The Mountain West Conference needs to watch out for the Boise State women’s volleyball team. After winning two home games against San Diego State (SDSU) 3-1 and Nevada 3-2, the Broncos are floating on cloud nine.
Wins on Thursday, Oct. 11 and Saturday, Oct. 13 did not come without unwavering determination.
Practices in the days preceding the SDSU game consisted of releasing to certain hitters, like senior Liz Harden and freshman Sarah Webster.
The first two sets against SDSU proved to the Broncos how much potential they had as they won 25-19
and 25-22.
However, when they came back from the 10-minute break and began the third set, SDSU tried some new tactics: preparing for Harden’s kills and tipping more than hitting. Boise State lost the set 19-25.
The Bronco’s came back from the loss bound and determined to win the match.
Webster and Harden teamed up and made a great blocking team and together earned the Bronco’s quite a few points.
Boise State won the set 25-22 and, much to San Diego’s dismay, won the
match 3-1.
Saturday was prime for set wins. Just like Thursday against SDSU, blocking gave the Broncos a huge advantage against Nevada.
The Wolf Pack won the first set 22-25 and made the Broncos realize they needed to be quicker on their toes if they were to win the match.
Boise State made a comeback and took the second match 25-15.
Sophomore Brittany Reardon, junior Leah Stevens and Harden collaborated to block almost every kill delivered by Nevada.
“We really had a plan to stop the other team’s middles and they’re really high percentage hitters and I think we did a good job staying on them and keying on their hitters though the whole game,” Reardon said.
While the Broncos lost the third set 22-25, they didn’t let it bring them down. The team came back and won the fourth set 25-20.
With the sets tied 2-2, the fifth set was going to be a nail-biter. But luckily it was a quick slaughter. The Broncos defeated Nevada 15-10.
Head Coach Shawn Garus was asked what he expected from his team going forward in the conference.
“You got to be on your game every night in this conference or you are going to lose,” Garus said. “Next week, we hit the road for probably the toughest road trip in conference, which is Colorado State and Wyoming. We got a lot of work to do to get ready for them.”
As the Broncos continue on in the conference, they will work to make their name a name to watch out for in the Mountain West.
