Boise State Rallies Past Navy to Win Season Opener

Friday, August 29

Orem, Utah

10 a.m.

Boise State

1-0,0-0Mountain West

Navy

0-1,0-0Patriot

Navy

Boise St.

8/29/2025 2:04:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

OREM, Utah – Boise State volleyball used a balanced offense with six players reaching double-digit kills as the Broncos rallied to defeat Navy 3-2 (25-27, 25-21, 24-26, 25-12, 15-12) in the season opener at the Utah Valley Invitational. Boise State moved to 1-0 overall with the win.

Boise State dropped the first and third sets in extra points to find itself down a set twice.

The Broncos rallied each time, taking the second set by four and the fourth by 13 to force the match to a decisive fifth set.

Trailing 11-10 in the fifth, the Blue and Orange rallied with a 5-1 run to claim the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.

Quotables

Shawn Garus, Head Coach

"What a wild match to start the season. I am proud of the team for embracing the tough stuff and battling for the victory. It is a quick turnaround for the Montana match later today, but we will be ready."

Top Broncos

Layla Smith hit a career-best at .609 for a career-high 15 kills to go with three blocks for 16.5 points.
Redshirt-freshman Eliza Sharp matched Mitchell's 15 kills while hitting .480; she also had a team-high for blocks with four and points (tied) with 17.
Freshman Sydney Dreves debuted for the Broncos by tying for the team-high in points with 17 on 14 kills, one service ace, one block solo, and two block assists.
Senior Bre Mitchell tallied a team-high 32 digs and a team-high two service aces.
Transfer Arianna Bilby and freshman Giselle Paedon had 12 kills, while Kailyn Jager – a transfer – had 11, all in their Boise State debuts.

Notables

Boise State outhit Navy .284 to .211 and had 80 kills to the Naval Academy's 57.
Three Broncos recorded double-doubles: Lilli Etter (36 assists/11 digs), Arianna Bilby (12 kills/12 digs) and Elle Cotton (31 assists/10 digs).
Playing in their first contests as Broncos were Bilby and Kailyn Jager.
Seeing their first action as Broncos and in their collegiate careers were Eliza Sharp, Giselle Paedon and Sydney Dreves.
Bre Mitchell recorded her 13th Boise State career match with 20-plus digs and her first with over 30.
Etter surpassed the 500 career assists mark with 36 against Navy, giving her 522.
Six Broncos reached double-digit kills in the match: Layla Smith (15), Sharp (15), Dreves (14), Bilby (12), Paedon (12) and Jager (11).
The match featured 39 ties and 19 lead changes.