How many times have University of Northern Colorado fans needed to get out the brooms?
UNC (19-8, 13-3 Big Sky) cruised to a three-set victory over Idaho (4-24, 1-15 Big Sky) to close the regular season. The team already secured the no. 1 seed in the conference tournament and won the regular season title, so it was mostly playing for pride and preparation for next week.
When Idaho came to Greeley earlier in the season, Bears coach Lyndsey Oates said the Vandals were a team that can’t be overlooked. They won multiple championships in the ’90s and performed near the top of the league as recently as 2018.
That was the mindset again on Saturday night. Idaho traded points with UNC in set one, even taking a two-point lead after a 4-0 run.
The Bears, however, showed their dominance and commanded most of the match from that point on. They went on an 11-1 run to end the frame and provide a comfortable margin of victory.
In sets two and three, Northern Colorado started well and gave itself a cushion. Idaho continued to fight back through the match, bringing the score to 21-17 in the third, but Oates and her squad maintained composure to secure the victory.
UNC finished the season with a well-rounded performance. Six players had multiple kills, seven recorded digs and five contributed on at least two blocks. Those were just the ones with more than one, too.
Graduate student Kailey Jo Ince led all scorers with 12 kills and added eight digs. Senior libero Michaela Boon finished with 11 digs.
For the second match in a row, freshman Brynn Reines excelled from the service line. She provided three straight aces in the second set and didn’t have a single error.
Senior Cece Huhn deserves a lot of credit, as well. She did a bit of everything, logging five kills, two aces, four digs, four blocks and she had two assists. In fact, one of her assists came on a set to Makenzie Harris for a kill.
The Bears will have a few days off before heading to Ogden, Utah, for the Big Sky Tournament. It will begin on Wednesday with the quarterfinals, the semifinals are set for Friday and the championship match will take place Saturday. No game times have been announced, but they will be streamed on ESPN+.
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