Here is what’s happening in Boise State Athletics…
SOCCER
As the Broncos entered the Mountain West tournament, five Broncos earned all-conference honors.
Junior Kenzie MacMillan and senior Jocelyn Stephens were named to the All-Mountain West first team, while junior Carly Cross and senior Morgan Padour received All-MW Second Team honors. Freshman Cindy Conner represented the Blue and Orange on the MW All-Newcomer Team.
To open up the MWC Tournament, Boise State soccer shutout Nevada 2-0 in the opening round of the 2023 Mountain West Soccer Championship on October 29 to advance to the semifinals.
MacMillan launched a shot from outside the penalty box into the back of the net, giving the Broncos a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute. Boise State extended their lead 2-0 when Sophie Drown netted her second goal and first game-winner of the season, assisted by Cross, in the 34th minute.
The defensive line held the Wolf Pack to only 11 shots, with Bronco goalkeeper Genevieve Crenshaw recording four saves.
“It’s exciting to be advancing, you know it’s never going to be easy,” head coach Jim Thomas said. “We played a wonderful Nevada team who put up a really strong fight. We did an excellent job with the way we went about this game in the first half, gaining the lead that we wanted.”
FOOTBALL
The Broncos routed the University of Wyoming 32-7 in what was a much needed win for head coach Andy Avalos and his Broncos.
With the return of defensive lineman DJ Schramm and running back George Holani, the Broncos were firing on all cylinders.
Against what was a very well rounded opponent in Wyoming, the Broncos returned to Albertsons Stadium off of a bye-week and took care of business.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Maddux Madsen had himself a spectacular game, putting up 147 yards, one touchdown and accompanied by his 80% completion rate.
This performance garnered Madsen the Mountain West Freshman of the Week honors.
Read more about the win here.
VOLLEYBALL
Boise State volleyball had a tough week of play after being swept by both of their matchups last week. The Broncos fell to the University of Wyoming (3-0) and to the Colorado State Rams (3-0).
On October 26, the Broncos were handed one of their worst losses of the season being swept in three straight sets 25-14, 25-15, 25-17.
The Broncos struggled to get started in the match while the Cowboys were hot and ready. Paige Bartsch recorded a team-high 14 kills to go with two service aces, one block assist, and a team-best 16.5 points. Annie Kaminski added four kills and a team-high (tied) two blocks.
The week did not go according to plan as the Broncos traveled to Fort Collins, Colo., on October 28, falling 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-16) to the Colorado State Rams.
Bartsch, with ten kills, has recorded double-figure kills in 21 of 22 contests this season and led the Broncos in kills for the 21st time and points for the 20th time.
After last week’s play, the Broncos moved to 11-11 overall and 7-5 in conference play.
Boise State returns home for a two-match homestand as they host the New Mexico Lobos at 7 p.m. on Thursday, followed by the Air Force Falcons at noon on Saturday.
MENS GOLF
Boise State men’s golf finished tied for 12th at the Ka’anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational.
The Broncos shot 842 (277-278-287, -10 as top Bronco, Cole Rueck, finished T-30th at 5-under on the week to lead four Broncos to shoot par-or-better for the tournament.
Rueck carded rounds of 68-68-72 (208) – a 12-stroke improvement from his performance at the 2022 edition of the invitational.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Two Bronco duos made runs to the championship match of their respective brackets at the Relentless Collegiate Challenge.
Marlayna Bullington and Lily Patock finished second in the Copper Playoffs of the AVCA Bid Division, the top division of the prestigious two-day event.
Summer McCann and Abbie Wolf also finished second in their bracket. In the AA Division, Mya Jackson and Aris Vetter reached the semifinals of the Silver Playoffs where they narrowly lost.
“We had some awesome moments where we realized that we can play against some of these top teams. We were one of the last teams at the courts today because we had pairs in the championships,” head coach Allison Voigt said. “We should be proud of ourselves. We were adding to our game but we also found ways to win.”
Boise State will conclude its fall season next weekend with two concurrent events.
Bullington and Patock will represent the Broncos at the AVCA National Pairs Championship, November 3-5, in Huntsville, Ala. The remainder of the team will compete at the Lopes Invitational, which begins November 4 in Phoenix, Ariz.
