kirk and Kaminski, followed by a Branavets service ace. Boise State never trailed again as they rallied from six points down for the three-point 25-22 win to clinch the match.

BRONCO LEADERS

Ohlinger tallied a team-high 18 kills giving her 61 career matches with double-figure kills, also a team-high.
Bartsch was second in kills with 14 while hitting a team-best .393 percent, to go with three block assists and 15.5 points…she has recorded double-digit kills in all eight matches she has played this season.
Branavets – a freshman – recorded a career-high 11 kills against the Eagles hitting .261 percent with two service aces, five digs, one block assist and 13.5 points.
Elle Cotton started at setter tallying a team and career-high 33 assists to go with 11 digs, earning her first career double-double.
Allison Casillas led the defense in the back row with a team-high 16 digs.
Chey Day recorded a team and career-high 10 block assists.

NOTABLES

Boise State tallied a season-high 10 service aces.
The Broncos recorded their sixth contest with double-figure team blocks finishing with 12 versus UNT, who had 15.
Ohlinger's 18 kills moved her into ninth place on the Boise State career kills list with 1,131, five short of eighth.
Boise State remains perfect against its former Big West Conference rival at 11-0.

WHAT'S NEXT