Here is what’s happening in Boise State Athletics…
VOLLEYBALL
Boise State volleyball hosted the Boise State Classic where the team went 2-1 over the weekend.
The Broncos faced Loyola Marymount University (LMU), South Dakota State University (SDSU) and University of Montana.
The Broncos only loss of the season was at the hands of LMU in a 3-0 set sweep.
Though the Broncos faced a tough loss to start the tournament, the game was close the whole match. The Broncos only lost by a small margin as the set scores ended as 25-21, 25-21 and 26-24.
“I thought we played really hard and had a good effort tonight,” said head coach Shawn Garus. “The result of a three-set loss doesn’t tell the whole story. I thought we had a lot of good contributions from many players. People showed today that they can play at this level, but we have got to keep working hard to sustain it.”
The team came back to sweep the South Dakota State Jackrabbits 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-17) on the second day of the Boise State Classic.
Boise State’s offense played incredibly well against the Jackrabbits on Sept.15 with the Broncos .304 hitting percent to SDSU’s .162 percent was the deciding factor of the match.
“I thought our energy carried over from a good tough match against LMU,” said Garus. “We came out really aggressive today and sustained it throughout. So, I’m really happy with the victory.”
To wrap up the Boise State Classic, the Broncos rallied from a set down to defeat Montana in 3-1.
“It was amazing to get this win,” said redshirt junior middle back Reagan Casey. “The team worked really hard today and grinded through the last three sets. The slide worked well for us today, with Annie [Kaminski, outside hitter] and myself popping out to the side and getting some good kills.”
With the second straight win at the tournament, the Broncos finished 2-1 for the weekend and improve to 4-6 overall on the year.
Leading Broncos of the tournament:
Paige Bartsch – 56 kills
Noelani Helm – 106 assists
Breanna Mitchell – 52 digs
“I think the outside hitters have really grown a lot; we’ve worked on managing sets and learning about different situations,” said Garus. “Anabel (Kotzakov) is a true freshman, and Paige (Bartsch) has never really played outside. So, they’re learning how to limit their errors and pick their spots on when they’re going to be aggressive and when they’re going to be patient and be willing to win a rally. I love seeing the growth of those two.”
Mitchell was named the Mountain West Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for Sept. 18, collecting her very first MW Player of the Week honor in her career.
The sophomore libero led the team with a team-high combined 52 digs over the three matches in the Boise Open and averaged 5.2 digs per set.
SOCCER
The University of Oregon visited Boas Soccer Complex and battled the Broncos resulting in a 1-1 draw, which marks the ending of the Broncos non-conference play.
Junior forward, Carly Cross, has been a prominent player for the Broncos all season and continued her dominance with her fifth goal of the season.
The goal by Cross was assisted by goalkeeper Genevieve Crenshaw, which marked her first assist of her collegiate career and the first assist by a Bronco goalkeeper since 2009.
Though the goal by Cross was not enough to edge the Oregon Ducks, the two teams came to a 1-1 draw and the Broncos went undefeated by Pac-12 teams in the season and now sit with a 2-1-5 overall record.
“I’m both impressed and disappointed,” said head coach Jim Thomas. “I felt like we were the better team by a significant amount. To not come away with three points is frustrating but I can’t knock the way we went about it, and I’m very proud of the fight that we showed.”
The Broncos will begin conference play at Colorado College on Sept. 21 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
MEN’S TENNIS
Boise State men’s tennis opened the season with the the Dar Walters Invite at the Appleton Tennis Sept. 15-17.
There were four main players leading the Broncos this last weekend. Two true freshmen, Kyvan Rietkerk and Liam Toroman combined for a 7-1 record in singles over the three-day competition.
Rietkerk went undefeated in singles, winning all four matches in straight sets and going 2-2 in doubles while playing with sophomore Idriss Haddouch.
Toroman went 3-1 in singles during the tournament and completely dominated the field as he only gave up three games on his way to impressive straight-set victories. Toroman was paired with senior Teague Burger for doubles as they went 2-2 overall.
“We were excited to host this tournament with some talented collegiate tennis players,” said associate head coach Daniel Hangstefer. “It was a good tournament to open the season with, our guys competed extremely hard out there.”
FOOTBALL
The Broncos football team finally got their first win of the 2023 season against the University of North Dakota 42-19.
After starting the season 0-2, the Broncos will continue their hopes of returning to the Mountain West Conference championship game.
Though the Broncos offense seems to be progressing as the season goes on, it is clear there is still room for improvement.
The Broncos will kickoff conference play as they head to San Diego, California to face the San Diego State Aztecs on Sept. 22.
